CAVAN, LIMERICK, ANTRIM and Meath are in the driving seats in their respective groups after tonight’s Tailteann Cup action, with Down versus Tipperary this afternoon the only contest still to be resolved.

However, there was no doubting what was the highlight game of the round, as Offaly surged late on to snatch what could only be described as a scarcely-deserved draw against Laois in O’Moore Park – 1-11 each.

The home side were more physical, more powerful and utterly dominant for the vast majority of the game, and this was particularly evident in the first half when they controlled the kickout and held off to just one point in the first 21 minutes.

Good defensive work kept the Faithful men in the game, allied to seven first-half wides for Laois, but it looked like the tie decisively shifted in favour of Billy Sheehan’s men when Offaly goalkeeper Ian Duffy spilled a long ball and Kieran Lillis was on hand to poke the ball to the net to make it 1-8 to 0-5 at half-time.

Two Dyland Hyland points immediately after the restart roused the 2,500 crowd and hinted at a strong surge from Offaly and a potentially thrilling tie, but what followed was a very poor half-hour of action, with just four points added between both teams in that time.

Niall Corbet’s point looked like the insurance score, but a scrambled Joe Maher goal and two outstanding Nigel Bracken points left it level at the end, and Offaly will regret that they didn’t move their last possession up the field quick enough to potentially take the win.

Longford bounced back well from their defeat to Limerick in round one, with Joe Hagan and Dylan Farrell finding the net in the first half to ensure a 2-11 to 1-3 interval lead against Wicklow. A second goal from Hagan pushed them 14 points clear midway through the second half, and they eased off from there to win by 3-17 to 2-9, deepening the pressure on Wicklow manager Oisín McConville.

Antrim were strong in the second half of their clash with Wexford and came from 0-11 to 0-9 behind to win by 2-15 to 0-4 in Wexford Park, where two goals in three minutes from Rúairí McCann (Aghagallon) turned the tide.

Páraic Hughes, Mark Rossiter and Kevin O’Grady struck some excellent points as the home side looked like they might add another big result to their draw with Fermanagh last weekend, but any chance they had of making up for the concession of those goals was wiped off the table when Conor Carty added a black card to his earlier yellow after 51 minutes.

Fermanagh move into second place in that group after they compounded Leitrim’s woes with a 1-19 to 2-7 win at Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada.

Ryan Lyons got their goal to ensure they led by 1-9 to 0-4 at half-time, though goals from Paul Keaney and Mark Plunkett early in the second half dragged Leitrim right back into contention.

Fermanagh responded brilliantly however with a run of points from Josh Largo Elis, Ryan Jones, Conor McShea and Garvan Jones (two) to take the sting out of the contest.

Finally, it was plain sailing for Meath in Fraher Field, as they beat Waterford by 3-17 to 1-14. The Déise were only two points adrift at half time but second half goals from Matthew Costello, Jordan Morris (penalty) and Donal Lenihan ensured a comfortable win for Colm O’Rourke’s side.