Down picked up their second win of the campaign with victory over bottom side Antrim in Belfast. Natasha Ferris scored two goals for the Mourne County – one from the penalty spot. Offaly suffered their first defeat when they lost by four points away to Clare. Ailish Considine scored the game’s only goal in the first half.
Antrim 1-11 Down 3-12
Down followed up on last weekend’s win over Sligo with victory over their neighbours Antrim in Belfast. The Saffrons are bottom of the division still without a point.
Down got an early goal when Natasha Ferris scored from the penalty spot. Ferris scored a second goal to extend her side’s lead to nine points. Antrim kicked points over before half-time as they trailed by six.
Antrim were unable to get back into the game. They scored a goal near the end through Carla McKenna but right at the end Sarah Dougherty put away a penalty to grab Down their third goal.
Clare 1-09 Offaly 0-08
Offaly suffered their first defeat of the league campaign when they were defeated by Clare by four points in Ennis.
Ailish Considine scored 1-01 for the Banner County in the opening half as they took a four point lead in at the break – 1-04 to 0-03. Ciara Walsh (two) and Ellee McEvoy with the points for the visitors.
Offaly cut the gap to two points in the 44th minute but Clare restored their four point advantage minutes later. The gap was two again in the 57th minute but the home side got late points from Chloe Moloney and Teresa Collins to seal the win.
Sligo 0-08 Roscommon 0-17
Roscommon moved to the top of Division 3 with a nine point win away to Sligo. The Rossies had been ahead by five at half-time.
Sligo took an early lead when Rianne Smith kicked over an early free. The home side were two ahead after 16 minutes. That was to be their last score of the half as Roscommon kicked over seven points in a row to give them a good lead at the break.
After going over 23 minutes without a point Smith scored a much needed point for Sligo in the 39th minute. Roscommon were seven ahead in the 40th minute. They stretched their advantage to nine two minutes later. Points were traded but Sligo were unable to really eat into the lead.
Wexford 0-10 Louth 1-07
A point from Aoife Cullen earned Wexford a draw at home to Louth. The Wee County ended the game with 14 players after Aoife Halligan received a second yellow card in the 53rd minute.
Wexford scored two early points but were then playing catch-up as Louth grabbed a goal and kicked over six points to give themselves a seven point lead at half-time.
In the 37th minute Wexford had cut the gap to two points but Louth replied with a point from Kate Flood in the 43rd minute; that was to be their final score of the game. Cullen cut the deficit to just one in the 48th minute. Minutes later Louth were reduced to 14 and Cullen grabbed a draw for the home side.
Deniese O'Flaherty
Deniese is a freelance sports journalist/broadcaster. She has worked for several local and national media outlets. GAA and soccer are her great loves and she also follows rugby league and snooker. She's a big supporter of her local clubs St. Mary's GAA Granard and Longford Town. She also follows Celtic, Liverpool and Leeds Rhinos. She presented and produced a popular sports podcast last year where she interviewed Ray Houghton, Chris Kamara and John Hartson. Deniese is currently Head of Communications for Boccia Ireland