Antrim maintain their unbeaten run, Louth secure a final date against the Saffrons while there also wins for Carlow and London in Division 4 of the Allianz Football League.

Antrim leaked an early goal, but quickly got on top as the visitors claimed a 2-13 to 1-12 win over Wicklow in Aughrim

Both sides were goal-hungry early on, and after six minutes the score stood at a goal apiece, with Gary Allen netting his second goal in as many games.

The Under-21 player fired to the net in the opening minute for Wicklow before Tómas McCann responded with a green flag for the visitors.

Wind-assisted Antrim quickly got on top, as points from Mark Sweeney and Michael and Tómas McCann, saw them push 1-04 to 1-00 ahead after 11 minutes.

A Rory Finn pointed free broke Wicklow’s 12-minute barren spell, and he followed up with another score to cut the gap to two points at the start of the second quarter.

Antrim came good again, and pushed 1-08 to 1-03 ahead at the break with Matthew Fitzpatrick and Brian Neeson on target.

Despite Wicklow holding a strong wind advantage on the restart, Antrim failed to relinquish their lead.

Neeson continued to impress, with Conor Murray and McCann also on target, before Neeson netted Antrim’s second goal with 14 minutes remaining to ensure a 2-12 to 1-08 lead.

The visitors only added one more point to their tally, as Wicklow finished strongly with Paul Cunningham and Rory Finn on target, but it was too late for the hosts.

Louth gave a defiant performance to leap over Wexford and book a final date with Antrim for the right to play in Division 3 next season with a hard earned 0-13 to 0-11 win over the Slaneysiders in Drogheda.

Louth led by 0-10 to 0-05 at the interval, with Conor Grimes, Declan Byrne, James Califf, Jim McEnaney and Cian Doyle on target, but were forced to work hard in the second half.

The hosts could have got a goal in the 27th minute, but Wexford defended well and had Joey Wadding to thank for ensuring a green flag wasn’t raised.

Ben Brosnan cut through for a Wexford goal chance on the restart, but was denied after a fine block by Louth goalkeeper Craig Lynch. 

The visitors kept pressing with Donal Shanley and Ciaran Lyng adding points before a Brian Malone goal miss.

Wexford battled back to level the tie for the first time at 0-11 apiece, thanks to a 66th-minute PJ Banville score.

Despite having James Califf black carded, Louth dug deep with his replacement Ger McSorley firing Louth’s final point after a Ryan Burns score to ensure a two-point win.

On Saturday, Carlow claimed their third win of the campaign, with a 0-12 to 1-04 away win over Leitrim in Carrick-on-Shannon.

This mid-table clash was a keenly contested affair, but Carlow started the brighter and led by 0-06 to 0-02 after 20 minutes, with Paul Broderick (0-04), Chris Blake (0-02) and Derek Hayden (0-01) on target.

Emlyn Mulligan (0-03) worked hard, firing two points before the break to ensure a 0-06 to 0-04 interval score-line.

However, wind-assisted Carlow kept Leitrim well at bay in the second half, leaking just a goal in the closing 35 minutes.

Turlough O’Brien’s charges pushed 0-10 to 0-04 clear on the restart, with Darragh Foley taking over from Broderick on free-taking duties.

Leitrim got through for the game's only goal 15 minutes from the end when Ronan Kennedy netted.

But Carlow finished with points from Foley and Daniel St Ledger on the way to a five-point win.

In the bottom of the table battle, London claimed their first win of 2016 with a 0-13 to 0-12 victory over Waterford at Fraher Field, Dungarvan.

Laois native Cathal Óg Greene fired the winning score for the visitors in injury-time, in a game which saw the sides level on five occasions.

Ciaran Deely’s charges trailed by two points after 68 minutes, but held Waterford scoreless, with three unanswered points, including Greene’s vital late kick.

London began brightly, and led by 0-08 to 0-07 at half-time, with seven different scorers by the interval - with Adrian Hanlon claiming two of their points.

JJ Hutchinson (0-08) kept Waterford in touch with four first-half points - all in a 10-minute spell in the first quarter, as his side led by 0-05 to 0-04 after 17 minutes before London turned things around.

On the restart Waterford bounced back, with Hutchinson and Gavin Crotty helping their side to a 0-10 to 0-08 lead after 48 minutes.

Waterford led by two, following Hutchinson’s eighth point in the 68th minute, but London bounced back to equalise before Greene popped up in the fourth minute of additional time for the match winner.

RESULTS

Wicklow 1-12 Antrim 2-13
Louth 0-13 Wexford 0-11
Waterford 0-12 London 0-13