Tyrone beat All-Ireland champions Galway by two points in the Allianz National Football League Division 1A today. Elsewhere, Brendan Devenney shone for Donegal as Tommy Lyons got his reign as Dublin manager off to a winning start.
Division 1A
Galway 0-09 1-08 Tyrone
Ulster champions Tyrone beat All-Ireland champions Galway in very difficult conditions at Ballinasloe today. Tommy Joyce opened the scoring with a point in the seventh minute but Stephen O’Neill scored a goal for Tyrone one minute later which unsettled the Galway defence. Tyrone led 1-04 to 0-06 at half-time but, within two minutes of the restart, Galway surged into the lead with two points. The Ulster men went back in front, however, with points from O’Neill and Brian Dooher. Man of the match O’Neill scored two valuable points in the final 10 minutes before John Donnellan pointed a difficult free to reduce Tyrone’s winning margin to two points.
Dublin 2-10 0-14 Donegal
Dublin manager Tommy Lyons got his managerial campaign off to a winning start with Dublin’s victory over Donegal at Parnell Park today. Donegal gave it everything in the pursuit of victory and Brendan Devenney almost single-handedly unhinged the Dublin defence. The Dubs held a one-point advantage at half-time (0-06 to 0-05) and moved five points clear within eight minutes of the restart, helped by an excellent goal from Alan Brogan in the 38th minute. Devenney then scored four unanswered points to reduce the margin to a single point with 15 minutes remaining. But substitute Johnny McGee scored a vital goal, which set Dublin on the road to victory. Devenney scored his ninth point, the last of the game, but it was not enough to deny Dublin victory.
Division 1B
Cavan 1-15 1-10 Derry
A well-deserved victory for Cavan in a game they dominated from start to finish at Celtic Park. Derry took a brief lead in the 20th minute when wing-back David O’Neill scored a goal but that lead was short-lived when Jason Reilly scored a Cavan goal four minutes later which helped the Breffni men to a 1-06 to 1-03 interval lead. With the aid of the wind, Cavan started the second half with three quick points from Jason Reilly and two from Paul Galligan. Fergal Crossan tried to steady the ship with a point for Derry but man of the match Anthony Ford scored a wonderful point from play for Cavan which left the Breffni team in pole position to the finish.
Fermanagh 1-14 1-08 Clare
The final score-line might point to a comfortable Fermanagh victory but in reality they struggled for much of the game at Brewster Park and only pulled away from a dogged Clare side in the last quarter. Fermanagh got off to a great start with Rory Gallagher scoring 1-1 in the opening five minutes. Clare fought back with a goal from Stephen Hickey in the 12th minute and Clare were the superior side until half-time to lead by one point. The Fermanagh manager, Dominic Corrigan, then introduced Raymond Gallagher at the start of the second half which made an immediate impact. After Ger Quinlan put the visitors two points up, Gallagher scored four majestic points from play and was assisted by Tom Brewster with two points and a point apiece from Kieran Donnelly, Colm Bradley and man of the match Paul Brewster to give Fermanagh a six-point winning margin.
Kildare 0-12 0-12 Sligo
Both sides will view today’s game as an opportunity missed at Newbridge today. Kildare started the brighter side with two points in two minutes and when they led by four points after 23 minutes, it seemed that victory was on the cards. However Sligo fought back to narrow the half-time margin to two points. 14 minutes into the second half, a Gerry McGowan point levelled the sides for the third time. McGowan put Sligo into the lead for the first time in the 61st minute but Kildare regained the initiative with points from Colm O’Reilly and the impressive Derek McCormack. McGowan tied it up for the fifth time approaching the full-time whistle.
Mayo 0-10 0-05 Down
Mayo started their defence of the League title with a five-point victory over Down at Ballina today. Down raced into an early two-point lead with Michael Walsh opening the scoring after five minutes with Ronan Murtagh scoring another point four minutes later. Mayo struggled for long periods despite dominating possession with Shane Trench particularly impressive at mid-field. The champions finally got a score after 20 minutes with a point from Conor Mortimer, which settled the Mayo man. Further points from Mortimer and Mary McNicholas gave them the edge at half-time to lead 0-3 to 0-2. Down were on level terms eight minutes into the second half but the dismissal of Kevin McGrath altered the pattern of the game two minutes later. The extra man freed up the Mayo attack as Down floundered and Mayo started to play like champions to win.
Division 2A
Limerick 2-11 1-11 Antrim
Kerry 2-12 0-09 Leitrim
Louth 2-19 0-01 London
Armagh 2-10 0-13 Wicklow
Division 2B
Carlow 1-07 0-11 Monaghan
Meath 0-09 0-12 Laois
Tipperary 1-17 1-10 Waterford
Wexford 2-10 2-09 Longford
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
