Rossies join Tribesmen in promotion as Offaly and Down suffer drop

March 27, 2022

Roscommon's Diarmuid Murtagh with Galway's Niall Daly and Liam Silke ©INPHO/John McVitty

Roscommon set-up a rematch with Galway in the Division 2 final next weekend after defeating the Tribesmen by 1-20 to 1-15 at Dr Hyde Park this afternoon.

Already promoted coming into this encounter, Galway were inflicted with their first defeat of the campaign by the unbeaten Rossies whom were fired up early on and held an unassailable 1-14 to 0-6 lead at half-time.

The hosts were 0-12 to 0-4 in front against their understrength opponents when Cian McKeon netted their goal in the 31st minute and they’d cruise from there, with Johnny Heaney grabbing a major five minutes from the end to take some tarnish off the score-line for Galway.  

In Navan, Derry’s 1-16 to 2-11 win over Meath wasn’t enough to secure promotion as the two sides finished third and fourth respectively in the table.

The Oak Leafers had Shane McGuigan back from suspension in this one as they hit 1-4 in the closing 10 minutes of regulation to deny the home side what would’ve been their third win of the campaign.

It was Meath that led at half-time (1-7 to 0-7) thanks to Jack O'Connor’s 21st minute goal and another major from the penalty spot via Shane Walsh looked to have them on the path to victory with 20 minutes left.

The Royals were five up when Derry hit their late purple patch that saw Niall Loughlin hammering to the net and Conor Glass providing the insurance point, but their 11 points after seven games would not be enough for promotion.

Offaly's Johnny Moloney and John Cooper of Cork ©INPHO/Lorraine O’Sullivan

Keith Ricken’s Cork side ensured survival by edging a 1-21 to 1-20 over Offaly that sees the Faithful men relegated to Division 3 for 2023.

In a fascinating and wide-open encounter in Tullamore, late points from substitute Cian Kiely and Steven Sherlock (free) snatched the win for the struggling Rebels.

Sherlock’s free was awarded after Offaly were adjudged to have committed a technical foul as they passed back to goalkeeper Paddy Dunican and the Leesiders’ top-scorer punished them dearly, ensuring his county that they will partake in the All-Ireland SFC race in 2022.

Down will join Offaly in Division 3 next season after slipping to a sixth defeat to the campaign at the hands of Clare.

The Banner men were full value for their 2-14 to 1-9 victory in Newry, where Aaron Griffin and Cian O’Dea supplied the goals in the first-half for the visitors.

Cory Quinn’s goal brought the home side back into contention for the closing 10 minutes but they’d go down to 13 men and that allowed Clare to exploit the spaces and hand the Mourne men a sixth defeat of the campaign.


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