St Marys picked up a valuable win that secured them top seed quarter final status at the expense of Gortletteragh in Round 4 of the Leitrim GAA Connacht Gold SFC.

St Mary's started quickest and were two up inside the first minute of play thanks to quickfire points from Paul Keaney and Jack Barnes.

Gortletteragh would open their account seven minutes later through a Francie Flynn free. A brace of Paul Keaney points followed before Oisin Niblock swapped scored with Jack Casey to leave three between them midway through the first half.

Gortletteragh were struggling to get to grips in the middle third as St Marys looked to overload the middle and use their runners to pick off scores.

They outscored the home side 5-2 with Nicky McWeeney and Conor Hackett joining Keaney (2) and Casey on the scoresheet to give themselves ten points to five lead at the break.

Both sodes traded points on the changeover before Gortletteragh cut the lead back to four on 40 minutes through a left footed effort from Padraig Gallagher.

A Keaney free got St Marys lead back to five before Gortletteragh's most penetrating move of the game resulted in Jack Heslin firing over.

The action was end to end, Keoghan McGovern tipping Niblocks lotlw effort on goal onto the bar while Casey fired wide at the other end.

An Emmett Regan point from play restored the five point advantage for the visitors.

A quickfire brace from St Mary's sub Brian O'Donnell sent the visitors eight clear with six to go before the decisive goal came via another sub Emmett Regan, although it had the benefit of a heavy deflection.

Paul Keaney had the final word in the 29th minute as he fired a 14 yard free into the net for a 2-16 to 0-8 scoreline at the final whistle.

An inspired performance by Barry McNulty saw Glencar Manorhamilton pick up their first win of the Leitrim Senior Football Championship.

The midfielder scored six points (four frees) and was involved in a lot of Glencar’s good play during this three point win in Gortletteragh.

Trailing by four points at the break Gortletteragh introduced Jack Heslin (who was returning from injury). Heslin showed his worth to his side by scoring 1-03 but unfortunately couldn’t help them claim a second win of the championship.

The side traded early points before Glencar put scores on the board. An excellent point from Evan Sweeney in the 14th minute gave them the lead for the first time and it was one they didn’t relinquish.

Points from Donnacha Devaney and Conor Dolan (2) extended their lead to four after 20 minutes. Despite having possession the home side failed to get scores. The excellent Sweeney and Devaney added points to their side’s tally as Glencar opened up a six point lead in the 25th minute. Two frees from Francis Flynn before the break cut the gap to four. 

Gortletteragh manager Paddy Dowd made changes at the interval and introduced Heslin. In the third minute of the second half he kicked over a fine point. A good ball in from sub Aaron Hickey was pointed by Dolan in the 34th minute to restore Glencar’s four point advantage.

After patient play McNulty fired over a fine point but that was cancelled out by a Heslin effort. Niall Brady and a McNulty free put six between the sides in the 40th minute. The lead was seven in the 47th minute with McNulty and Sweeney kicking over frees.

Good work from Padraig Gallagher saw Heslin fire to the net in the 48th minute to cut the gap to four. A pointed free from Jamie Quinn three minutes later left a goal between the sides.

Glencar responded with a super point from McNulty and another free from the midfielder to go five ahead with three minutes of the game remaining. Gortletteragh got late scores through Heslin and Evan Ward.