Walsh Cup: Fitzgerald off to a flier with Wexford

January 08, 2017

Wexford's Harry Kehoe with Hugh Lawlor of UCD.
©INPHO/Donall Farmer.

Davy Fitzgerald's first game in charge of Wexford yielded a 35-point victory over UCD at Gorey.

The former Clare and Waterford boss couldn't have asked for a better start to his reign as the Model County romped to a 5-31 to 1-8 first round win. The hosts signalled their intent by racing into a 2-1 to 0-1 lead inside the first five minutes thanks to goals from Barry Carton and Paul Morris.

Darragh Dolan got a goal back for the students, but further majors from Cathal Dunbar, Harry Kehoe and Richie Kehoe helped Wexford to the easiest of wins. The game was over as a contest by half-time when the purple and golds led 4-12 to 1-5.

Offaly's Michael Cleary with Neil Heffernan Meath during the Walsh Cup clash at Lomans Park Trim.

Kevin Ryan also had a winning start to his Offaly reign, but only after receiving a scare from Christy Ring Cup champions Meath in Trim. An upset looked to be on the cards when the Royals led by 0-7 to 0-4 at the interval, but two Oisin Kelly goals and one from Sean Cleary gave the Faithful a 3-12 to 2-10 win.

In Rathdowney, Laois beat NUIG by 3-18 to 0-22 to give new manager Eamonn Kelly a winning debut. 

Westmeath suffered a surprise 0-12 to 1-18 loss to Antrim in Kinnegad, Jason Flynn was in fine scoring form as Galway demolished DIT by 1-30 to 0-12 in Ballinasloe, while IT Carlow scored a 4-17 to 2-14 win over Kildare in Newbridge.

Wexford - M Fanning; S Donohoe, L Ryan, J Breen; R Kehoe (1-1), M O'Hanlon, D O'Keeffe (0-1); Shaun Murphy, D Redmond (0-2); B Carton (1-5), C McDonald (0-9, 7f, 1'65), H Kehoe (1-1); C Dunbar (1-1), L Chin (0-3), P Morris (1-2). Subs: D Reck for D Redmond, S O'Gorman (0-1) for R Kehoe, E Martin (0-3) for P Morris, K Foley (0-1) for C Dunbar, A Nolan (0-1) for H Kehoe, A Kenny for J Breen, Sean Murphy for D O'Keeffe.

UCD - D Holohan; E Hayden, R Dwan, M Cronin; H Lawlor, B Quigley, C Butler; L Scanlon (0-2), J Houlihan; J Murphy (0-2), J O'Toole, P Guinan; R McEvoy, C Keane, D Dolan (1-1). Subs: T Phelan for R McEvoy, C O'Shea (0-1) for J O'Toole, J Power for P Guinan, G Cullen (0-2, 1f) for C Keane, J Griffin for J Houlihan, DJ Foran for H Lawlor.

Referee - J O'Brien.

**

Offaly - J Dempsey; P Rigney, M Cleary, P Delaney; B Conneely, C Doughan, S Gardiner (0-2); D King (0-1), S Ryan; P Camon, L Langton, T Carroll; S Dooley (0-6, 3f), O Kelly (2-1), S Cleary (1-1). Subs: A Treacy for L Langton, A Cleary for P Camon, C Molloy (0-1) for T Carroll.

Meath - S McGann; S Geraghty, R Sherlock, C Reilly; K Keoghan, D Kelly, S Whitty (0-1); A Forde, P Kelly; J Toher (0-5, 4f), G Kelly, N Weir; M O'Sullivan, N Heffernan, S Quigley (1-4, 1-1f). Subs: J Walsh for G Kelly, K Keena for P Kelly, S Brennan for N Heffernan, D Reilly for R Sherlock, C McCabe for N Weir, L Ferguson for S Geraghty, L Martyn (1-0) for A Forde.

Referee - G McGrath.

