Dublin hurlers stun holders Waterford

Two earlier defeats in the campaign didn’t augur well for Dublin, but they didn’t appear to be in the slightest bit intimidated as they stormed into a 1-7 to 0-0 lead by the 17th minute. Tomas McGrane, who finished with an impressive 1-6, bagged the goal following a long puck-out and the visitors’ forwards threatened to double their total as the Waterford defense went missing.
Amazingly, a second goal, by Liam Ryan, had Dublin a massive 15 points clear at the interval and even with the breeze at their backs, no one could have anticipated such a situation. Gradually, Waterford roused themselves with Eoin McGrath coming more into the picture. A Dave Bennett penalty reduced the gap to five and then Ken McGrath’s late goal gave Dublin one or two nervous moments, but they thoroughly deserved to hold on for a first success this season.

KILKENNY 1-17
LAOIS 1-8
Kilkenny’s progress at the head of the division was much more serene as they comfortably saw off the challenge of Laois at Portlaoise to maintain their 100 percent record. Even without several regular first-team players, the All-Ireland and league champions were never in that much difficulty as they surged clear during the second half.
Jimmy Coogan hit 9 points and substitute Stephen Grehan scored an important goal, while Brian McCormack replied with a goal for the home team and David Cuddy added three points.

CLARE 2-16
GALWAY 1-18
Clare needed more luck than Kilkenny to keep their unbeaten record alive with a narrow victory over Galway in Ennis. Two mistakes by Galway goalkeeper Damien Howe allowed Clare in for goals, and then late points by Fergal Lynch and Frank Lohan secured the victory in dramatic fashion.
In the 20th minute, Howe failed to deal with Niall Gilligan’s innocuous free from the right wing and the ball slipped in for the first goal, and then Howe again was at fault as he dropped Barry Murphy’s delivery and Gilligan was on hand to force the ball into an unguarded net.
Those errors enabled Clare to be level at the changeover, with David Tierney having earlier goaled for Galway, but as manager Cyril Lyons admitted, his side should’ve been at least 5 points down. But Clare took full advantage to dominate much of the second half thanks mainly to the efforts of Gerry Quinn and Colin Lynch.
The game looked up for Galway as they trailed by 4 points. However, they fought back and an Ollie Fahy point brought the sides level just before full-time. A draw looked likely, but first Fergal Lyncy and then Lohan drove over scores, and Cathal Moore’s injury time riposte was too late for Galway.

TIPP 3-21
WEXFORD 1-11
It was business as usual at the top as Tipperary trounced a disappointing Wexford outfit in a Division 1B game in Nenagh. It was all too easy for Tipp, who guaranteed themselves a place in the second phase of the competition, but in the circumstances, Wexford manager John Conran’s upbeat analysis that this was “the best of bunch of players” he’d ever worked with only succeeded in mystifying his audience.
In truth, Wexford were a disjointed mess from the moment Lar Corbett whipped in an early goal for the winners. Corbett added another later in the contest, Eoin Kelly also found the net in style, and there were impressive scores for Mark O’Leary, Conor Gleeson and Ger O’Grady as Tipp registered a third success from as many games.

CORK 2-14
DERRY 0-3
Cork kept up the chase with their third win, this time an emphatic result over Derry at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. The Leesiders are also on track for a place in the second phase and after leading by 2-14 to 0-3 at the break, the result was never in any doubt. Eoin Fitzgerald was in fine scoring form finishing with 2-8, while Alan Browne with two, Ben O’Connor and Setanta O hAilpin also found the net.

OFFALY 2-16
LIMERICK 1-12
In a week when there was intense speculation that Mark Foley would quit the Limerick panel following a dispute with manager Dave Keane, Limerick not surprisingly slumped to defeat at the hands Offaly at Kilmallock. At one stage, it appeared that Foley would refuse to play on the back of an unspecified row. However, the county captain played the full 70 minutes.
So had the controversy affected the team’s performance after a third successive loss? “Absolutely not,” said Keane, who predictably blamed the media for the rumpus. “There was nothing in these issues that warranted Mark being plastered all over the papers.”
While was shooting the messenger, his players were also having trouble finding the right target as Offaly eased home with goals by Brendan Carroll and Damien Murray.

OTHER GAMES
In Div. 2A, Down and Kildare are together at the top on 4 points. Down hammered Kildare by 2-22 to 1-7 at Portaferry, while Westmeath were also much too strong for Roscommon, running out winners by 3-14 to 0-11 at Woodmount. In Div. 2B, Kerry lead the way on maximum points following their 2-19 to 0-11 victory over Meath in Navan, while Carlow are second after defeating Longford by 2-19 to 1-9 at Dr. Cullen Park.

FOOTBALL
Monaghan surprised favorites Tyrone by winning last Sunday’s McKenna Cup final by 1-11 to 0-12 at Brewster Park. With Peter Canavan coming off the bench for Tyrone, Monaghan were still good enough to hold on and Thomas Freeman emerged as the hero with the game’s only goal 10 minutes from the end.