Not to be outdone by his namesake who guided Celtic to a 5-1 drubbing of Rangers earlier in the day, Brendan Rogers bagged a hat-trick of goals as Derry qualified for the Nicky Rackard Cup semi-finals with a 8-21 to 1-14 rout of Longford at Owenbeg.

The Slaughtneil dual star scored three quick-fire second half goals, while Alan Grant (two), Brian Cassidy (two) and Gerald Bradley also raised green flags in the 28-point win. Eugene Kiernan netted for the visitors who trailed by 0-6 to 3-10 at half-time. The winners finished the game with 14 men after Gerard Moore was red-carded in the closing stages.

Tyrone are also through to the last four after powering to a 4-19 to 0-16 victory over neighbours Donegal at Carrickmore. Sean Og Grogan, Damian Casey and Conor Grogan were among the goals for the Red Hands, who led by 2-15 to 0-4 at the break. The semi-finals are scheduled for May 20, with Longford and Donegal still not out of the equation.

In Round 2B, Armagh came from behind to beat neighbours Louth on a 0-23 to 2-9 scoreline at the Athletic Grounds. 

Level at half-time, Louth took a 2-6 to 0-9 lead at the start of the second half thanks to Michael Ryan's goal (Gavin Kerrigan scored the earlier one). But the recent Ulster SHC finalists responded with a flurry of points from David Carvill, Conor Corvan, Danny Magee and Johnny Corvan to run eight-point winners.

Derry - D McDermott; P Turner, S Cassidy, D McCloskey; P Cleary (0-1), O McCloskey, C Steele; C McAllister, K Hinphey (0-1); G Bradley (1-2), M McGrath, A Grant (2-5, 0-4f); B Rogers (3-2), B Cassidy (2-4), D Cartin (0-1). Subs: B Og McGilligan for C Steele, C McKaigue (0-1) for M McGrath, A Kelly (0-3) for B Cassidy, E McGuckin (0-1) for G Bradley, G McCormick for B Rogers.

Longford - C Gallagher; C McLoughlin, K Murray, T Egan; G Moore, D Duggan, J Casey; P Walsh (0-8, 7f), P Barden; J Mulhern (0-1), S Hannon (0-2), C Keegan; S O'Brien, R Murray (0-2), C Mullane (0-1). Subs: E Kiernan (1-0) for C Mullane, A Sheridan for P Barden, A Sorohan for R Murray, E Kavanagh for T Egan.

Referee - J Connors.

**

Tyrone - C McElhatton; P McHugh, B Begley, S Muldoon; L Devlin, S Donnelly (0-1), T Morgan (0-1sl); R Devlin, D Begley; C Grogan (2-1), S Og Grogan (1-1), J Kelly (0-1); P Daly, D Casey (1-10, 0-6f), B McGurk (0-4). Subs: P O'Kelly for S Og Grogan, D Marshall for B McGurk, D Rafferty for T Morgan.

Donegal - P Burns; D Grant, J Donnelly, P Doherty (0-1); J Boyle (0-2), J O'Loughlin, C McDermott; D Cullen, L Henderson (0-6, 5f, 1'65); B Lafferty, R McDermott, G Gilmore (0-3); D Coulter, S Gillespie, D Flynn (0-3). Subs: C Melaugh for D Cullen, S McVeigh (0-1) for S Gillespie.

Referee - J Murphy.

**

Armagh - S Doherty; C Clifford, A McGuinness, D Bridges; J Corvan (0-2), P Gaffney, C Devlin; F Bradley, N Curry (0-1); C Carvill (0-2), D Carvill (0-11, 9f), D McKenna (0-1); C Corvan (0-5), R Gaffney, D Magee (0-1). Subs: P McKearney for F Bradley, C Gorman for D McKenna, D Gaffney for C Carvill, C Rice for D Bridges.

Louth - S Hackett; S Kettle, M Lyons, C Matthews; P McCormack (0-1), R Maher (0-2), A McCrave; D Ryan (0-1), S Connelly; G Smyth, D Murphy (0-4, 3f), G Kerrigan (1-0); C Griffin, D Kettle (0-1), M Ryan (1-0). Subs: D Mahoney for G Kerrigan, P Cunningahm for G Smyth, D Stephenson for M Ryan, L Molloy for S Connelly.

Referee - J Clarke.

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