Results

Westmeath 1-16 Wexford 0-6

Louth 0-14 Kildare 1-10

Meath 2-10 Laois 0-16

Longford 0-15 Carlow 0-4

Offaly 1-9 Wicklow 0-7

Longford continue to be the form team in Leinster at the moment as they followed up their big midweek win over Laois with another comprehensive victory over Carlow this afternoon. In very windy conditions at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, the first 15 minutes passed without a score, but Longford took over after that, with Keelin McGann, Joe Hagan and Dessie Reynolds all pointing from play to make it 0-6 to 0-2 by half-time.

Carlow played some of their best football in their third quarter but didn’t make it count on the scoreboard, and they paid the price when Longford gradually stretched their lead, then powered on in the closing minutes when the benches were emptied. Robbie Smyth’s three points after coming on was the most impactful of the substitutes, and he’ll surely have a big role to play in their midweek showdown with Meath.

The Royal County looked like they would also make it two wins from two as they held a five-point lead with 13 minutes to play at Páirc Tailteann against Laois, but the midlanders rallied well, putting their midweek drubbing to Longford behind them, and picked off the last five points in a row to secure a 2-10 to 0-16 draw.

Meath were very much the better team in the first half, getting out to a bright start through a Cillian O’Sullivan goal, but a series of misses – goal chances, wides, and shots dropped short – meant that they fell behind when Mark Barry and Evan O’Carroll picked off a run of scores for Laois, and it took a Keith Curtis free to level matters at the break, 1-4 to 0-7.

O’Carroll and Barry opened the scoring in the second half to push Laois two points clear, but Meath took over again, and once Cillian O’Sullivan hit the net a second time, they were five points to the good with 49 minutes gone. The next two points were shared, but then Laois picked up the pace and it fell to Pádraig Kirwan to kick the equalising score in the dying minutes.

That draw means that Longford and Louth are the only sides with two wins on the board, the Wee County doing just about enough at Newbridge to concede a late goal to Michael Joyce and still prevail by a point.

Glen Ryan’s side exploded out of the blocks, with Cein McMonagle shooting two of their opening four-point unanswered burst, but Louth shot eight of the nine more that were added before the break. Sam Mulroy led from the front, with Jay Hughes and Daire McConnon adding two points each to go with Mulroy’s four.

In the three-team group, next Wednesday night’s contest in Parnell Park will be between two sides that have won their first round game, following Offaly’s 1-9 to 0-7 win over Wicklow in Tullamore today.

In another game disrupted by the wind, Cian Farrell, debutant Kevin Nugent and the returning Nigel Dunne all kicked points to push Offaly 0-6 to 0-3 ahead at half-time. Anton Sullivan won and converted a penalty to extend the lead to six points in the second half but the game lost all shape after both Oisín McConville and Liam Kearns emptied their subs benches, with just three points kicked in the last quarter.

Having lost their opening round game to Louth, Westmeath manager Dessie Dolan wheeled out the big guns for the visit of Wicklow to The Downs and he was rewarded fully as the St. Loman’s trio of Ronan O’Toole (0-4), John Heslin (0-3) and Shane Dempsey (0-2) all scored freely in the first half.

Wing-back James Dolan added yet another goal to his extensive collection of big scores for the Lake County, and in a contest that had a real challenge-match feel after the interval, it wasn’t until the 69th minute of the game that Wexford scored their first wind-assisted point.