The group stages of the Christy Ring, Nickey Rackard and Lory Meagher Cups passed the midway point over the weekend, with Kildare, Tyrone and Monaghan retaining 100% records in each grade.

Christy Ring Cup

Kildare sent out another statement of intent with a dominant second-half performance that left Derry chasing shadows in Newbridge on Saturday.

These teams both went into the weekend on maximum points and they were separated by just a single point at half-time, but Kildare moved through the gears to claim their third consecutive win. Derry had won eight in a row between league and championship, but they failed to score from play in the second half as they fell to their first defeat of the year. Cathal McCabe (1-4), James Burke (0-7) and Gerry Keegan (0-6) hit a combined 1-17 for Kildare, who are now out on their own at the top of the table.

Mayo made it back-to-back wins with six points to spare over London in Ruislip.

Mayo’s win was built on a dominant first-half performance, where Shane Boland’s goal and a string of scores from Joe Mooney, Keith Higgins and Joe McManus helped them build up a 1-16 to 0-6 lead. Goals by Conor Byrne and Dónal Hannon – the latter from a free – helped London cut their deficit from 13 to five, but with former Galway under-21 Mooney starring for the second week in a row and with Kenny Feeney adding a late insurance point, the 2021 Nickey Rackard winners claimed another scalp.

Sligo got off the mark in some style with a comprehensive win at home to Wicklow.

Sligo raced into an early lead with eight unanswered points, before Andy Kilcullen netted the opening goal to stretch the gap into double figures. Kilcullen’s second goal had the hosts in cruise control at 2-14 to 0-5 at half-time and they moved even further clear when Joe McHugh hit the net. Seánie Germaine fired a free home for a Wicklow consolation goal, but with Kilcullen taking his personal tally to 2-8, Sligo still had plenty to spare in the end.

Nickey Rackard Cup

Tyrone lead the way in the Nickey Rackard Cup after Tiarnan Murphy’s second-half hat-trick led them to a derby win over Armagh in Carrickmore on Saturday.

Completing a productive week for Tyrone teams across the codes and grades, Michael McShane’s side picked up their third win of the Nickey Rackard to move a point clear at the top of the table. Shea Harvey’s goal had Armagh narrowly ahead on 25 minutes, but Damian Casey and CJ McGourty responded to send Tyrone in level at 0-10 to 1-7. Tiarnan Murphy hit 3-1 (all from play) after the restart, while Casey also finished with double figures after his name as Tyrone moved through the gears to make it nine games unbeaten between league and championship.

Donegal and Roscommon are both within a point of the group leaders after they played out an exciting draw in Letterkenny.

Donegal were 0-12 to 0-7 up at half-time, with Ronan McDermott, Davin Flynn and Declan Coulter among their scorers and although Eoin Fitzgerald came off the bench to hit the net for Roscommon, Ritchie Ryan led a purple patch by the hosts that saw them reclaim their five-point lead midway through the second half. Roscommon had Conor Coyle sent off, but when Donegal had Stephen Gillespie sin-binned, Daniel Glynn converted the resulting penalty to make it a two-point game. Adam Donnelly became the second Roscommon sub to find the net late on and move them within touching distance of a third straight win, but there was still time for McDermott to rifle home a dramatic equaliser that leaves both teams still unbeaten.

Fermanagh got their first win of the competition with a prolific performance at home to Warwickshire on Sunday.

Tom Keenan’s early goal set the tone for Fermanagh and with Seán Corrigan and Barney McAuley hitting ten points between them in the first half, they could afford to concede majors to Kelvin Magee and Pádraic Crehan and still lead by 1-16 to 2-3 at the break. The scores continued to flow for Fermanagh after the restart, with Daniel Teague adding three to his tally and Corrigan ending up with 0-11 to his credit. Warwickshire’s uphill struggle became steeper when Anthony Hands was sent off and Fermanagh ruthlessly ran up their total, with Caolán Duffy hitting a second goal for the 2021 Lory Meagher Cup winners.

Lory Meagher Cup

Monaghan lead the standings in the Lory Meagher Cup after they won a top-of-the-table clash away to Leitrim on Sunday.

Three points each by Diarmuid Kelleher and Gavin O’Hagan had Leitrim 0-9 to 0-7 up just short of the half-hour mark, but Mark Treanor’s third goal in as many games sent Monaghan in ahead by the narrowest of margins: 1-8 to 0-10. Joe Murray hit the net to swing the pendulum back in Leitrim’s favour heading for the final quarter, only for Conor Gernon and Treanor to guide Monaghan over the line for their third consecutive win.

Lancashire got their first Lory Meagher win since 2019 when they held off a late rally from hosts Cavan.

Danny Connolly and David Power were on target early on as Lancashire built up a lead that they would never relinquish. The Exiles were 0-11 to 0-8 up at half-time and although the scores dried up for them in the third quarter, Connor Kennedy, Jordan McAlister, Robin Spencer and Simon Wallace all got on the scoresheet to push them towards the winning line. Mark Moffett netted a free for Cavan deep into added time, but it was too late for the hosts to salvage something from the game as Lancashire held on for a one-point win that moves them off the foot of the table.

Longford stayed within touching distance of the front-runners when they claimed a second narrow home win in the space of a week on Saturday, this time at the expense of Louth.

Darren Geoghegan’s return to Louth’s starting team helped them lead by 0-9 to 0-7 at half-time, by which stage Longford had seen Evan Tully sent off. The game would finish at 14-a-side after Louth lost Niall Keenan to a second booking. Both teams scored fortuitous goals down the home straight – Longford’s from Reuben Murray and Louth’s from a long-range free by Geoghegan, who tallied 1-8 – before points from Paddy Lynam and Joe O’Brien clinched an important result for the hosts.

RESULTS:

Saturday, April 23

Christy Ring Cup Round 3

Kildare 1-24 Derry 0-12

London 2-13 Mayo 1-22

Sligo 4-24 Wicklow 1-15

Nickey Rackard Cup Round 3

Tyrone 3-17 Armagh 1-15

Donegal 1-22 Roscommon 3-16

Lory Meagher Cup Round 3

Longford 1-16 Louth 1-15

Sunday, April 24

Nickey Rackard Cup Round 3

Fermanagh 2-31 Warwickshire 2-5

Lory Meagher Cup Round 3

Leitrim 1-16 Monaghan 2-18

Cavan 1-13 Lancashire 0-17