By Frank Shouldice

Armagh 1-9 Louth 0-10

LOUTH will consider themselves very unfortunate to emerge pointless from Crossmaglen, but it took two Armagh veterans to conjure a winner and kill off the game with a late goal.

With Louth leading 0-11 to 0-9 Paul McGrane won the ball at midfield and delivered a long pass to Steve McDonnell. The Killeavy assassin turned sharply to leave Alan Page for dead and blast right-footed to the net.

McDonnell’s goal deprived Louth of a famous victory in front of 7,000 spectators after a tempestuous opening with 30 players warming up in the same area. Once order was restored Armagh were in a different sort of trouble with three players Ciaran McKeever, midfielders Gareth Swift and Charlie Vernon retiring with injuries. The visitors took advantage and played good football to lead 0-7 to 0-5 at the interval.

Kevin Dyas covered for McKeever and James Lavery got through a ton of work at centerfield. Michael O’Rourke restored parity after 58 minutes before Louth nudged ahead through Paddy Keenan and Mark Stanfield. It might have been enough only for McDonnell’s intervention.

“You can see the difference in having Stevie McDonnell in your team and not having him,” rued losing boss Eamonn McEneaney. “He was thinking a goal would win this game instead of thinking the game was over.”

Derry 1-9 Westmeath 3-10

WESTMEATH overturned the form book with a big win at Celtic Park. Fresh from a tough win over Laois, the midlanders started in a whirl, hitting the hosts 2-3 for 0-1 inside 25 minutes. Denis Glennon and Martin Flanagan had grabbed a goal apiece and with Dessie Dolan, Fergal Wilson and Alan Mangan also finding range Derry didn’t know what hit them.

Full-back Kevin McGuckin was badly missed and although Enda Muldoon fisted a goal before the break, Derry trailed 1-4 to 2-5. Paddy Bradley cut the deficit with a point but when Dolan split the defense with a superb pass Mangan wrapped it up with Westmeath’s third goal.

Tyrone 1-14 Fermanagh 0-8

A FULL house of 12,000 under lights at Healy Park Saturday night saw experimental Tyrone maintain their 100 percent record. However, they were flattered by the six-point margin and only looked comfortable after Fermanagh midfielder Marty McGrath was sent off in the third quarter.

Early points by Owen Mulligan and Sean Cavanagh settled Tyrone, but Ciaran O’Reilly narrowed the gap. Mulligan and Colm McCullagh then extended Tyrone’s lead to four by the interval.

Eamonn Maguire hit a beauty for Fermanagh but McGrath’s dismissal gave Tyrone a more comfortable route to the final whistle.

Laois 0-8 Galway 0-7

LAOIS got the better of tight exchanges at Portlaoise under floodlights on Saturday night. Nicky Joyce hit the game’s first point, but when Paul Lawlor and Brian McCormack replied in kind it balanced the game point-for-point, deadlocked on 0-5 apiece at half-time.The sides swapped the lead on a couple of occasions before Ja Fallon gave Galway a late advantage. However Brendan Quigley leveled it and McCormack grabbed the winner with a decisive point.

Down 0-14 Kildare 1-11

AIDAN Carr’s injury-time free afforded Down a share of the spoils after an absorbing encounter at Newcastle. The Mourne men started well and were leading 0-6 to 0-5 only to be rocked by a Kildare blitz that yielded 1-3 before the break. Three frees by marksman John Doyle and a rebound goal by Murt Donnelly gave the Lilywhites a cushion but Daniel Hughes led the line for Down’s comeback. Hughes and Carr retrieved the deficit but when Emmet Bolton raided to give Kildare a one-point lead near the end it fell to a very late free by Carr to clinch a deserved draw.

Limerick 1-10 Dublin 0-14

TOMAS Quinn’s injury-time ‘45’ proved the winner in a very tight contest at the Gaelic Grounds. Once again Dublin started strongly with three unanswered points. However, John Galvin set up Darren Horan for a fine goal so that Dublin’s lead was cut to one at the break. Pat Ahern then leveled it and Stephen Cluxton made a crucial save to stop Pa Ranahan. It was all square before Quinn hit his fourth point to give Dublin full reward.

Donegal 1-13 Mayo 1-10

ANOTHER impressive display by Donegal maintains their 100% record through 2007. A crowd of 6,000 flocked to Ballybofey to see David Brady inspire Mayo to a half-time advantage. On the restart Pat Harte made it 0-8 to 0-6, but when Ryan Bradley got inside for a 46th minute goal Donegal moved into overdrive.

However, they conceded a soft goal late on and required late points by Kevin McMenamin and Colm McFadden to wrap it up.

Kerry 0-11Cork 2-2

STRANGE to think that Cork were in with a shout at the death, but despite being outplayed Ger Spillane let fly on goal in the last minute only to see his shot brilliantly turned away by Diarmiud Murphy. It might have earned the Rebels an unlikely draw but once again they relied too heavily on James Masters in attack from which they hit 12 wides.

Declan Quill hit 0-6 (two from frees) to stake a claim to Kerry’s starting 15 and Tommy Griffin impressed in midfield. Quill linked well with KieranDonaghy, and with Bryan Sheehan converting long-range frees Kerry hit the first five points.

Daniel Goulding gave Cork some hope with a goal, and when Donnacha O’Connor capitalized on a Dara Ó Sé fumble in the third quarter they were somehow still in contention.

Sheehan and Noel O’Leary were then sent off, but Kerry pulled away before Spillane’s late effort was denied.

Cavan 0-17 Wicklow 0-10

MICK O’Dwyer was shown the task before him as his Wicklow team lost their way at Breffni Park. Ray Cullivan impressed early for Cavan with three points, but a strong rally by Wicklow leveled matters by the break. The home side stretched ahead once again before Tommy Gill cut the lead to two.

Five without reply, including a brace by Rory Gallagher, gave Cavan their first win of the campaign . . .

ELSEWHERE in Division 2B, Meath had to work hard to overcome Antrim 2-11 to 1-11 at Casement Park. Brian Farrell grabbed both goals for the Royals while Martin Breheny led Sligo to a 0-14 to 1-8 victory over Waterford. Mattie Forde was dropped by Wexford but came off the bench to hit three points in their 0-16 to 0-7 win over Tipperary.

Monaghan 1-14 Longford 3-6

LONGFORD made Monaghan sweat in the closing stages of this Division 2A clash at Clones. Damien Freeman’s opener was cancelled out by Padraig Berry but Monaghan squandered a nine-point lead — Paul Barden converted a penalty and Bernard McElvaney fisted a second goal for Longford. The visitors then missed two late frees that would have earned them a draw . . .

OFFALY had to shake themselves to beat off Carlow in Tullamore (3-12 to 1-8) and Clare did well to beat Leitrim 1-14 to 1-9 at Cusack Park. It gave Páidí O Sé’s side two wins on the trot and they looked in command before James Glancy’s late goal gave Leitrim a better look on the scoreboard . . .

ROSCOMMON chalked up their first win, seeing off London by 1-16 to 0-10 at Ruislip.