The Div. 1B fixture at Pairc Ui Rinn between Cork and Wexford ended in a 2-13 to 0-9 victory for Cork, but the circumstances generated much more interest than the result.
A young, inexperienced Cork side, minus their Newtownshandrum contingent, who are preparing for the All-Ireland club final, were convincing winners. However, much of the talk was of whether the players could see the ball as it fizzed through the night air.
Across the board, there didn’t appear to be any negative feedback, and while a lackluster Wexford might’ve been tempted to blame the novel conditions, they managed to resist.
“The lights probably gave the game a better atmosphere than you might get on a cold Sunday afternoon. The players don’t think it makes any difference though,” reflected Cork manager Donal O’Grady, who gave opportunities to several players who were on the fringe of the team last year.
Still, it was the more seasoned campaigners such as Sean O hAilpin and Tom Kenny who gave Cork the edge as Brendan Lombard scored two goals and Jonathan O’Callaghan hit 4 points. Mick Jacob and Paul Codd each had 4 points for Wexford who were missing Adrian Fenlon, Rory McCarthy and Larry Murphy.
OFFALY 2-17, ANTRIM 2-14
Offaly kept pace with Cork at the top of the division with a victory over Antrim at Casement Park. Offaly had a fast start to thank for this performance as Neville Coughlan and Damien Murray fired in early goals, but with Brian McFall and Aidan Delargy replying with goals for Antrim during the second half, the gap was reduced to just 2 points when a late Michael Cordial point secured the result for the Leinster county.
LIMERICK 2-21, TIPP 1-12
Limerick slumped to a second defeat when they were outclassed by Tipperary at the Gaelic Grounds. While Tipp were lively and confident enough with Eoin Kelly contributing an impressive 1-9 and Benny Dunne 6 points from play, yet Limerick abjectly failed to provide a meaningful challenge with manager Pad Joe Whelahan conceding that his team’s performance was “terrible.”
GALWAY 0-18, KILKENNY 1-12
In Div. 1A, surprise, surprise, the normally invincible Kilkenny were subjected to a second successive defeat when Galway took the honors at Salthill last Sunday.
“It’s actually three defeats when you take in the Walsh Cup final,” manager Brian Cody reminded listeners as he gently poured cold water on questions regarding Kilkenny’s apparent demise.
There’s no doubt that Kilkenny were nowhere near as sharp as they’ll be in three months time, but neither was this a disinterested performance. More, it was Galway’s enthusiasm and application that stood out as Eugene Cloonan, who hit 12 points in all, Mark Kerins and Ollie Canning stifled the All-Ireland champions.
CLARE 3-13, DUBLIN 2-13
Dublin were talking the talk after their loss to Clare at Ennis as they battled impressively despite the absence of their leading player, Conal Keaney.
“That team is going to go places, no question about it,” manager Humphrey Kelleher said. “We proved that we have heart, we were 7 or 8 points down and we didn’t give up. We showed that we’re not a one man team.”
The Dubs were certainly far more focused than during the earlier loss to Galway. However, Clare weren’t firing on all cylinders as they failed to kill the game off midway through the second half. Goals by Frank Lohan, Alan Markham and Niall Gilligan had put them in a strong position only for Shane Martin to spearhead a Dublin revival with his second goal. The gap closed to just 2 points when Markham stepped in to seal Clare’s unconvincing win with a couple of late scores.
WATERFORD 0-12, LAOIS 3-11
Waterford joined Clare and Galway at the top of the division with a second victory, this time over Laois at Walsh Park. It proved to be a struggle as they only pulled clear in the closing stages following an improved performance by Laois, who had two goals by Damien Culleton and one from Liam Tynan.
It took a strong finish by Tony Browne and Dave Bennett to make the difference for Waterford whose main scorer was once again Paul Flynn with 8 points from placed balls.
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OTHER GAMES
Down and Westmeath played out a 1-15 to 2-12 draw at Ballygalget and each county now has 3 points each at the top of Div. 2A, while Roscommon ran out 1-13 to 2-5 winners over Derry at Athleague. In Div. 2B, Kerry crushed Carlow by 9-13 to 0-15 at Dr. Cullen Park, where Shane Brick scored 3-9, and Wicklow registered a first win of the campaign with a 2-14 to 2-9 success against Meath in Navan.
Also, Sligo moved to the top of Div. 3A with a 3-12 to 1-13 triumph over Armagh, but Leitrim were held to a second successive draw when Longford equalized with a late point to make it 2-10 to 1-13 at Carrick-on-Shannon. Meanwhile, Monaghan got the better of Cavan by 1-12 to 1-11 in Div. 3B, and Fermanagh defeated Louth by 2-15 to 0-11.