GALWAY DEVELOPMENT 2-14 NUIG 1-11- The Connacht hurling league - which was won by the Galway Development side at the weekend - has served Ger Loughnane and his selectors well, according to the county's leading hurling official.
"We played three games in the competition, against Roscommon, GMIT and NUIG, and these games gave a lot of players the chance to shine over two weekends, said Galway hurling board secretary John Fahey.
Portumna's Leo Smith fired home both of Galway's goals as Matt Murphy's students were put to the sword at Dangan.
Galway declared their intentions from the outset and, after goalkeeper Ciarán Callanan opened their account with a free, Galway never looked back. They led 1-12 to 1-4 at the interval.
GALWAY DEVELOPMENT: C Callanan (0-1, free); C Murray, D Cloonan, J Culkin; M Coughlan, F Moore, A Cullinane (0-1); J Kavanagh (0-1), J Gantley (0-1); A Callanan, M Kerins (0-2, one free), K Brady (0-1); B Lucas (0-2), R Gantley (0-4, two frees, one 65), L Smith (2-1). Subs: E Hyland for A Callanan; K Hynes for Lucas; D Reilly for Brady; D McEvoy for J Gantley; N Corcoran for Moore.
NUIG: D Woods; R White, M Ryan, L Geraghty; J Dunphy, J Lee, E Barrett; B Howley, C Ryan (1-0); P O'Brien, D Barrett, F Coone (0-1); D Kenny (0-1), D Egan (0-7, six frees), S Glynn (0-2). Subs: V Faherty for White; S Burke for Howley.
DIT 4-13 KILDARE 0-13- Dublin senior hurler Kevin O'Reilly took Kildare apart with a haul of 1-9, including two sideline cuts, as DIT eased their way into the second round of the Kehoe Cup.
Former Tipperary All-Ireland senior hurling winner David Kennedy made his debut for the Lilywhites, but his presence wasn't enough to stop Kildare from falling to a 12-point home defeat. The students led by 3-6 to 0-9 at the interval.
SCORERS - DIT: K O'Reilly 1-9 (goal from pen, one '65, two sidelines, five frees); D O'Dwyer 2-0; E Clarke 1-0; E Connolly 0-2; W Lyons, S Lehane 0-1 each; Kildare: M Dowd 0-6 (five frees); C Maguire 0-2; C Buggy, D Harney, M Moloney, T Murphy, R Hoban 0-1 each.
WICKLOW 2-22 Louth 0-5- Even without several of their top players, Wicklow still proved too strong for lowly Louth in their Kehoe Cup game at Arklow.
Despite playing against the wind in the opening half, the home side raced into a 2-6 to 0-1 lead - with the goals coming from corner forward John Keogh after six minutes and wing forward Johnny Moran in the 24th minute.
SCORERS- Wicklow: N Heffernan 0-5; J Keogh 1-2; J Moran 1-1; A Tiernan 0-3; L Glynn, J O'Neill J Bermingham 0-2 each; C Kavanagh, S Furlong, E Glynn, J Murphy, A Furlong 0-1 each; Louth: C Connolly 0-3; R Byrne, A Carter 0-1 each.
MEATH 0-22 MAYO 0-10- Meath's hurler of the year for 2006, Mickey Cole, was in top form as a place in the last four of the Kehoe Cup was earned in Navan yesterday.
Cole sent over eight points, six from frees, with some of the scores being magnificent efforts from long range. The opening three points from the top scorer set the home side well on their way and they led by 0-9 to 0-7 at the interval.
SCORERS - Meath: M Cole 0-8 (six frees); P Durnin, N Horan, G O'Neill, S Clynch, J Keena 0-2 each; N Hackett, P Farrell, D Crimmins, S Heavey 0-1 each. Mayo: S Broderick 0-5 (four frees, '65); A Freeman 0-2 (frees); M Devaney, S Hunt, S Leneghan 0-1 each.
CARLOW 2-17 ATHLONE IT 1-12- Carlow's right corner forward Brendan Lawler contributed 1-10 of his side's total as the Barrowsiders beat Athlone IT to remain on course for a third successive Kehoe Cup title at Dr Cullen Park.
Athlone IT finished the game with 13 men - Kevin Coen was dismissed for a second yellow 20 minutes into the second half, while a straight red was later issued to Cian Cooney.
Carlow were very impressive in the opening period and led 1-14 to 1-5 at the break.
SCORERS- Carlow: B Lawler 1-10 (0-6 from frees); J Coady 1-0; S McMahon, C Doyle 0-2 each; J Rogers (free), R Foley, S Murphy 0-1 each. Athlone IT: M Nestor 1-2; S Dooley 0-4 (three frees); C Bolger 0-2 (one free); K. Coen, E Price, R Devery, B Smyth 0-1 each.
