Carlow and Kildare both qualified for the semi-finals of the Christy Ring Cup courtesy of wins over Derry and London this afternoon.
Eoin Garvey's Carlow side claimed a 2-15 to 3-09 victory over Derry at Dr Cullen Park to continue their unbeaten run in Group 2B. They got off to the perfect start when Des Murphy rammed home their first goal after only 45 seconds.
Just a minute later, Oak Leaf forward Sean Leo McGoldrick scored a goal at the other end and it was game on.
However, Carlow, aided by the wind, managed to dominate the remainder of the opening half to lead by 1-10 to 2-o2 at the break.
Oisin McCloskey did fire home Derry's second goal in the fourth-minute, handing the visitors a three-point advantage, but Carlow soon took control.
Joe Waters, Brendan Lawlor, Alan Brennan, Mark Brennan and Des Murphy shared out the Barrowsiders' opening ten points.
Derry's only point-scorers in the first half were Gareth O'Kane (free) and Conor Quinn.
Derry were a further 1-01 behind within four minutes of the restart as Mark Brennan pointed and then he set up Craig Doyle for Carlow's second goal.
McGoldrick grabbed Derry's third goal, three minutes from time, as the game petered out and it ended with both sides down to 14 men as the victors' Des Murphy and Derry full-back Michael Conway were both red carded for their involvement in a fracas.
Kildare had to come from behind to beat London 0-24 to 1-11 in Clane and advance to the Ring Cup's knockout stages.
London were 1-08 to 0-09 ahead at half-time with Fergus McMahon managing to find the Lilywhites' net.
Helped by free-taker Billy White, Kildare managed to reduce the arrears to two points by the break, despite having defender Richie Hoban sent-off.
Kildare continued to make little of London's numerical advantage and they put in a strong display in the second half with two White points levelling the game and then a Mark Molony drive putting them ahead.
The Exiles had no answer to the marksmanship of man-of-the-match White as the home side notched their third win in four Group 2B games to remain at the top of the standings.
In Group 2A, neighbouring counties Meath and Westmeath are locked together on five points with just one round of fixtures to play.
Meath had a bye this weekend which allowed Westmeath, the 2005 Ring Cup champions, to join them at the top of the table. The Lake county side emerged as 2-14 to 0-11 victors over Mayo in Castlebar, with Ronan Whelan and Derek McNicholas scoring their goals.
Kerry, who are one point behind Westmeath and face the Lakesiders in a must-win match next weekend, earned a 2-21 to 2-11 victory over Down in Tralee.
The Kingdom kept their chances of reaching the semi-finals alive with a stirring display. They had two goals on the board within ten minutes of the start - John Egan and Michael Conway were the scores as the home side burst 2-04 to 0-00 ahead.
Down fought valiantly and were only 2-10 to 2-04 in arrears at half-time, as Eoin Clarke and Ciaran Coulter both succeeded in finding the net.
However, Kerry had a match-winner in Shane Brick as he amassed a stunning personal tally of 0-15 to guide Maurice Leahy's men to their second group win.
