Tyrone top Kerry with ‘half’-hearted effort

Anyway, when the dust had settled on the Div. 1 games, Limerick were confirmed as Kerry’s opponents in the semifinals, while Galway grabbed the other semifinal place against last year’s All-Ireland champions Tyrone.
As the final whistles blew around the country, Limerick discovered that in fact their victory over Armagh at the Gaelic Grounds wasn’t necessary as they made it through to the last four for the first time ever. Meanwhile, Galway defeated Cavan by a point to edge out Sligo on scoring difference for a place in the knockout stages.
On the relegation front, Longford and Fermanagh bit the dust from Div. 1A, while Cavan and Meath dropped down from 1B. Donegal and Offaly were promoted to the top flight from Div. 2A along with Kildare and Down from 2B.

TYRONE 1-8, KERRY 1-7
One might have thought that with both Tyrone and Kerry both virtually certain of semifinal spots from Div. 1A, last Sunday’s encounter at Omagh would have been something of a free-flowing exhibition. However, there seems to be such bitter rivalry between the teams that two players were sent off and a further nine were booked.
Curiously, Tyrone also failed to score during the second half, a fact that prompted manager Mickey Harte to predict that such a performance wouldn’t suffice in the upcoming semifinal against Galway. But the opening half was more representative of Harte’s side and, with the manager’s son Mark goaling from the penalty spot, the winners led by 1-8 to 0-3 at the changeover.
Gradually, though, the influence that had been exerted by Brian Dooher, Brian McGuigan and Enda McGinley slackened as Kerry came back into the contest. Eoin Brosnan began to impress at midfield and when Michael Quirke punched in a goal with a quarter of an hour left, the margin was just a single point.
But Kerry failed to raise a flag in those closing stages during which both Stephen O’Neill and Eamonn Fitzmaurice were sent off following a tackle that led to a bust-up involving nearly a dozen players.

WESTMEATH 2-16, MAYO 2-10
Although Westmeath’s win over Mayo at Cusack Park was their first of the campaign, it was enough for Paidi O Se’s team to escape relegation. Goals by Denis Glennon and a penalty by Gary Dolan, plus six points from Dessie Dolan, gave Westmeath the edge over the Connacht county were already safe from relegation.
Mayo’s goals came from Austin O’Malley and Alan Costello with manager John Maughan admitting that Westmeath’s greater need for victory proved decisive.

DUBLIN 2-12, LONGFORD 2-9
A draw would have been enough for Longford to avoid the drop, but they were beaten by Dublin at Parnell Park, where goals by Johnny McNally and Jason Sherlock made the difference.
Longford’s prospects weren’t helped on 51 minutes when Paul Barden was sent off for a second yellow card offense, and their strong finish which included a Stephen Lynch goal was too late to affect the outcome.

CORK 1-10, FERMANAGH 0-8
Fermanagh were also relegated following a loss to Cork at Pairc Ui Rinn although they had plenty of chances to secure a badly needed win only to be let down by some wayward shooting.

DIV. 1B
LIMERICK 0-15, ARMAGH 0-12
There was more evidence of Limerick’s progress as they topped Div. 1B and booked a place in the semifinal against Munster rivals Kerry following a battling victory over Armagh at the Gaelic Grounds.
With 20 minutes remaining and Armagh leading by a point, it seemed as if the greater resolve and experience of the Ulster county would be brought to bear, but instead it was Limerick who finished the stronger with four unanswered points as Stephen Kelly continued to trouble the visitors’ defense.
“Tyrone, Galway, Kerry and Limerick, it has a nice ring to it,” said the winning manager, Liam Kearns, while his Armagh counterpart, Joe Kernan, admitted: “We took our foot off the pedal and paid the price.”
Although Limerick would have made the last four even if they’d lost, they weren’t to know that as the impressive Kelly kicked five points with Eoin Keating adding three to the total.

GALWAY 2-12, CAVAN 2-11
Galway teetered on the brink of relegation one minute and then they were through to the knockout stages the next as a late Matthew Clancy goal gave them a narrow victory over Cavan at Breffni Park. Galway needed the win and a sequence of results in other games to go their way and that’s exactly how it panned out.
“The game epitomized the division where two points separated us from relegation and a semifinal place,” said a relieved manager John O?Mahony, “but we’ll take our luck as we get it.”
Earlier, John Devane had scored a first goal for Galway, while Micheal Meehan kicked four points. As for relegated Cavan, they had goals from Jason Reilly and sub Mark McKeever.

LAOIS 1-14, WEXFORD 1-8
Wexford’s hopes of a place in the last four were dashed when they lost at Portlaoise. With Laois holding Wexford’s scoring machine Mattie Forde to 1-4 — a paltry contribution by Forde’s exalted standards — they were full value for the win, which, according to manager Mick O’Dwyer, was the best performance of the season so far.
Ross Munnelly scored the winners’ goal, while Brian McDonald and Kieran Fitzpatrick scored 0-4 apiece. While expressing his disappointment at the outcome, Wexford manager Pat Roe insisted that retaining Div. 1 status was still a significant milestone.

SLIGO 1-14, MEATH 3-7
There was more disappointment at Markievicz Park where Meath arrived in contention for a semifinal spot, but ended up being relegated following a defeat by Sligo. This time, football’s most renowned escapologists failed to extricate themselves from the tightest of corners, while Sligo also missed out on the last four having an inferior points difference to Galway.
Dessie Sloyan was once again the winners’ top marksman with a well compiled 1-6. As for a frustrated Meath, Joe Sheridan scored two goals with Ollie Murphy adding a third.

DIV. 2A
Donegal’s 3-15 to 0-5 win over Carlow at Ballyshannon ensured them of promotion along with Offaly, who got the better of Monaghan by 3-8 to 0-12 in Tullamore. Because of Offaly’s success, Roscommon missed out on promotion despite beating Leitrim by 0-11 to 0-5 at Hyde Park, and Clare defeated London by 1-20 to 2-6.
Down and Kildare drew 1-10 to 0-13 at Newcastle with both teams securing promotion from Div. 2B, while Antrim ended Wicklow’s hopes with a 1-9 to 1-7 triumph. There were also victories for Tipperary over Derry and for Louth against Waterford.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Div. 1 semifinals: Tyrone vs. Galway, Kerry vs. Limerick.
Relegated: Longford, Fermanagh, Cavan, Meath.
Div. 2 semifinals: Kildare vs. Offaly, Donegal vs. Down (all four counties promoted to Div. 1).