Gaelic Games

Division Three: Tipperary rue late miss as Sligo take crucial points

Laois beat Armagh with late rally, Offaly back to winning ways, Louth edge Longford

Tipperary’s Michael Quinlivan scored 1-2 on Sunday. Photograph: Ken Sutton/Inpho

Sun Feb 12 2017 - 21:06

Tipperary 1-16 Sligo 2-14

Tipperary suffered a costly defeat in the Division Three promotion race as Sligo claimed the two points after a high-scoring encounter.

Sligo held on for a one-point win at a freezing Semple Stadium, although they actually led by 10 points with 15 minutes of normal time left.

Tipp were down to 14 men by then – Jimmy Feehan sent off for a second bookable offence – and the hosts also had Philip Austin stretchered off late on.

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First-half goals from Kyle Cawley and Niall Murphy helped Sligo to lead by 2-9 to 0-8 at half-time before Feehan was dismissed in the 45th minute.

But Tipp were back in it seven minutes from time when All-Star Michael Quinlivan slotted home a goal.

Then, in a frantic finish, they could have sneaked a draw. However Quinlivan missed a free deep in stoppage time before Kevin O’Halloran put over a late 45.

Laois 2-11 Armagh 0-16

Laois staged a dramatic late comeback to snap up what could prove to be two invaluable points when they pipped Armagh at the Athletic Grounds.

A match that offered little in the way of entertainment exploded as the finishing line loomed with Armagh duo Mark Shields and Aisan Forker and Laois substitute Paul Kingston being shown red cards by Davaid Gough.

It was nip and tuck throughout the first half with the sides deadlocked at half-time, Niall Donoher's well-taken goal bolstering Laois while Armagh relied on the finishing skills of Stefan Campbell and Oisín O'Neill.

Armagh looked to be in the driving seat when they led by 0-14 to 1-6 mid-way through the second half but a goal from a penalty by Donie Kingston to which he added two points ultimately took his side to a much-needed victory following their ambush at the hands of Louth last week.

Louth 0-11 Longford 0-10

Louth withstood a late rally from Longford to claim top spot in the Division Three table on Sunday. They made good use of a strong breeze to race into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead.

Longford eventually found some traction, and despite not scoring from play in the first half, they would have been content to retire just four points in arrears, 0-7 to 0-3.

They then closed it to three after the break, but Louth performed well against the stiff breeze and managed to keep their visitors at arm’s length.

However, three points without reply saw Longford close the gap to the minimum at the end of normal- ime.

Louth hung on, but there was controversy at the end when referee Niall McKenna only played three minutes of stoppage time when four had been signalled.

However, it turned out to be an error in communication and not a time-keeping blunder.

Offaly 0-23 Antrim 1-7

Offaly went on a scoring spree as they got their promotion hopes back on track with a convincing win over Antrim in Tullamore.

It was a must-win game for Offaly after an opening day defeat and they did the business in very impressive style, kicking 23 points.

It was particularly impressive as they were without their star player, the injured Niall McNamee. Offaly’s second-half display was especially good as victory was far from secure when they went in at half time, leading by 0-9 to 0-4 after playing with a strong wind.

With Eoin Carroll playing very well at midfield, Offaly quickly put the issue to bed in the second half. They were 0-17 to 0-4 ahead before Antrim got their first second -half point from a CJ McGourty free in the 56th minute.

Antrim’s late goal goal from Matthew Fitzpatrick proved little consolation to them.

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