Allianz Football League Division 3
- Clare 0-9 Sligo 1-5
- Limerick 2-7 Antrim 2-14
- Offaly 0-10 Westmeath 1-11
- Wicklow 0-13 Down 0-18
Allianz Football League Division 4
- London 1-9 Wexford 1-13
- Waterford 1-5 Leitrim 2-17
Dioralyte Walsh Cup final
- Wexford 1-21 Galway 0-16
WESTMEATH GOT THEIR Allianz Football League promotion push off to a bright start with a four-point win over Division 3 rivals Offaly on Sunday afternoon.
Senan Baker’s first-half goal proved to be decisive as Dessie Dolan’s men left O’Connor Park with a 1-11 to 0-10 victory.
In Rathkeale, Dominic McEnhill’s first-half penalty set Antrim on course to a comfortable seven-point win over hosts Limerick.
Andy McEntee’s side led 1-7 to 0-4 at the break but had to weather a determined Limerick fightback after the break.
Limerick cut their deficit to the minimum, 1-10 to 2-6, through goals from Iain Corbett and Tommie Childs before Ruairi McCann bagged Antrim’s second of the afternoon to see them home.
In Mark Fitzgerald’s first league outing as Clare boss, the Banner needed a point from Aaron Griffin deep into additional time to edge a low-scoring game against Sligo, 0-9 to 1-5.
Elsewhere in Division 3, Down left Aughrim with the two points thanks to a 0-18 to 0-13 win against Wicklow.
Meanwhile, Wexford and Leitrim are up and running following wins in Division 4 on Sunday.
Wexford ran out 1-13 to 1-9 victors over London in Ruislip, while Leitrim cruised past Waterford by 2-17 to 1-5.
They join Laois and Carlow — victors over Longford and Tipperary respectively last night — at the head of the table.
Wexford were in front 0-9 to 1-5 against the Exiles and had moved three points clear in the final quarter when the critical score of the game arrived from Eoghan Nolan, as he raised a crucial green flag for John Hegarty’s team.
Leitrim also enjoyed a successful away trip as they ran out 15-point victors in Dungarvan. Leitrim were ahead 0-7 to 0-2 at half-time, kicking on in the second half with Evan Sweeney netting in the 50th minute and Riordan O’Rourke netting in injury-time.
Dermot Ryan grabbed a goal in response for Waterford, but Leitrim were well on top here with Darragh Rooney notching 0-10.
In Sunday’s Walsh Cup hurling final at Netwatch Cullen Park, Wexford claimed the pre-season honours for the first time since 2020 with an eight-point win over Galway.
Lee Chin finished with 0-9 for Keith Rossiter’s side, who led 0-11 to 0-8 at the break before extending that advantage to win 1-21 to 0-16.
Sour grapes from Cheika. The knee on Conway was by far the worst incident in the game. Australians are always terrible losers though.
@Jim Demps: so are we to be fair
@domas1507: disagree! By international standards (us, English, Australia) we’re not too bad. Honest about how shite we are when we are if anything
@Jim Demps: Entirely agree… have seen this kind of cynical ‘tackle attempt’ a few times now and it’s clearly not intended to stop the score, but to injure the scorer.
These need to be picked up and sin-binned.
@domas1507: you definitely get off on self flagellation.
@Bruce Van der Gutschmitzer: wrong comment, wrong place.
@domas1507: I never get this. Everyone last week said Australia deserved to win, that they had our number and out played us. We also had justified complaints about some shoddy refereeing, but it wasn’t sour grapes, it’s just another element of the game you can dissect.
@Conor Paddington: some would say complaining about refereeing decisions after you loose, justified or not, is being a bad looser
@Conor Paddington: that’s nonsense, you can rationally dissect a game and be honest whether your team win or lose, and refereeing is a part of that. The ref was bad last week and that is not why Ireland lost amd Australia deserved to win. That is not sour grapes.
@Conor Paddington: I’m not talking about last weeks game exactly. It’s easy be a gracious in defeat when you clearly loose. The sign of a gracious loser is is accepting defeat when you think you should have won. Think ireland v new Zealand in Dublin and a certain French striker for examples of what I mean.
@Jim Demps: the knee? He was legitimately trying to stop a try , he was hardly just going to let him stroll in
@domas1507: @domas1507: well a blatant double handball and determined ignorance of fifa officials is fair enough to critique. Neglecting to give yellows for a knock out shoulder charge and a clothesline would wind you up too. In that case, I’m a sour c¿nt!
@Trevor Reilly: I think he was def trying to injure him… barely laid a hand on him but still dropped the knee into him. Sorry, but for me it was deliberate.
@Bruce Van der Gutschmitzer: don’t be harsh on yourself, you’re just a bad looser
@Jim Demps:
Every country have their whingers and complainers. Australians are no different to ourselves, England, Wales etc.
@domas1507: like true troll resentment feeds me!
@Trevor Reilly: There is nowhere on the field that you are allowed to tackle with the knee. If he was legitimately trying to stop a score why not try to get under the ball with his arms/body?
I like Australia. But they play some highly questionable rugby when it comes to legality. Cheika can do one if he’s going to complain about off-the-ball incidents considering there were a raft of Australian incidents both last and this week.
Cheika can F right off… his players were hitting Irish players off he ball and / or late all evening and getting away with it most of the time!!
Make no mistake. They know that deep down theyll never be able to force Ireland into infringement issues.
I see us getting it done in Sydney. #TeamOfUs
Again some awful referee decision even with TV match officials and touch judges. Hard to understand that they cannot get it right?
I know some will think it’s pedantic but can we stop with this ‘first win in Australia in 39 years’ business it’s not. It’s Ireland’s first away win against Australia. I saw Ireland win in Adelaide 15 years ago.
@Ted Od: first away win against Australia sorry in 39 years.
@Ted Od: it’s pedantic!
That ref was the Pitts … who let him on a pitch…. he was very 2 sided….well take the win .
@Sean Beirne: Two sided? Maybe one side too many? Or not…
Bloody whinging Aussies ( said in an Alf Stewart voice )
It was a shocking challenge
…definitely should be cited