DIVISION 2/ROUNDUP: Carlow hurlers gained their first brace of Division 2B points when defeating 14-man Kerry 2-11 to 2-8 at Dr Cullen Park yesterday.

Within a minute of the throw-in Carlow's full forward Patrick Walsh crashed the ball to the Kerry net. It took Kerry 31 minutes to open their account with a goal from Michael Slattery.

Carlow led 2-6 to 2-0 at half- time, with all six points coming from frees by Pat Coady.

Six minutes after the restart Kerry substitute Liam Walsh received a straight red card for a pull on James Hickey. Backed by the wind in the second half, Kerry twice cut the arrears to two points but Carlow were always able to find a response and in the end deserved their narrow win.

Meanwhile, after a hesitant opening quarter Down settled to defeat Westmeath by 2-18 to 1-7 in Division 2A in Portaferry yesterday. However, it was two goals midway through the second half by Emmett Trainor that sealed Down's first points in the league.

Westmeath looked good in the opening quarter with defenders Brendan Murtagh and Derek Gallagher prominent but once Down moved up a gear the writing was on the wall for the midlanders as Tom McMahon and Paddy Monan took control at midfield.

SCORERS: Carlow (P Coady 0-8, D Roberts, P Walsh 1-0 each, R Foley 0-2, J Hickey 0-1; ... Kerry (M Slattery 1-5, J Maher 1-0 A Cronin, E Tuohy, P Cronin 0-1 each);

Down ( E Trainor 2-1, J McGrattan 0-7, N Sands 0-4, P Braniff 0-2, G Clarke, P Monan, G McGrattan, B Coulter 0-1 each); Westmeath (R Galvin 1-1, R Whelan, B Kennedy 0-2 each, D Gallagher, D Devine 0-1 each).