**

Laois - E Fleming; E Doyle, C Phelan, P Purcell (0-1); R Mullaney, L Bergin, S Downey (0-1); P Whelan, A Corby (0-1); E Lyons, B Conroy (1-0), PJ Scully (0-12, 5f); W Dunphy (1-2), N Foyle, R King (1-1). Subs: P Keating for N Foyle, A Dunphy for A Corby, S Bergin for E Lyons, E Killeen for P Whelan.

NUIG - C Tuohy; B Fitzpatrick, F Killeen, G Forde (0-2); C Ryan (0-1), C Cleary (0-1), M Connelly; I Fox (0-2), O Donnellen; C Smyth, S Conlon (0-3), G Loughnane; G Hennelly (0-1), A Helebert (0-10, 7f, 1'65), S Barrett (0-1). Subs: G Fennelly for F Killeen, S Whelan for B Fitzpatrick, J Commins (0-1) for G Loughnane.

Referee - G Quilty.

**

Antrim - C O'Connell; S Rooney, J Dillon, P Burke; S McCrory, N McAuley, C McKinley; E Campbell (0-3), D McKernan (0-2); N McManus (0-2), C McCann, M Connolly (0-1); C Clarke (1-3, 0-3f), N McKenna (0-3), C Johnston (0-4). Subs: K McKeague for P Burke, P McGill for M Connolly.

Westmeath - S McGovern; S Power, C Shaw, K Duncan; A Craig, L Varley, A McGrath; A Clarke (0-1), E Price; J Boyle, P Scally, E Corrigan; J Galvin (0-2), A Devine (0-7, 4f), D Egerton (0-1). Subs: N Mitchell for P Scally, G Greville for K Duncan, W Casserly for E Corrigan, B Murtagh (0-1) for J Boyle.

Referee - K Brady.

**

Galway - C Callanan; J Grealish (0-1), R Burke, M Donoghue; M Keating, M Dolphin, A Harte; J Coen (0-1), D Nevin (0-3); P Brehony (0-2), J Cooney (1-2), D Glennon (0-4); B Molloy (0-3), J Flynn (0-7, 4f), T Monaghan (0-4). Subs: B Flaherty for R Burke, C Loftus for A Harte, S McInerney (0-1) for P Brehony, C Salmon (0-1) for D Glennon, J Holland for M Keating, E Niland (0-1) for B Molloy, D Cronin for M Donoghue.

DIT - S Brennan; P O'Reilly, T Doyle, T Byrne; E McInerney, D McNicholas (0-2, 1f), S McClelland; D O'Connor, R Greville (0-1); J Murphy, C O'Donoghue (0-6, 5f), A Nugent (0-1); E O'Hehir (0-1f), C Hayes (0-1), N Walsh. Subs: J Kelly for D O'Connor, W Irish for E O'Hehir.

Referee - A Devine.

**

IT Carlow - E Rowland; R Brown, K Hannafin, D Palmer; D O'Hanlon, D Healy, W Young; T Marr (0-1), C Dunford (0-1); M Kavanagh (2-1), J Doyle (0-1), C Dwyer (0-3); C Bolger, S Maher (1-7, 0-7f), J Fagan. Subs: K Kelly (0-2) for C Bolger, R Moran for D O'Hanlon, S Phelan for D Palmer, S Casey for K Hannafin, M O'Hanlon for W Young, J Fitzpatrick (1-1) for M Kavanagh, J Cranny for D Healy, C Madden for S Casey, S Casey for J Doyle.

Kildare - P McKenna; C Forde, J Doran, N O Muineachain; S Gainey (0-1), M Moloney, K Connor; R Bergin, J Sheridan (0-1); P Moran (0-1), P Divilly (1-2), B Byrne (0-2); R Ryan (1-0), M Delaney (0-7, 6f), C Bonus. Subs: G Johnson for K Connor, P Ryan for J Sheridan, T Forde for R Ryan, C Dervan for S Gainey.

Referee - A Keating.


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