Galway 1-12; Armagh 0-9
This wasn’t so much about revenge for last year's final for Galway as redemption as they overcame a poor first half to kill off the All Ireland champions with a goal and three two-pointers which gave them plenty of breathing space at Salthill on Saturday.
Armagh won’t lose too much sleep over this reverse though with Rian O’Neill on a two-month sabbatical, they will struggle to find another talisman to pull them out of problems positions during games.
Still, the Ulster men started the better and ran into a healthy 0-5 to 0-1 lead as Galway looked bereft of ideas, especially when it came to breaking through the well-drilled Orchard rearguard.
It took a penalty from Matthew Tierney on 33 minutes to cheer the home crowd and give the hosts a 1-4 to 0-5 interval lead.
Early in the second half, the impressive Tierney and Armagh sub Conor Turbitt swapped frees before the visitors closed the gap to a single point.
That though was as good as it got for Kieran McGeeney’s men who suffered a scoring drought over all but 11 mins of the second half.
In fairness, an explanation for that was due to the improvement in the Galway play and performance as they found the confidence to kick three massive two-pointers from Cillian Ó Curraoin, sub Shane Walshe and Paul Conroy. Forward Finnian Ó Laoi put the Tribesmen eight up with 10 to go.
It didn’t help the Armagh cause that they went down to 14 men after John Grimley saw red though the introduction of Ethan Rafferty and Jarly Óg Burns gave them a better sense of urgency.
Points by Rory Grugan woke up the travelling fans but they could make no real inroads other than put a more respectable look on the scoreboard.
Galway: C Gleeson, J McGrath, S Fitzgerlad, D O’Flaherty (0-1), D McHugh, J Daly, S Kelly, P Conroy (0-2, 1tp), C McDaid, C Sweeney, F O Laoi (0-1), C Darcy, C O’ Curraoin (0-5, 0-3f, 1tp), M Tierney (1-1 1-0 pen, 0-1f ) S O’Neill Subs: S Walshe (0-2, 1tpf) for McDaid (41), J Maher for M Tierney (45), J Heaney for S O’Neill (53), K Molloy for S Kelly (62), J Heaney for O Laoi (66).
Armagh: B Hughes, T McCormack, B McCambridge, A Forker, C Mackin, J Duffy, G McCabe, B Crealey, N Grimley, O Conaty (0-4), R Grugan (0-4, 0-3f), D McMullen, S McPartlan, A Murnin, Campbell Subs: C Turbitt (0-1f) for McParltan (h-t), R McQuillan for Forker (37), C McConville for J Duffy (48), J Óg Burns for T McCormack (59), E Rafferty for Hughes (59).
Ref: Conor Lane (Cork).
Cork 2-21; Wexford 0-12
Cork hurling has been in the doldrums for two decades now but there is something about the attitude of this current crop that suggest they will go all out to bring an end to that famine later this summer.
They gave this understrength Wexford team no pity and instead kept up the pressure to beat them by 15 points at Wexford Park on Saturday evening.
With nine on board of the side which lost to Clare in last year’s All Ireland final, Pat Ryan’s charges had too much know-how and too much talent for this Model outfit which has seen retirements of Diarmuid O’Keeffe, Matthew O’Hanlon and Liam Óg McGovern. On top of that injuries meant they had to play without Liam Ryan, Conor McDonald, Damien Reck and Jack O’Connor, while their star man over the past decade, Lee Chin, has not yet returned from his travels.
It all pointed to a post-Christmas and early New Year turkey shoot which it turned out to be thanks to goals by Declan Dalton and Padraig Power and points from all over the place.
Cork: P Collins; N O’Leary, G Mellerick, S O’Donoghue; T O’Mahony, R Downey, C O’Brien; L Meade, D Fitzgibbon (0-4, 0-2f); D Dalton (1-5, 0-2f, 0-1l, l-b, 1-0 pen), S Barrett, B Roche; B Hayes (0-4), P Power (1-4), S Kingston (0-1) Subs: D Cahalane for O’Donoghue (33), E Twomey (0-2) for Downey (48), S Harnedy (0-1) for Roche (56), R Cotter for Barrett (65), Cr Lehane for Kingston (69).
