The Christy Ring, Nickey Rackard and Lory Meagher Cups all continued over the weekend.

Christy Ring Cup

Kildare sent out another statement of intent with a prolific win over London in Newbridge on Saturday.

Having hit 5-26 in round one against Mayo, Kildare trumped that with a remarkable 3-35 tally in seeing off the Exiles. It hadn’t started off on such a sure footing for Kildare, who conceded a freak goal early on, before Jack Goulding hit a second major for London, but David Herity’s side had wrangled control of the game by the end of the first half, changing ends ahead by 0-18 to 2-5.

Second-half goals by Jack Sheridan (two) and sub Mark Delaney continued the one-way traffic as three-time winners Kildare pulled away. Fiachra O’Keeffe hit a late consolation for London, but the game was well out of their reach by then. Sheridan (2-4) and James Burke (0-9) led 13 Kildare scorers as they broke their record in this competition.

Mayo stayed in contention with a much-improved performance in winning away to Wicklow.

Despite facing the breeze in the first half in Aughrim, Mayo raced into a 0-13 to 0-7 lead, with Joe Mooney and Shane Boland leading the scoring. Eoin Kavanagh hit a brace of goals during the second half to boost Wicklow’s fading hopes, but James Byrne’s sending-off hurt the hosts’ chances of turning it around. Mooney, Boland and Seán Kenny finished with a combined 19 points as 2021 Nickey Rackard Cup winners Mayo got off the mark with ten to spare.

Derry have eight consecutive wins to their name after a strong second-half performance saw them pull away from Sligo at Markievicz Park on Sunday.

With Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch on song up front, Sligo led by 0-8 to 0-6 just past the half-hour mark, but an Odhrán McKeever point halved Derry’s deficit, before a Gerald Bradley sent the visitors in at the break leading by 1-7 to 0-8. With the wind at their backs in the second half, Division IIB champions Derry pushed on to eventually run out convincing winners and join Kildare on four points.

Nickey Rackard Cup

Tyrone maintained their unbeaten run in 2022 when they held off a late rally from Fermanagh in Omagh.

Tyrone took an early lead when a long ball in from Dermot Begley ended up in the net and with Damian Casey adding seven first-half points, the hosts were 1-10 to 0-6 clear at the interval. 2021 Lory Meagher Cup winners Fermanagh put in a spirited second-half showing, however, with Seán Corrigan and Barney McAuley carrying the fight to their in-form opponents. A goal by Corrigan gave Fermanagh real hope of a comeback, but Tiarnan Murphy and Ruairí Slane helped dig out a second group-stage win for Tyrone, who needed a fine save from Conor McElhatton to deny Tom Keenan late on and keep their four-point advantage intact.

A prolific second-half performance earned Roscommon another big win at home to Warwickshire.

A Luke Hands goal on 25 minutes helped Warwickshire take a surprise lead, but Roscommon hit the last three points of the first half to move ahead by 0-12 to 1-7. Cathal Dolan came off the bench to hit the net for Roscommon and with Mickey Joe Egan and Brendan Mulry both continuing their goal-scoring form and Daniel Glynn inching his tally into double figures, Francis O’Halloran’s side ended up convincing winners.

Donegal join Tyrone and Roscommon on two wins each after they dug out a storming finish to pip Armagh in a thriller in Letterkenny.

Donegal edged the first half by the odd point in 19 and when Ritchie Ryan flicked home the opening goal, the hosts were firmly in the driving seat. Armagh rallied, however, with goals from Lorcán Oliver and sub Danny Magee helping Terence McNaughton’s side go from eight points down to level terms entering the last ten minutes. Donegal then dug deep to hit a string of late scores, including a hat-trick from top scorer Davin Flynn, to stay in touch at the top of the group. Dean and Ryan Gaffney finished with 0-10 between them for Armagh, but 12 points from Flynn proved pivotal.

Lory Meagher Cup

Longford got off the mark in the Lory Meagher Cup when they came from behind to edge a narrow win at home to Lancashire on Saturday.

Having been pipped at the finish line by Leitrim last weekend, Longford ended up on the right side of this one, having come from seven points down midway through the second half. Having led by 0-7 to 0-5 at half-time, Lancashire extended their advantage to seven when they netted the game’s only goal, but Longford hit ten of the last 11 points to turn things around. Joe O’Brien and Paddy Lynam led the scoring all afternoon for Longford and it was their late points that eventually snuffed out a dogged challenge from the Exiles.

Leitrim hit four goals for the second week in a row as they claimed a comprehensive win away to Cavan on Sunday.

Cavan hit the game’s first three points as they targeted a first win of 2022 and although they then conceded the opening goal to Brendan Delaney, they quickly hit back through Seán Keating. Cavan still led narrowly with half-time approaching, but Leitrim moved through the gears either side of the restart, restricting the home side to just a single point for the bulk of the second period. Despite missing a penalty, Leitrim added another brace of goals via Delaney and Diarmuid Kelleher as they made it back-to-back wins.

Monaghan also have maximum points in the Lory Meagher Cup after they won an eight-goal derby away to Louth.

A brace of first-half goals by Thomas Hughes helped Monaghan lead by 2-6 to 2-5 at the break, with Mark Gahan and Feidhelm Joyce responding to keep Louth in touch. Seán Kerrisk hit the net after the restart to level it up, but a string of scores from the influential Mark Treanor proved crucial for Monaghan, whose goalkeeper Hugh Byrne converted a penalty to double their lead to six points just short of the hour mark. Sub Pauric Malone added a fifth major for Monaghan as they secured a second win.

RESULTS:

Saturday, April 16

Christy Ring Cup Round 2

Wicklow 2-10 Mayo 0-26

Kildare 3-35 London 3-14

Lory Meagher Cup Round 2

Longford 0-17 Lancashire 1-12

Sunday, April 17

Christy Ring Cup Round 2

Sligo 0-11 Derry 2-20

Nickey Rackard Cup Round 2

Tyrone 1-18 Fermanagh 1-14

Roscommon 3-26 Warwickshire 1-14

Donegal 1-22 Armagh 2-14

Lory Meagher Cup Round 2

Louth 3-11 Monaghan 5-12

Cavan 1-10 Leitrim 4-16