Mayo and Meath to do battle again
By DAVID THORPE
The hurlers of Mayo and Meath couldn’t be separated (2-19 to 5-10)
after more than 100 minutes of teak-tough hurling on Saturday evening
and will have to replay their Division Two quarter final.
Meath led for most of the game, but with Niall and Keith Higgins in inspirational
form, Mayo deluged the Meath defence with a late flurry of scores, to
ensure the game went to added time.
Mayo edged the exchanges in extra time, but defeat would have been harsh
on Meath, who rallied late to claim a draw. The teams will clash again
this Sunday.
Ring Cup champions Westmeath showed their metal with a seven point defeat
of Derry at Scotstown. The Lakesmen, with Andrew Mitchell in flying form
always looked the better hurling side, while Derry gave a performance
of typical Ulster grit to stay in contention.
Westmeath lead by five points after 10 minutes, thanks to Mitchell, and
never really looked like losing the game, so they advance to a semi-final
clash with either Kerry or Dublin, and will be favourites to advance further
against those opponents.
In Division three, Longford gave their GAA fans a modicum of cheer when
advancing to the league semi-finals when they completely outclassed Monaghan,
on a scoreline of 5-19 to 1-3 at Pearse Park. Longford were in the ascendancy
from the off and never looked like being pushed by a Monaghan side whose
play lacked confidence and flow.
In the other quarter-final, Louth were slightly flattered by the margin
of their victory over Fermanagh. The final score of 2-18 to 1-7 to the
Wee County men belied a spirited Fermanagh performance. The Ulstermen
were in touch for most of the first-half, but a scoring blitz by Louth
at the tail-end of the game sealed their place in the semi-finals against
either Donegal or Armagh.
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