CORK HAVE CRASHED out of the Senior Hurling Championship after losing their Phase Three qualifier to Galway, while there were victories in football for Limerick, Down and Antrim.
All-Ireland Hurling Qualifier Phase 3
Galway 2-23 Cork 1-14
It was Cork that raced into an early 1-03 lead thanks to a glut of scores from Paudie O’Sullivan. However, the Rebels soon found themselves outclassed and trailing to goals from Damien Hayes and Cyril Donnellan, who beat James Skehill only moments after coming on as a substitute.
Joe Canning, while wasteful at times, demonstrated some sublime pieces of skill as he led his men into the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
Cork will take some encouragement from the performance of youngster Conor Lehane, who has just finished his Leaving Cert, but the Rebels were far outclassed on the day.
All-Ireland Football Qualifiers Round 2
Limerick 3-13 Offaly 0-15
Limerick are in the draw for the third round of the football qualifiers after they emerged victorious from a competitive clash with Offaly on Saturday afternoon.
Ian Ryan was in inspired form for the Treaty County, scoring 1-07 in total, while further goals came from the boots of Seamus O’Carroll and Ger Collins.
Offaly were far from overwhelmed but they relied far too heavily on the free-taking skills of Ciaran McManus and an inconsistent Niall Darby.
Limerick’s progression was sealed when the brilliant Stephen Kelly sent Collins through and the Monaleen man tore clear before firing past Alan Mulhall.
Antrim 1-13 Carlow 2-09
Carlow finished the match with 14 men and Antrim did just about enough to progress after a see-saw match at Casement Park.
The visitors had the better of the early exchanges and only a fine save by Willie McSorley from Daniel St. Ledger prevented Carlow from taking a healthy lead. However, Antrim soon relaxed and a spurt of scoring saw them grab a 0-06 to 0-05 lead at half-time.
Carlow started stronger in the second half. A Patrick Hickey goal and a third point from Darragh Foley left three points between the sides, but the game was to hinge on two quick incidents. First, Carlow ‘keeper Trevor Reilly let a long ball into the net, before Ed Finnegan saw red for an off-the-ball incident. Paddy Cunningham, Kevin Niblock and Gerard O’Boyle all pointed and the game was secured when Brendan Murphy finally beat McSorley. A free from St Ledger set up a nervous finish but Carlow were beaten.
Down 1-16 Leitrim 1-08
Benny Coulter proved to be the pivotal man as Down finally began to show the form that took them to last year’s All-Ireland Final.
The forward grabbed seven points in the game, with Conor Laverty and Marty Clarke also showing fine form, though Leitrim did have their moments.
The first half of the game was a tight affair and Down went into the break leading by two points – thanks partly to a penalty by Clarke. That was wiped out by Adrian Croal’s goal early in the second period however, Leitrim leading by a single point at one stage, before Coulter, Liam Doyle, Mark Poland and Kevin McKiernan rediscovered their scoring touch and the Mournemen pulled away.
Tonight’s fixtures:
All-Ireland SHC Qualifier Phase Three
Parnell Park: Antrim v Limerick, 7.00pm
All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers Round Two
Ruislip: London v Waterford, 6.30pm
Portlaoise: Laois v Kildare, 7.00pm
Pearse Park: Longford v Tyrone, 7.00pm
Navan: Meath v Galway, 7.00pm
Athletic Grounds: Armagh v Wicklow, 7.00pm
Sunday’s Fixtures:
Leinster SFC final
Croke Park: Dublin v Wexford, 2.00pm
Munster SHC final
Pairc Ui Chaoimh: Waterford v Tipperary, 4.00pm
