Down 1-17
Galway 1-16
DOWN CAME BACK from the brink to see off Galway in Newry today as they scored six of the last seven points of their match to claim a key victory.
Galway made all the early running and were ahead 1-10 to 0-7 at the interval with Patrick Sweeney grabbing their goal.
Down fought back with Donal O’Hare finding the net early in the second-half at the second attempt after his initial effort from a penalty was saved by Manus Breathnach. O’Hare won the penalty himself after being fouled by Declan Kyne.
Galway kicked on again with Adrian Varley, Sean Denvir and Damien Comer amongst their point scorers. They were 1-15 to 1-11 to the good with ten minutes left but Down powered towards the finish line.
A great Conor Laverty point tied the teams at 1-15 apiece before Kevin McKernan nudged Down in front. Paul Conroy did well to bring Galway back level but Paul Devlin knocked over a free at the end to seal a great win for Down. It was their second late dramatic show this spring after their opening day success against Kildare.
Scorers for Down: Donal O’Hare 1-5 (0-3f), Paul Devlin 0-4 (one ’45′, 2f), Conor Laverty 0-3 (1f), Mark Poland 0-2, Ross McGarry, Kevin McKernan, Caolan Mooney 0-1 each.Scorers for Galway: Michael Martin 0-5 (4f), Danny Cummins 0-4 (2f), Patrick Sweeney 1-0, Sean Denvir, Adrian Varley 0-2 each, Garreth Bradshaw, Damien Comer, Paul Conroy 0-1 each.
Laois 2-17
Roscommon 0-16
Second-half goals from Niall Donoher and Paul Kingston were central to Laois claiming a seven-point win over high-flying Roscommon in O’Moore Park.
Laois opened brightly as they reeled off four points without reply but Roscommon fought back with Niall Daly’s 23rd minute point tying the teams. Laois reasserted their dominance to go in at the break with a 0-9 to 0-7 lead thanks to scores from Donie Kingston and Evan O’Carroll.
The impressive Cathal Cregg dragged Roscommon back in to contention in the second-half but a great goal by Donoher gave Laois the initiative with a goal midway through the half.
Roscommon battled away in an attempt to draw level but it was Laois who finished strongly with Paul Kingston striking their second goal of the game to seal a vital win for Tomás Ó Flatharta’s side.
Scorers for Laois: Donie Kingston 0-6 (0-3f), Paul Kingston 1-2, Niall Donoher 1-1, Ross Munnelly 0-4 (0-2f), Evan O’Carroll 0-2 (0-1 ’45), Darren Strong & Conor Boyle 0-1 each.Scorers for Roscommon: Cathal Cregg 0-5, Donie Shine 0-3 (0-2f, 0-1 ’45), Diarmuid Murtagh (0-2f), Ciaran Murtagh & Ultan Harney 0-2 each, Enda Smith & Niall Daly 0-1 each.
