This week at Markievicz Park, Sligo managed to magnificently outwit Westmeath with a score of 1-14 to 0-11. Westmeath, who will be heading into next week’s Allianz League final against Down, seemed faintly overshadowed by their recent defeat. Despite opening the match with success, like scoring two points by Luke Loughlin, Dessie Dolan’s team was considered to be lacking in thrust. Westmeath eventually found themselves 0-6 to 0-4 ahead at half-time after successful strikes by Ronan O’Toole and Loughlin. However, Sligo made a stark comeback, amassing four strong points at the start of the second half and managing to secure victory via Seán Carrabine’s goal in the final minute.
Meanwhile, at Corrigan Park, Ruairí McCann from Aghagallon significantly contributed to Antrim’s winning score of 1-14 against Wicklow’s 0-14 after returning from a lengthy break. Notably, McCann’s goal just before the halfway point established a significant lead for Antrim. However, Wicklow didn’t accept defeat easily, rallying in the second half and narrowing the gap to a single point. Still, Patrick McBride led Antrim with scoring three second half points, keeping Antrim in control despite the nail-biting final half.
At Glenisk O’Connor Park, Limerick, already demoted, nonetheless made Offaly work hard for their 1-10 to 0-12 win, having led by 0-6 to 0-4 at the halfway mark. Limerick, consistently causing difficulties for Offaly, managed a series of turnovers and successful strikes by Barry Coleman and Cathal Downes.
In a thrilling showdown, Offaly appeared to have gained the upper hand after half-time, with Dylan Hyland standing out with three out of five field points to level the score. A significant turn of events ensued when Offaly’s Cathal Flynn stripped Limerick goalie Josh Ryan of possession to score the game’s sole goal.
In a spirit of sporting resilience, Limerick responded with three successive points to equalise. It was Hyland and Nathan Poland, however, who delivered decisive points that secured Offaly’s victory, in an intense 10 extra minutes of the game, unfortunately injurying two Offaly players, Hyland and Nigel Dunne, with red cards.
The final score was Offaly X-XX, Limerick X-XX. In another game, Sligo scored X-XX while Westmeath tallied X-XX.