Ten points from the boot of talisman Barry O'Hare, helped Roche Emmets begin their Christy Bellew Cup campaign on a winning note in this Group 2 encounter against near neighbours Dowdallshill as they came out on top by 0-19 to 1-9.

O'Hare scored six of his team's 11 points in the first half, and it could have been even more, had he not seen his eighth minute penalty brilliantly saved by 'Hill keeper Robbie Arthur. Noel Finnegan scored three late points to cut the gap to 0-11 to 0-3 at half time.

Dowdallshill gave themselves a glimmer of hope in the second half when Chris McMahon punched home the only goal of the game. However, Roche added four of the next five scores, to put the game firmly beyond their opponents' reach. Shane Byrne, Paddy Quigley and Dan O'Connell were also on target for the winners along with O'Hare in the second half.

Nh Malachi got their Junior Championship campaign off to a promising start when they defeated Sean McDermotts by 3-14 to 1-10.

The Courtbane side were on top throughout this game as the McDermotts were unable to find any real rhythm over the hour and the Mals will be strongly fancied to advance to the quarter-finals alongside Lannleire.

The Malachis goals came from Padraig Moley, Jack Kirwan and Dylan Rooney who top- scored for the winners with 1-4.

Tony Kelly led the charge for the McDermotts with 1-3 while Kevin McMahon weighed in with five points for the Mountrush men.

Lannleire easily overcame the challenge of St Nicholas on a scoreline of 4-18 to 1-6 to get their Junior Championship campaign off to a winning start.

The Dunleer men saw their league challenge slip in recent weeks but they were in fine form from the outset and they had the points wrapped up by the time the half time whistle sounded. Goals from Briain McGuinness, Ian Mulroy and Bob Murphy saw them lead by 3-9 to 0-4 at half time.

Roy Kierans added a goal for the Nicks in the second half and Kevin Walsh brought his tally to five points for the game. However, Lannleire were never troubled and added a fourth goal through Brendan McEvoy to seal a comfortable win.

Young Irelands carried their impressive league form into the Junior Championship as they began their campaign with a comfortable 4-14 to 0-9 win over Stabannon Parnells at The Grove on Saturday evening.

The Dundalk men were in fine form in the opening and took control of proceedings with Dean Maguire helping himself to two goals as his side led by 2-7 to 0-3 at the break. Jordan O'Donoghue, Aidan Sheeky and Cian O Naraigh were also on target for the Irelanders as Daniel Bannon (2) and David Cluskey replied for Stabannon.

The result was never in doubt in the second half as the Young Irelands continued to dominate and they sealed the win with goals from Sean McLaughlin and Cian O'Donoghue. Aonghus Giggins and Colm Giggins were among the scorers for Stabannon after the break.

In the final Junior Championship game of the weekend, Westerns enjoyed a comfortable 3-17 to 0-7 win over Cuchulainn Gaels at St Brigid's Park.

The Reaghstown side got on top of this game from the opening whistle and had the victory all but assured by the time the half time whistle sounded as goals from Tommy Durnin, Conor Kerr and Trevor Baylon saw them lead by 3-9 to 0-3.

Ciaran Campbell added points in the second half to bring his tally to seven, while Jody Keenan top-scored for the Omeath side with four points. Micheal McCabe and Cian McDonald were also on target.

Tweet

Most Read Stories