Two-time winners Westmeath's shock exit at the hands of Mayo was the big story of the day in the Christy Ring Cup. Meanwhile, holders Carlow and Down are safely through to the semi-finals, while Derry were comfortable winners over Wicklow in their losers' group clash at Swatragh, and will go into the quarter-final. But the big talking point was Westmeath's crushing 0-15 to 2-21 defeat to Mayo in Crossmolina. After a league campaign which saw them beat Laois, draw with Antrim and push both Wexford and Offaly to the wire, the Lake County started out as joint-favourites with Carlow, but after back-to-back losses to Kildare and Mayo, now face a relegation play-off against Wicklow to retain their second tier status. Two goals in as many minutes from Mark Devaney and Derek McDonnell gave Mayo a 2-7 to 0-6 cushion at half-time, and the visitors' challenge faded after veteran Darren McCormack was sent off on a second yellow card early in the second half. Carlow remain on course to retain their title after a hard-earned 1-16 to 1-13 victory over neighbours Kildare. An upset looked to be on the cards when David Harney's long-range free ended up in the net with 20 minutes remaining, but Craig Doyle replied with a similar score for the Barrowsiders to give them the breathing space they needed to go on and win the game. A brace of goals from the in-form Gareth 'Magic' Johnson, including one in injury-time, helped Down to a 3-11 to 2-10 victory over 14-man Kerry at rain-lashed Tralee. Shane Brick hit 0-9 (0-8 from frees) for the home side, but it wasn't enough to save them from defeat. The weather was also dreadful in Swatragh when Rory Convery led Derry to a 2-15 to 0-9 victory over Wicklow. Convery bagged 1-5 in a game Brian McGilligan's men never looked like losing, although three points from Eoghan Dunne kept Wicklow in contention in the first half. Derry lost the prolific Sam Dodds at half-time, while Wicklow's Joe Murphy was shown a red card late in the game for a wild pull on Mark Craig. Tweet

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