James Mahon strikes under pressure from Seaan Elliott. Andrew Paton/INPHO

Offaly put Antrim to the sword as Waterford overcome Laois

Promotion and relegation battles take shape in second tier.

OFFALY 2-26 ANTRIM 0-17

WATERFORD 1-27 LAOIS 0-20

 

IT WAS SOMETHING of a ‘moving day’ in Division 1B of the Allianz Hurling League this afternoon, as the second tier competition effectively split into promotion and relegation contenders with victories for Offaly and Waterford over Antrim and Laois, allied to Dublin’s win in Mullingar.

Offaly will travel to Croke Park to play Dublin on Saturday week in particularly high spirits after they overcame a slow first 25 minutes to put Antrim to the sword in Tullamore.

Having hurled into the wind for 25 minutes, Davy Fitzgerald would have been the happier manager with Offaly just 0-9 to 0-7 to the good at that stage. The contest had been broken up with a lot of stoppages and the Faithful county lacked momentum, even though their tackling and energy in the middle third of the field was hugely impressive.

Then one such turnover led to a Dan Ravenhill goal, and they never looked back. Killian Sampson shot some magnificent points, Brian Duignan was in metronomic form from placed balls and from open play, and defensively the Ciaran Burke-led backline held Antrim attack without a score from play for 32 minutes.

Killian Sampson’s goal briefly extended the lead to 19 points, before Antrim tagged on a run of scores in the closing minutes to give them some crumbs of comfort in advance of their home tie against Waterford in a fortnight.

dessie-hutchinson-and-donnchadh-hartnett Dessie Hutchinson in possession as Donnchadh Hartnett advances. Ken Sutton / INPHO Ken Sutton / INPHO / INPHO

The Déise steadied their ship with a first win of the campaign, though it was only in the final quarter that they fully shrugged off the challenge of a stubborn Laois side in Walsh Park.

Patrick Fitzgerald’s goal in the second minute gave Waterford a dream start, but the cracks that Carlow exposed last week were visible again as Laois piled on the next five points in a row, including good points from Paddy Purcell and Jordan Walshe.

Waterford steadied the ship to score eight of the next ten points however and they never led by less than four points through to the final whistle, with Pádraig Fitzgerald (0-13, 0-12f), Patrick Fitzgerald (1-4) and Jamie Barron (0-4) leading the scoring charge.

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