Armagh, Cork register impressive victories

Looked for a moment as if the GAA had messed up its calendar, but no, this was the start of the National Football League.
Traditionally, the poorest of poor relations of the All-Ireland championship, the league has been a subject of as much derision from players and managements through the years as have various county boards. However, there has certainly been an attempt in the past month to infuse some new energy into an ailing competition.
Hence, the choice of Croke Park for the Div. 1A game between Dublin and reigning All-Ireland champions Armagh, and the decision to stage a fixture under lights between Munster rivals Cork and Kerry. While it’s possible the momentum may not continue, the ball has been set in motion with a touch more creativity than we’ve been accustomed to.

ARMAGH 1-15, DUBLIN 0-7
A home match for Dublin at this time of year would normally be held at Parnell Park, but the county board’s leap of faith in deciding on Croke Park was rewarded by a crowd of 54,000 — a record for a league game before the knockout stages. But if the county board was swelling its bank balance, manager Tommy Lyons had much more pressing concerns as his side was crushed by a confident Armagh.
It wasn’t as if Armagh had the edge on fitness or preparation as both teams had recently returned from a sun holiday, but the Ulster county were vastly superior in every area of the pitch. Initially, the difference was more physical than anything else, but as the contest progressed Armagh demonstrated their superiority with their passing, movement and overall craft.
Shorn of the attacking threats of Ray Cosgrove (suspended) and Alan Brogan (injured), Dublin struggled to make in impression following a bright opening quarter. Armagh led by 0-7 to 0-3 at the interval, with Paul McGrane, Steven McDonnell and Oisin McConville hitting 4 points among them at the end of the first half, and then early in the second the result was put beyond doubt by Barry Duffy’s fisted goal.
“Physically, Armagh blew us away,” Lyons admitted. “Every time they tackled us, we seemed to spill the ball.”

CORK 4-8, KERRY 1-9
Publicly, Larry Tompkins wasn’t reading too much into his side’s comprehensive victory over Kerry at Pairc Ui Rinn last Saturday, but privately he will have been pleased by his players’ energy and enthusiasm. Cork reacted well to the atmosphere created by the lights, and, after withstanding some early pressure, they rocked their opponents with three goals in quick succession by Colin Crowley, Micheal O Croinin and the impressive Graham Canty.
“A loud wake-up call,” was Kerry manager Paidi O Se’s analysis. “We thought we were ready for it, but the three goals before halftime killed us. We’ve absolutely no excuses.”
Crowley added a fourth goal, but the second half was marred by three sendings off. First to go was Cork’s Fionan Murray for dissen. He was followed by Darragh O Se and Brendan Jer O’Sullivan, both of whom received two yellow cards.

GALWAY 1-16, DONEGAL 1-8
Galway got their Div. 1A campaign off to a solid start with a comfortable win over Donegal in Tuam. Starting with six of the county’s All-Ireland winning Under-21 team, Galway were always in control as senior debutant Michael Meehan caught the eye with 1-4 from play. Also on the mark were Derek Savage and Kieran Comer with 10 points between them.

ROSCOMMON 0-11, TYRONE 0-10
Roscommon survived the early sending off of Jonathan Dunning to carve out a victory over last season’s league champions, Tyrone, at Hyde Park. Without their Errigal Ciaran contingent, Tyrone lacked the scoring power of the likes of Peter Canavan. They were powerless to stop Roscommon’s wind-assisted second-half comeback, with Gerry Lohan firing over the winning point.

LAOIS 0-11, MEATH 0-7
In Div. 1B, Laois deservedly prevailed, with the returning Damien Delaney proving the difference, scoring a total of 0-8, including five frees and two 45s. Delaney had good support from Colm Parkinson, Noel Garvan and Padraig Clancy as Laois never trailed.

CAVAN 3-10, KILDARE 2-10
Cavan and Kildare played out a compelling encounter at Newbridge. All the while, it looked as if Kildare were about to make their class tell. However, Cavan held on tenaciously and goals by Jason Reilly, Larry Reilly and Peter Reilly with a penalty gave them the two league points.
Kildare were flattered to be leading by 1-7 to 0-8 at the break thanks to a Tadhg Fennin goal, but Cavan responded with some fine attacking surges during the second half.

MAYO 2-8, SLIGO 1-10
Mayo were full value for their victory over Sligo at Castlebar, where Dessie Sloyan’s injury time penalty put a gloss on the final scoreline. Conor Mortimer with 1-1 and Kieran McDonald who kicked four points were Mayo’s main scorers.

OTHER RESULTS
At Enniskillen, Down’s new manager Paddy O’Rourke got off to a winning start with a 0-8 to 0-6 win against Fermanagh.
In Division 2A, two goals by John Kenny helped Offaly to a 2-12 to 2-10 success against Louth in Drogheda, while Westmeath crushed Wicklow by 2-16 to 0-5 at Aughrim. Limerick hung on for a 1-11 to 1-10 triumph over Leitrim at Clone and Antrim were too strong for London coming through by 2-15 to 0-8 at Casement Park.
In 2B, Clare gained revenge for a recent McGrath Cup final loss to Tipperary with a 1-12 to 1-6 victory at Ardfinnan, and there were points for Longford who comfortably defeated Longford by 3-13 to 0-12 and for Wexford who got the better of Waterford by 0-15 to 1-8.