Kelly gets off to a winning start

FORMER New York attacker Luke Loughlin fired five points as Westmeath got the Colin Kelly era off to a positive start.

The Downs club man Loughlin top scored in Mullingar where the hosts beat Laois 1-13 to 1-12 in the Bord na Mona O’Byrne Cup.

Former Louth boss Kelly was presiding over his first competitive encounter after replacing Tom Cribbin.

Westmeath fielded a mix of new and established talent with Callum McCormack and Finbarr Coyne sniping five points between them.

Meanwhile, new Louth boss Pete McGrath came up agonisingly short to Longford in Group 2.

The two-times All-Ireland winning Down boss and exFermanagh chief watched as his inherited side went down 2-13 to 1-10.

In Group 3, John Murphy netted twice as Carlow easily dispatched neighbours and rivals Wicklow 3-8 to 0-6.

Sean Gannon’s goal for Carlow late in the first-half gave them a 1-5 to 0-3 interval lead that Carlow couldn’t recover from.

Meanwhile, three goals in a 10-minute spell early on powered Offaly to a 3-16 to 09 Group 1 win over Wexford.

Jordan Hayes netted in the 13th and 23rd minutes for new manager Stephen Wallace with 18-year-old Johnson scoring another in between.