Carrabine points way in Sligo victory
SLIGO 2-21 WEXFORD 2-15
Sligo opened their Tailteann Cup campaign with a six-point win at Markievicz Park yesterday.
The hosts were trailing by a point at half-time but battled hard and showed why they are among the favourites for the title with a blistering second-half performance.
Wexford were up and running after five minutes as Kevin O’Grady hit over a point, but Sligo, who were playing against the breeze, raced into a five-point lead after 12 minutes.
Seán Carrabine levelled the game, with a super score from Alan McLoughlin putting Sligo ahead.
Mikey Gordon extended that lead when he hit the net following impressive play from Canice Mulligan and Darragh Cummins. Niall Murphy’s first point saw Sligo take a three-point lead.
Eoghan Nolan and Seán Nolan hit over Wexford points, before Dylan Furlong capitalised on a poor kickout to level the score at 1-3 each after 17 minutes. Just before half-time, Nolan’s third point put the Model county ahead at the halfway point.
Mark Rossiter extended Wexford’s lead to two points on the restart but a quick 1-1 from Alan McLoughlin put Sligo two points ahead.
Carrabine and McLoughlin added further points as Sligo went six up. But Wexford gave themselves a huge lift on 64 minutes when Glen Malone struck for a goal to leave his side three points behind.
Murphy’s point gave Sligo some breathing space but they were breathing a side of relief on 67 minutes when Malone hit the crossbar, with Ben Brosnan pointing from the follow up. Carrabine, Brian Cox and McLoughlin hit points before full time as Sligo sealed the win, finishing the game with 14 as Canice Mulligan was handed a black card.
DOWN 1-20 LIMERICK 1-6
Down made short work of Limerick in Páirc Esler, running out comfortable 14-point winners in their Tailteann Cup opener.
All but one of Limerick’s scores came from frees, that being their goal, while the Down players were queuing up to register, with 12 different scorers in total.
It took quite a while for the scoreboard to get moving, with Limerick having much of the ball in the early stages, but once the Mournemen scored their first point from an Odhran Murdock free in the eighth minute, there was no stopping them.
Down led by three points before Peter Nash converted Limerick’s first free on 15 minutes. Six more points followed for Conor Laverty’s side who had grown comfortably into the game, while Jimmy Lee’s men struggled to get within scoring range and kicked a number of efforts short. They did convert three more from dead balls but Down held a 0-10 to 0-4 lead at half-time.
It looked like it was over as a contest when Daniel Guinness hit a goal for Down on 38 minutes and Danny Magill tagged on a free to widen the margin to 10 points, but Limerick replied with a goal of their own from Nash.
But things got worse for Limerick when Jamie Baynham, who was only on as a sub, was dealt a straight red card and it was plain sailing for the home side until the finish as they romped home by adding seven more points to Limerick’s one.
FERMANAGH 3-16 WICKLOW 0-9
Fermanagh cruised to victory in their Tailteann Cup opener against Wicklow in a sundrenched Brewster Park.
The home side had led by four at the interval, 0-8 to 0-4, and they went on to dominate matters in the second half to pull away.
Sean Cassidy’s palmed goal six minutes after the restart put the Ernemen eight points clear before substitute Conor Love made an impressive impact as he hit the net to ease Kieran Donnelly’s side to the victory. Fermanagh had gone in with a four-point cushion at the break.
And they controlled things from the outset of the second half as McDade and Garvan Jones landed points, before a slick move saw Callum Jones feed Cassidy to palm to the net.
Oisín McGraynor and Pádraig O’Toole did have scores for Wicklow but Fermanagh never looked in any danger and Callum Jones sent Love scurrying through as he blasted to the net with his first involvement in the game in the 56th minute.
Two minutes later Love had his second as he cut in and rifled to the corner and Fermanagh were comfortable through to the finish as they sealed a 15-point win.
LEITRIM 0-17 WATERFORD 0-12
A bright start to the second half saw Leitrim pull away from Waterford at Ballinamore yesterday to record an opening round win in the Tailteann Cup.
Having led by a point at the break (0-9 to 0-8), Andy Moran’s men found another gear landing six scores on the trot. Nevin O’Donnell (two), Aidan Flynn, Barry McNulty and Riordan O’Rourke were on target to put the home side in charge.
Waterford subsequently halted Leitrim’s momentum as two pointed frees from Alan Dunwoody made it a five-point game six minutes from time. Nevin O’Donnell and Dunwoody traded a score each thereafter as Leitrim closed out the win.