Sligo and Meath were battling it out for a spot in the Christy Ring Cup final at Markievicz Park, and it was the Royals who booked it was a 0-24 to 0-18 win.
The opening skirmishes were keenly fought with Meath's Eamonn O’Donnchadha and Sligo’s Andrew Kilcullen prominent in the scoring stakes as the Royals led by a point midway through the first half.
A couple of Jack Regan frees extended Meath’s lead and they led 0-14 to 0-10 at the break.
Kilcullen (0-03) and Regan (0-02) exchanged scores early in the second half as Sligo reduced the gap to three points, and another Kilcullen score left two points between them with 15 minutes remaining.
It was all set up for a grandstand finish but late scores from Martin Healey and James Kelly secured Meath a spot in the final.
Derry are off to Croke Park after a commanding 0-30 to 1-11 win over Mayo at Owenbeg,
The Oakleafers earned a late win in London last time out to leave them in pole position, and they led 0-13 to 0-06 at half time with Cormac O'Doherty, Paul Cleary and Sean Kelly amongst their scorers.
Mayo went for goals in the second half but found Oisin O’Doherty in great form, Derry opting to add to their tally with points at the other end.
Johnny McGarvey’s side were 0-22 to 0-08 ahead with 15 minutes remaining and although Mayo did raise a green flag at the death, the result was never in doubt.
London rounded off their campaign with a high-scoring 2-28 to 4-18 win over Tyrone in Carrickmore.
Sean Duffin and Sean Og Grogan hit early goals for the Red Hands but it was the Exiles who grabbed the upperhand in what turned out to be a shootout. When all was said and done, London had five poitns to spare in the end.
Wicklow warmed up for their forthcoming Nickey Rackard Cup final with Donegal with a 2-17 to 1-18 win over the Tir Chonaill men in Letterkenny.
In what was a dead-rubber affair, the hosts were in complete control with Sean Ward's 26th minute goal helping them into a 1-14 to 1-06 lead.
However, the Garden County hit top stride in the second half to land a psychological blow before their Croke Park final in a fortnight.
Eoin McGuinness signed off on a decade of service with Armagh, but it was a losing finish at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds as Louth recorded a 0-27 to 3-14 victory.
The Wee County, managed by former Orchard defender Paul McCormack, avoided relegation to the Lory Meagher Cup as a result.
Armagh opened the scoring with a Fionntán Donnelly goal and a point from the same player had them five points ahead after 17 minutes.
Darren Geoghegan started to find his range from there as Louth fought their way back into the contest, and a series of points from the midfielder just before the break had Louth 0-14 to 1-07 ahead.
He added two more on the restart, Ryan Walsh also pointing, as Louth moved further ahead, before Tomás Galvin's 49th minute goal brought Armagh back into the contest.
Typically it was Geoghegan who responded with another burst of points, meaning Galvin’s second goal was nothing more than a consolation.
Fermanagh needed a positive result to have any hope of maintaining their Nickey Rackard Cup status, but they went down 2-17 to 1-18 away to Roscommon.
Ryan Conlon scored an early goal for the Rossies and they led 1-09 to 0-06 at the break with Paddy Fallon contributing a series of frees.
Daniel Teague and JP McGarry sparked an Erne revival early in the second period and the former drew them level in the 50th minute before Roscommon grabbed their second goal, this time through Brendan Mulry.
Both sides were reduced to 14 players with Fermanagh’s Francie McBrien and Roscommon’s Conor Cosgrove dismissed.
Roscommon saw the game out well with Teague’s late goal not enough to earn a result for the relegated Ulster side.
Lancashire were the big winners in the Lory Meagher Cup as a 5-13 to 3-17 win over Warwickshire saw them jump from fourth to second and into a final meeting with table-toppers Monaghan.
It was the hosts who started the brighter at Páirc na hÉireann with Niall Eames helping them into an early 0-05 to 0-02 lead, and they continued to dominate from there with free-taker Padric Crehan, Luke Hands and Oisin Coffey all prominent as they led 0-14 to 0-05 at the interval.
Conor Kennedy hit a quickfire 1-01 for Lancashire on the restart before Hands responded with a green flag for the home team.
When Hands again found the net from a penalty in the 47th minute, Warwickshire's lead was out to 12 points.
Lancashire’s fightback started from there though with Ray McCormack grabbing a brace of goals, the latter from the penalty spot, and when Robin Spencer again goaled in the 60th minute the gap was back to a point.
Two minutes later McCormack completed his hat-trick and although Jack Grealish converted a penalty for Warwickshire, the visitors held on for a huge win.
Cavan were left to rue a poor finish as their 2-18 to 2-19 home loss to Leitrim cost them a spot in the Lort Meagher final.
The Breffni County made the perfect start through a Sean Keating goal, but they suffered a significant blow when key player Nickey Kenny was dismissed after just 18 minutes.
They suffered further blows just before the interval when Gavin O’Brien and Martin Feeney both goaled for the visitors to move them ahead for the first time, but a late 1-01 from Canice Maher left Cavan 2-08 to 2-07 ahead at the break.
A couple of Sean Markhem scores moved Leitrim back in front early in the second half before they too were reduced to 14 men following the dismissal of Colm Moreton in the 58th minute.
O’Brien, Joe Murray and Gavin O’Hagan all pointed to move Leitrim five clear but Cavan responded with a series of points with Diaramid Carney drawing them level in additional time.
A Cavan winner would have taken them into the final, but it was the visitors who grabbed the last score to take both points on offer.
Monaghan booked their place in the Lory Meagher Cup with a 2-16 to 0-17 win over Longford in Cloghan.
Thomas Hughes grabbed an early goal for the Farney County while a couple of Ethan Flynn points allowed them to lead by two points midway through the first half.
Flynn added to his tally with a goal in the 23rd minute as Monaghan led 2-08 to 0-11 at half-time.
Longford fought gamely in the second half and had the gap back to the minimum heading into the final quarter, but Niall Arthur and Flynn braces saw Monaghan safely through.
