Allianz Hurling League Division 2A

KERRY 1-21 ANTRIM 2-16

Allianz Hurling League Division 2B

WICKLOW 2-21 WARWICKSHIRE 0-12

DERRY 1-16 DOWN 0-14

Allianz Hurling League 3A

TYRONE 2-17 LANCASHIRE 0-10

Kerry’s hurlers caused the first shock of the new Allianz hurling league this afternoon when they overcame Antrim by 1-21 to 2-16 in Corrigan Park, the Ulster county finishing the game with 13 men after Nicky McKeague and Keelan Molloy were red carded.

In a hugely competitive Division 2A, Antrim manager Neal Peden was hoping to see his team carry their strong Kehoe Cup form into the League, but they were blown away by the Kingdom in the early stages, falling 1-7 to 0-1 behind after 15 minutes. A mistake from a puckout let Jack Goulding fire in the opening goal, just two days after he came off the bench to put in a decent cameo performance for UL in the Fitzgibbon Cup.

Shane Conway was in superb form for the visitors, ending the day with 0-12, and his side looked very well poised at half time, 1-12 to 1-6 up, with Antrim down to 14.

Eoin O’Neill was the Antrim goalscorer and he added a second after half time, with the gap reducing to a single point at one stage. Kerry regrouped however, with Shane Conway firing over the frees while Jordan Conway also tacked on 0-5. Keelan Molloy’s dismissal for an off-the-ball incident added to Antrim’s problems but they still had a chance to salvage a draw, only for James McNaughton’s late free to sail over the crossbar when a goal was needed.

Warwickshire had a home game to kick off life in Division 2B and at half time they looked like they might keep their strong form from 2018 going as they led Wicklow by a point, having hurled into a strong wind.

The game turned decisively in favour of the Garden County after the break however, when a defensive error allowed Michael Boland to fire in the game’s first goal, then Niall Kennedy was sent off for his part in an altercation with Peter Keane.

Boland, Enda Donohue and Danny Staunton were all on the mark with a series of points as Wicklow moved well clear in the second half, taking full advantage of their extra man. John Henderson’s late goal crowned a 2-20 to 0-11 victory.

There was a similar story in the other game in the division played at Páirc Esler in Newry, where Alan Grant’s goal gave Derry a 1-16 to 0-14 win over Down in the Ulster derby.

Cormac O’Doherty shot 0-6 for Derry in the first half, but had a penalty saved by Stephen Keith, while Sean Kelly was in great form in the Derry goal as well, particularly when he produced a top drawer save to deny Daithí Sands. 0-8 each at the break, the sides remained inseparable up until the 45th minute, when Mark Patterson received his second yellow card and the Mourne county were reduced to 14 men. Twelve minutes were left when Alan Grant scored the decisive goal and they picked off two late points to seal the win.

Abbotstown was the venue for the other game of the afternoon, where Tyrone eased to a 2-17 to 0-10 win over Lancashire in Division 3A. Bryan McGurk and Damien Casey shot first half goals for the Red Hand men who were a dozen points to the good by half time. Darren Crowley led the Exiles’ fightback after half time with a number of good points, but Casey kept picking off the scores and wound up with a personal tally of 1-9 at the North Dublin venue.