Conclusion of the Nickey Rackard Cup: victories for Fermanagh and Tyrone with a draw in Donegal make it a good day for Ulster Hurling

Donegal 1-22 Roscommon 3-16

MICKEY McCANN was a picture of relief as Ronan McDermott’s late goal resulted in a tie for Donegal.

Roscommon was on the rise when Eoin Fitzgerald shot in the net and Daniel Glynn converted a penalty at Letterkenny.

The Rossies came down from five to level with Adam Donnelly, who hammered in a third goal to completely turn the tide.

Donegal led 12-0-8 at the break but Roscommon’s torsion changed the game.

“Other teams score against us when they need to, but we don’t score at all,” McCann lamented. “There are very fine margins in these games and we just didn’t complete it.

“We hurled better than Roscommon for most of the game but they had a few little purple spots where they scored. It would have been heartbreaking if we had lost and it would have been difficult to get morale back up.”

Goalscorers – Donegal: R McDermott 1-3; D Flynn 0-5 (2f); R Ryan, D Ó Maoleidigh 0-3 each; D Coulter, R Campbell, J O’Loughlin 0-2 each; S McVeigh, D Cullen each 0-1. Roscommon: D Glynn 1-9 (1-0 pen, 7f); E Fitzgerald 1-2; A Donnelly 1-0; C Dolan 0-3; MJ Egan, C Cosgrove each 0-1.

Donegal – L White; C O’Grady S Gillespie, G Browne; J O’Loughlin, M Donaghue, S McVeigh; DÓ Maoileidigh, D Cullen; G Gilmore, R McDermott, D Coulter; D Flynn, R Ryan, R Campbell. Sub: L McKinney for Ó Maoileidigh (63).

Roscommon – E Outlaw; W. Ward, P. Kelehan, C. Coyle; P Kelly, C Cosgrove, H Rooney; B McGahon, C Coyle; Glynn D, Egan MJ, Kiernan E; B. Mulry, C. Kennelly, C. Dolan. Substitutes: E Fitzgerald for Coyle (ht), N Connaughton for Kiernan (ht) J Martin for McGahon (60), A Donnelly for Rooney (64).

Ref – K Brady (Louth)

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Fermanagh 2-31 Warwickshire 2-5

Sean Corrigan scored over 11 points as Fermanagh recorded their maiden Nickey Rackard Cup win with a comprehensive win over Warwickshire at Brewster Park.

John Collins had scored the opening score of the competition for Warwickshire but Fermanagh took control when Tom Keenan found the net in the eighth minute as they went 1-12, 0-2 in the 26th minute.

Warwickshire scored a goal of their own when Padraic Creehan flicked a long ball past Erne goalkeeper Mark Curry, but Fermanagh continued to score with Corrigan, Barney McAuley and Luca McCusker in goal.

The visitors had a second goal when Kelvin McGee fired home, but at the break Fermanagh led 1:16 to 2:03.

The home side added the opening seven points of the second half, with Corrigan and Danny Teague among the points, while Warwickshire were reduced to 14 men after a red card for Anthony Hands following a ball-less clash.

Creehan registered Warwickshire’s first second-half goal in the 49th minute but after Caolan Duffy scored a second goal from Fermanagh the home side went 2-31 to 2-5 victories.

Scorers – Fermanagh: S Corrigan 0-11, Caolan Duffy 1-3, B McAuley 0-5 (5f), T Keenan 1-2, D Teague 0-4 (1f), L McCusker 0-2, R Bogue 0- 2 (1f), D Bannon 0-1, Ciaran Duffy 0-1. Warwickshire: P Creehan 1-2, J Collins 0-3 (3f), K McGee 1-0

Fermanagh—M Curry; D Bannon, R Porteous, Ciaran Duffy; A Flanagan, R Bogue, B Corrigan; D Teague, C McShea; L McCusker, B McAuley, C Breslin; T Keenan, S Corrigan, Caolan Duffy. Substitutes: O Johnston for Teague (52), B Duffy for Breslin (52), R McGurn for Bannon (57), B Teehan for Bogue (64), E Cleary for Keenan (67).

Warwickshire – P hands; M Keane, O Coffey, A Hands; R Murray, N Eames, M Holland; J. Collins, a Bannon; Hayes A, Creehan P, McGee K; A Hanley, J Grealish, C Dineen. Substitutes: D King for Keane (23), C Monahan for Hayes (52), P Sullivan for Dineen (68).

Note – Brian Keon

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Tyrone 3-17 Armagh1-15

TYRONE extended his unbeaten Nickey Rackard Cup run to three games with an eight-point win over Armagh.

A second-half hat-trick by Tiarnan Murphy was the culmination of a lively encounter at Páirc Colmcille.

Damian Casey, finishing with 10 points, gave the home side an early three-point lead before Shea Harvey found the shooting range to get the Orchard Challenge underway.

Paddy McBride and Ryan Gaffney scored for Armagh before Harvey raced through to bury his shot and put Armagh two points ahead.

Just before halftime, CJ McGourty and Casey had leveled the sides 0-10 to 1-7 after adding points to their names.

Murphy scored the first of his three goals in the 40th minute and while Dean Gaffney kept Armagh in touch with placed balls, Murphy completed his hat trick in the 57th minute as Armagh suffered a third loss and was no longer able to contend for the title .

Scorers – Tyrone: T Murphy 3-1; D. Casey 0-10 (7f); R lanes 0-3; CJ McGourty 0-2; S Grogan 0-1. Armagh: S. Harvey 1-3; D Gaffney 0-4 (3f, 1’65); P McBride 0-3; R.Gaffney 0-2; E McGuinness, T Nevin, N Lennon 0-1 each.

Tyrone – C. McElhatton; O McKee, L Devlin, R Devlin; D Begley, C Kearns, T Morgan; C Grogan, B McGurk; A Kelly, R Slane, CJ McGourty; T Murphy, D Casey, S Óg Grogan. Subs: D Rafferty for R Devlin, F Devlin for Kearns, R Weir for A Kelly, A Crossan for Slane, C Lagan for C Grogan.

Armagh-F Woods; Rice C, McGuinness A, Quinn P; S McKearney, K McKernan, D Bridges; N Lennon, P McBride; T Nevin, D Gaffney, D Magee; E McGuinness, R Gaffney, S Harvey. Subs: T O’Hare for Magee, S Toal for Bridges, N Curry for O’Hare, K Laverty for Harvey.

REF – T Conway (Derry)