Longford 2-15 Louth 1-10
Longford cruised into round two of the Qualifiers as Louth finished with 12 men in Drogheda.
Second-half goals from Liam Connerton and Barry McKeon propelled the midlanders to victory, but they were always in control against a lacklustre Wee County.
The hosts lost Tommy Durnin, Patrick Reilly and Ryan Burns to late red cards and Longford also played the final 20 minutes with 14 following Robbie Smyth’s dismissal on a second yellow.
Longford adjourned at the interval with a 0-9 to 0-5 cushion and it didn’t flatter Denis Connerton’s side one bit.
They started brightly, opening a 0-3 to 0-1 lead on 15 minutes, and while Louth drew level and even edged ahead 0-5 to 0-4, Longford finished the half strongly.
A Robbie Smyth treble and another point from Barry Gilleran in the final three minutes put them in control.
With Louth needing a solid start to the second period it was the midlanders who took an even tighter grip on the contest when Connerton converted a penalty, awarded for handling on the ground in the square.
Louth hit back with 1-1, the goal a well-worked move finished by Eoin O’Connor, but that was as good as it got for Colin Kelly’s side.
Longford replied with four points on the bounce to extend their lead to 1-13 to 1-5.
Smyth’s red and a couple of points from Durnin and John Bingham gave Louth a sliver of hope, but then Durnin followed Smyth to an early shower and McKeon struck the decisive second goal a minute later.
There was still time for some late controversy, as Reilly and Burns saw red in quick succession, the latter for seemingly directing the ball at an umpire in frustration.
Louth: C Lynch; P Rath, J Bingham (0-2), K Murphy; J Stewart, D McMahon, A Williams; J Califf (0-3, two frees), A McDonnell; R Moore, P Smith, B Duffy; P Reilly, E O'Connor, J McEneaney (0-1). Subs: D Byrne for Stewart (28), A Reid for Murphy (37), T Durnin (0-1) for Smith (40), R Burns (0-2, one free) for Moore (40), G McSorley (0-1 free) for McEneaney (46), D Crilly for Califf (55),
Longford: P Collum; D Brady, P McCormack, B Gilleran (0-1); D McElligott, M Quinn (0-1), D Reynolds (0-1); J Keegan (0-1), D McGivney (0-2 frees); D Masterson, J McGivney, D Mimnagh; R Smyth (0-7, four frees, one sidleline), L Connerton (1-1, 1-0 pen), B McKeon (1-0). Subs: A Farrell for Gilleran (62), L Moran (0-1) for J McGivney (65), C Berry for for McGivney (67), C Farrelly for McKeon (70), P McGee for D Reynolds (70+1), R Brady for D Brady (70+5).
Referee: N Mooney (Cavan).
Waterford 0-13 Derry 1-17
Derry prevailed at a sun-kissed Fraher Field to extend their impressive form in the qualifiers in front of 1,067 spectators.
In splendid sunshine, Niall Loughlin opened the visitors’ account with a free inside 20 seconds.
Loughlin doubled Derry’s lead in the second minute after a jinking run down the left flank, and Danny Tallon maintained the visitors’ momentum with a seventh minute point.
Ciaran McFaul hooked a high kick between the ‘town end’ uprights to leave the visitors in early command but Waterford finally opened their account through the impressive Gavin Crotty and soon settled into the contest.
Ryan Bell finished off a superb 12th minute move involving Niall Loughlin, Karl McKaigue and Conor McAtamey before Crotty struck his second point following good work by Tommy Prendergast.
Danny Tallon pointed well for Derry on the quarter hour, with Prendergast immediately replying from the next Waterford attack, opting to slot the ball over when there was more than a hint of a goalscoring opportunity. Waterford’s James McGrath was black carded for an indiscretion on the advancing Danny Heavron, with James Kielt converting the awarded free. Donie Breathnach (a free) and Kielt traded points in the 21st and 22nd minutes before Gavin Crotty stuck another impressive Waterford point.
And the hosts maintained their momentum through Fearghal Ó Cuirrín and Breathnach (another free) before Derry youngster Niall Keenan struck an excellent point from under the lip of the stand on the half hour. Ryan Bell added his second point from the next Derry attack before the lively Ó Cuirrín found his range again. A 32nd minute James Kielt free, followed by another Breathnach free a minute later, left Derry 0-11 to 0-9 ahead at the break.
Derry had much the better of the second half, adding 1-5 to their tally before Waterford finally added to their tally in the 58th minute.
Some of the scores were expertly despatched off the boots of the impressive Ciarán McFaul, who landed two superb efforts from deep, while Christopher McKaigue also surged forward to finish well.
But Derry’s 50th minute goal all but settled the match as a contest, as Danny Heavron surged onto Karl McKaigue’s pass to smash the ball hard and low to the right of Waterford goalkeeper Stephen Enright.
Waterford: Stephen Enright; Aidan Trihy, Ray Ó Ceallaigh, Thomas O'Gorman; James McGrath, Stephen Prendergast,; Tommy Prendergast (0-2 each), Michael Curry; Conor Murray, Paul Whyte (0-1), Fearghal Ó Cuirrín; Donie Breathnach (0-5; 0-3f), Joey Veale, Gavin Crotty(0-3). Substitutes: Michael O'Halloran for James McGrath (Black Card, 18 mins), Patrick Hurney for Joey Veale (47), Dylan Guiry for Conor Murray (50), Lorcán Ó Corraoin for Stephen Dalton (54), Frank Galvin for Fearghal Ó Cuirrín (62) and Kieran Murphy for Tommy Prendergast (72).
