Leinster Senior Football Club Championship
Leinster Senior Football Club action was in full swing this afternoon.
St Loman's vs Dunshaughlin
St Loman's of Westmeath beat Meath's Dunshaughlin 2-17 to 2-4 in their match.
However, this was a Round 1 encounter, so the Mullingar men still have three huge hurdles to navigate to get their hands on silverware, but they suggested with this performance that they have the focus and quality to go far.
Paddy Dowdall's freewheeling Loman's, who have claimed four of the last five Westmeath titles, sewed up victory, and a quarter-final date with Castletown of Wexford, long before full-time.
Loman's led by eight points at half-time and made sure that the poor record of Meath teams in the Leinster club SFC wouldn't be improved, and if it wasn't for Aaron Murphy's 24th minute goal for Dunshaughlin, the game would have been up by the break.
St Mary's Ardee vs Abbeylara
Two second-half goals set St Mary's Ardee on their way to a Leinster quarter-final appearance as they saw off Abbeylara on Sunday afternoon, with a final score of St Mary’s Ardee 3-14, Abbeylara 2-8.
Louth county champions St Marys Ardee proved too strong for Longford winners Abbeylara.
While they had plenty to spare at the finish, the Marys were stunned at half-time, as a free from Abbeylara’s Ciaran Scanlon found its way to the net to leave the sides level at the break.
However, Abbeylara were dealt a huge blow when they lost Cathal Gilligan to a black card, and Jason Kelly to a straight red card in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Ardee St Marys made their advantage count, with Tom Jackson and Karl Faulkner grabbing the goals, while Kian Moran and Carl Gillespie tagged on further scores.
The Marys pushed for home, with sub Ronan Carroll and Tom Jackson adding late scores as the Marys advanced to the quarter-final of the Leinster senior championship where they host Carlow winners Rathvilly next weekend.
Tinahely vs Portarlington
Tinahely shocked as they knocked Portarlington out of the Leinster Club Championship with a game that finished Tinahely 2-5, Portarlington 0-10.
The Wicklow team will play Tullamore in the quarter-final next weekend after their one-point victory, after only winning their first county title in 40 years eight days ago.
Portarlington won the Laois SFC three weeks ago but the team that took to the field in this game was much different from the one that dismantled Portlaoise in that game.
County final man of the match Colm Murphy, Paddy O’Sullivan and Robbie Pigott have all returned to Australia, while midfielder Eoin McCann also missed out as he is away travelling.
Tinahely kicked the last two points of the first half via Matthew Ging to lead 2-3 to 0-6 at the break.
Port improved when play resumed as Foster scored twice, and they were level when Ronan Coffey pointed a free after a foul on Jason Moore.
Yet Tinahely nudged ahead, widening their gap to two before it was cut to one again, and Portarlington had late chances to force extra time, but Tinahely held on.
County finals
There were also a pair of county finals down for decision this afternoon.
Kildare Senior Hurling Championship
Naas did the double in Kildare after their hurlers took on Maynooth in the hurling decider at Conleth's Park, finishing Naas 3-30 to Maynooth 0-13.
Just a week after their footballers became the first Kildare side in 114 years to complete a four-in-a-row in the Senior Championship, the Naas hurlers became the first to win a six-in-a-row in 105 years with a comprehensive dismantling of Maynooth at Cedral St Conleths Park.
Cousins Brian Byrne and man of the match Jack Sheridan were at the heart of the win.
The writing was on the wall for Maynooth at half-time when Naas led 1-13 to 0-7 and things got even worse when Sheridan set up captain Byrne for a well taken goal just three minutes after the restart.
Wexford Senior Hurling Championship
St Martins were crowned the Wexford Senior hurling champions for the fifth time after Barry O’Connor pounced for a 46th minute goal in Sunday’s decider against neighbours St. Anne’s at Chadwicks Wexford Park with a final score of 1-21 to 0-19.
A productive spell either side of half-time saw St. Martin’s, chasing their first title since 2019, soar into a 0-12 to 0-6 advantage.
St. Anne’s never gave up the ghost, but four closing Rory O’Connor points helped safeguard St. Martin’s return to the Wexford throne a week after having suffered defeat in the county Intermediate football final.