Wexford: M Fanning; E Ryan, S Donohoe, Nl Murphy; C Foley, C Dunbar (0-1), C McGuckin (0-1); C Hearne, D Codd (0-1); D Carley, R O’Connor (0-1), C Byrne-Dunbar; C Byrne (0-7f), S Casey, K Foley Subs: R Lawlor for C Foley (temp. 6-9), Lawlor for Dunbar (temp 19-22), S Rowley for Carley (22), Lawlor for K Foley (35), J Redmond (0-1) for Rowley (35+3), T Kinsella for Byrne-Dunbar (55), C Flood for Casey (67).
Ref: M Kennedy (Tipperary).
Dublin 1-25; Antrim 0-14
Yes, it was “only Antrim” with Davy Fitzgerald on board but watch Dublin hurlers this year as new manager Niall Ó Ceallachain tries to exert his winning influence on the young squad he has at his disposal.
Davy is something of a sorcerer but even he knows the Antrim project will not happen overnight though don’t be surprised if they too cause the odd shock over the coming months, particularly when they are playing on home soil.
The real conundrum in hurling at present is to see if Ó Ceallachain, with the demeanor of a Jim Gavin, can work his magic on the county lads the way he did with Na Fianna in their successful annexation of the All Ireland Club senior hurling championship against Sarsfields of Cork the previous weekend.
What will be most gratifying for the new boss is that none of his club players from Mobhi Road were involved in this 14-point victory at Croke Park.
Consider too that last year’s skipper Paddy Smyth, former All-Star Danny Sutcliffe and Ronan Hayes were also not available and you can see why there might be a new uprising in Dublin hurling this spring.
This meant lads like David Lucey, Paddy Dunleavy and Iain Ó hEithir were giving debuts as was starlet Conal Ó Riain who hit 1-3 on his first appearance at this level.
Dublin led at the interval by 1-14 to 0-9 and while they didn’t shoot the lights out on the changeover, Antrim fell short of providing any sort of fightback and Niall McKenna got their only score of the third quarter.
Dublin gave five subs a run out as his side continued to shoot points and ease to an easy two points.
Dublin: E Gibbons; J Bellew, D Lucey, I Ó hEithir; D Gray, C Crummey (0-2), P Dunleavy; B Hayes, C Burke (0-1); D Purcell (0-3), D Power, C Ó Riain (1-3); C O'Sullivan (0-13, 0-11f), J Hetherton (0-2), F Whitely Subs: D Ó Dulaing for Whitely (53), S Gallagher for Gray (46), C Hayes (0-1) for Hayes (57), D Purcell for Hetherton (60), Jack Lambert for Dunleavy (63).
Antrim: R Elliott; C Boyd, D McCloskey, P Burke; C Bohill, R McGarry, E Campbell; S Walsh, N Elliott (0-1); P Boyle, K Molloy, N McKenna (0-2); E O'Neill, N O’Connor (0-1), J McNaughton (0-10, 0-8f) Subs: E McFerran for Boyd (h/t), G Walsh for McGarry (h/t), S Elliott for O'Connor (48), J Maskey for Bohill (54), J McLaughlin for O'Neill (66).
Ref: J Owens (Wexford).
GAA Results
Football Division 1
Dublin 1-17; Mayo 1-15
Tyrone 2-13; Derry 1-9
Galway 1-12; Armagh 0-9
Kerry v Donegal off
Football Division 2
Monaghan 2-22; Cavan 0-20
Cork 2-19; Meath 0-21
Roscommon 3-21; Down 1-20
Westmeath 0-18 Louth 1-17
Football Division 3
Offaly 1-17; Sligo 0-13
Antrim 1-9; Clare 1-6
Kildare 2-24; Fermanagh 1-12
Football Division 4
Longford 2-12; Limerick 1-15
Wexford 2-24; London 2-6
Carlow 2-13; Tipperary 1-16
Wicklow v Waterford - off
Hurling Division 1A
Kilkenny 0-23; Clare 0-21
Tipperary 3-25; Galway 2-16
Hurling Division 1A
Cork 2-21; Wexford 0-12
Hurling Division 1B
Dublin 1-25; Antrim 0-14
Offaly 0-19; Carlow 1-16
Westmeath v Laois off
Hurling Division 2
Derry 1-13; Tyrone 0-14
Down 2-19; Kildare 0-22
Meath 2-12; Donegal 1-14
Hurling Division 3
London 1-15; Roscommon 1-10
Wicklow 1-16; Sligo 2-8
Mayo v Cavan off
Hurling Division 4
Louth 2-18; Fermanagh 1-12
Longford 4-14; Warwickshire 3-11Leitrim 0-21; Lancashire 2-10
