The second weekend of action in the 2007 Nicky Rackard Cup produced wins for the hurlers of Armagh, Louth, Monaghan and Donegal.
Armagh secured a quarter-final spot with a 2-13 to 1-9 victory over Tyrone at Keady on Saturday night. The Orchard county's second win in the third-tier competition saw them confirm themselves as winners of Group 3A.
Fiachra Bradley (1-2), Paul Breen (1-2) and Conor McCann (1-1) led the scoring for Mattie Lennon's home side, while former dual star Paul McCormack, who is in his second season as Armagh captain, landed two points. Tyrone's scoring stars were Cormac McHugh (1-0) and Peadar McMahon (0-5).
Louth's 0-17 to 0-7 win over Cavan in Dundalk means they will finish top of the pile in Group 3D and feature in the July 14 quarter-finals. Free-taker Collins Connolly continued his impressive scoring form for the Wee county side with a return of 0-7 (0-6f).
Louth manager Pat Clancy will want his players to put in some shooting practice before their quarter-final tie - they finished with a wides tally of 21 but a lack of goal-scoring chances kept Cavan at a distance.
Monaghan's first outing in this season's Rackard Cup resulted in a 2-14 to 2-11 success against Ulster rivals Fermanagh in Lisnakea.
The Farney men, who finished bottom of NHL Division 3A, put their disappointing league form behind them to book their place in the last-eight. The returning Pat O'Connell top-scored with 1-11 while Noel Morgan finished with 1-1.
Neil Og Murphy and Stephen Smith bagged a goal apiece for Fermanagh, while Jason McManus sent over seven points. Monaghan are second in Group 3C ahead of their meeting with table-toppers Roscommon at Clones next Saturday.
At Pearse Park, Donegal chalked up their first win in Group 3B as they downed Longford by 0-16 to 0-12 with Kevin Campbell finishing with a personal tally of 0-9 (0-7f). Joe O'Brien top-scored for Longford with 0-6 (0-5f). A win for Donegal over Leitrim in next weekend's final game would see both Donegal and Longford qualify for the knock-out stages.
