WHILE THE BIG game of the day was undoubtedly Galway’s draw with Dublin in Tullamore, there was plenty more moving and shaking to be done up and down the divisions.
Laois were relegated as Wexford slammed home five goals on their way to a 5-12 to 0-19 victory.
Don’t be fooled by the wide final scoreline, though. A hat-trick from Jack Guiney ultimately proved the difference between the sides.
His first three-pointer ended a sluggish opening from the yellow-bellies as Laois opened up an early four point lead, thanks mainly to the accuracy of Willie Hyland.
Paul Morris would add a second before the interval to give Wexford a 2-7 to 0-10 lead at the turnaround.
Wexford seems to have learned from their first half mistake and flew out of the traps after the resumption, Guiney hitting the net early on. But the high-tempo would not last, they let Laois creep back into the contest and the game would have been on a knife-edge had Eanna Martin not saved a penalty.
Wexford were shook back into action and David Redmond shook the net at the other end, once again putting the result beyond Laois and allowing Guiney the freedom to complete his treble.
Promotion
Replacing Laois in Division 1b will be Carlow after they seen off the challenge of Westmeath in the Division 2a final which was also played at Nowlam Park.
Scores and goals inparticular were at a premium in this game – it was 15 minutes before Carlow registered their first score – and so points from Jack Kavanagh, Paudie kehoe and Andrew Gaule were key in Carlow taking a narrow 0-6 to 0-4 lead into the changing rooms.
Niall O’Brien and Brendan Murtagh kept Westmeath in touch, but they would finish the day with 13 men.
Paul Greville (pictured) was the first to see the line, he received a second yellow card for striking. They remained competitive, even after John Gilligan was issued with a straight red.
Frank Foley did well to keep Carlow’s sheet clean and his saves paved the way for Martin Clowry to seal promotion with a 68th minute goal making the final scoreline: 1-14 to 0-12
Lilywhites’ stamina
Kildare will be amongst the Westmeath’s opponents in the League next year after they won promotion at the expense of Meath.
The Lilywhites mirrored their football team, showing greater stamina in the final 10 minutes to run out winners by 3-13 to 1-12.
the Royals led at halftime by 1-5 to 0-7, Colm Ó Mealoid getting the goal. Tony Murphy grabbed a goal for Kildare in a tightly fought third quarter and with ten minutes on the clock, the sides were locked at 1-11.
That was the time for winning and that was the time for Richie Hoban and Martin Fitzgerald to put a gloss on the contest.
No great surprise in the earlier throw in at Parnell Park. Fermanagh ran out 10 point winners over Warwickshire to earn promotion from Division 3b on a score of 2-15 to 2-5.