Derry: Ben McKinless; Niall Keenan (0-1), Brendan Rogers, Karl McKaigue; Ciarán McFaul (0-2), Christopher McKaigue (0-1); Carlus McWilliams; Conor McAtamey, Danny Heavron (1-1); Ryan Bell (0-2), Niall Loughlin (0-2; 0-1f), James Kielt (0-3; 0-2f); Danny Tallon (0-3), Michael McEvoy, Benny Heron. Substitutes: Emmet McGuckin (0-1) for Niall Loughlin (HT), Mark Lynch (0-1) for Ryan Bell (45), Shane McGuigan for James Kielt (49), Neil Forrester for Ciaran McFaul (55), Conor Nevin for Conor McAtamey (60) and Gavin O'Neill for Benny Heron (64).
Referee: Jerome Henry (Mayo)
Laois 2-16 Wicklow 3-10
Laois’s name will be in the draw for round two of the All Ireland SFC Qualifiers on Monday morning - but only after they survived a late scare against Wicklow in Joule Park in Aughrim on Saturday evening.
Played in glorious sunshine, Laois looked to be home and dry when Donie Kingston scored in the 60th minute, and they stretched nine points clear following points from Damien O’Connor and Colm Begley.
But the home side refused to give in and two late goals - from sub Paddy Byrne and impressive corner-forward Paul Cunningham - reduced the gap to three as the game entered injury time.
Johnny McGee’s side threw everything forward in injury time but Laois were able to hold firm.
It had all looked so comfortable for Laois for so long.
Despite playing against the breeze, they got off to a dream start and were 1-3 to 0-1 up after just ten minutes, the goal coming from Walsh who was hugely impressive in the opening half. With Kingston, David Conway, Colm Begley and John O’Loughlin also on target Laois led 1-8 to 0-5 at the break. Wicklow’s scores in the opening half came from Cunningham (two), Seanie Furlong (two) and Mark Kenny.
Laois pushed further ahead early in the second half but Wicklow weren’t in any mood to go away. Half-time sub John McGrath caused Laois all sorts of problems and as well as kicking two fine points he did a lot of the work to set Cunningham up for Wicklow’s first goal. That briefly reduced the gap to three points but Laois’s response was swift and emphatic with Kingston and O’Loughlin hitting back with points straight away.
The game seemed to be up when Kingston won a long ball from James Finn and beat two defenders before slotting past Robert Lambert.
Wicklow ensured it went to the wire with those late goals but Laois hung on.
Laois: G Brody; D Strong, M Timmons, T Collins (0-1); E Buggie, P McMahon, C Begley (0-2); J O'Loughlin (0-2), B Quigley; A Farrell (0-1), D Conway (0-1), D O'Connor (0-1); S Attride, D Kingston (1-4, 0-2f), G Walsh (1-3, 0-2 '45s). Subs: J Finn for Quigley (inj -32), E O'Carroll for Attride (bc - 42), R Munnelly (0-1) for Walsh (43), K Lillis for McMahon (46), A Doran for O'Carroll (inj - 60 mins)
Wicklow: R Lambert; C Hyland, A McLoughlin, S Kelly; D Fitzgerald, B Kennedy, J Crowe; D Boothman, R Finn; D Hayden, D Healy, C Ffrench; M Kenny (0-2), S Furlong (0-3, 3f), P Cunningham (2-3, 0-1f). Subs: J McGrath (0-2) for Boothman (half-time), P Traynor for Ffrench (half-time), P Byrne (1-0) for Fitzgerald (57 mins)
Referee: B Cassidy (Derry)
Sligo 0-22 Antrim 3-7
The sending-off of Antrim substitute Jack Dowling proved decisive as Sligo came from five points down to win by six in Markievicz Park.
Dowling saw red for a dangerous tackle on Mark Breheny, and despite Matthew Fitzpatrick netting a second Antrim goal soon after, the home side then hit 13 points without reply to pull clear.
Antrim’s first goal came from the penalty spot through CJ McGourty early in the second half, after Keelan Cawley had fouled Owen Gallagher close to goal.
Cawley had already been booked and was fortunate not to see a second yellow, but Antrim looked in a strong position when Fitzpatrick’s effort dipped under the crossbar shortly after Dowling’s red.
But Sligo attacker Stephen Coen hit eight points in a dazzling 25-minute spell, before Paddy McBride netted a consolation third goal late on.
The first half was poor, with only a couple of excellent points from Sligo’s Patrick O’Connor enlivening proceedings.
They pushed the hosts into a 0-7 to 0-6 half-time lead, but Antrim’s two goals had the home fans panicking.
They needn’t have worried as the 14-man visitors ran out of steam and Sligo turned on the style to advance to round two.
Sligo: A Devaney; C Harrison, E McHugh (0-1), R Donovan; Keelan Cawley, Brendan Egan, J Kelly; A McIntyre, P O'Connor (0-2); N Ewing, M Breheny (0-1, 1f), N Murphy (0-2); S Coen (0-8, 4f), P Hughes (0-2), A Marren (0-5, 3f). Subs: K McDonnell (0-1) for E McHugh (35), Kyle Cawley for Breheny (44), G O'Kelly-Lynch for Keelan Cawley (55), S Gilmartin for Kelly (64), S Henry for P Hughes (67), D Cummins for P O'Connor (69), P Laffey for Harrison (70).
Antrim: C Kerr; N Delargy, P Gallagher, C Hamill; P McBride (1-1), D Lynch, P McAleer; S McVeigh, S Beatty; C Murray (0-3), M Fitzpatrick (1-0), M Sweeney; CJ McGourty (1-2, 1-0 pen, 1f), T McCann (0-1), R McCann. Subs: K O'Boyle for McAleer (blood sub 10), Ryan Murrary for R McCann (27), J Dowling for Beatty (35), P Healy for Sweeney (black card 56), B Bradley for McGourty (61), Ryan Murray for T McCann 61).
Referee: F Kelly (Longford).
