With Galwegians not playing due to a late postponement, Clogher Valley lead by 11 points at the summit, Omagh as a result remain four clear of the drop zone, Enniscorthy strengthened their hopes of making the playoffs as Ben Kidd struck a decisive penalty with the last kick of the game to win their away trip to Tullamore.
Ballina (1T) 10-15 Midleton (2T), Heffernan Park
Midleton strengthened their hopes of a mid table finish this season as they picked up a strong result away from home at the weekend.
After a slow start to proceedings Midleton struck first blood in the contest with Mark Corby crossing for a try converted by Jack Colbert. It proved to be the only score in the half as Midleton were ahead 7-0 at the break.
The Leesiders kept up their early momentum and added a second try Callum Jeffery going over with the conversion missed. Ballina were down but far from out and a penalty try soon cut the deficit down to just five points. Conall Doyle struck a vital penalty to keep the visitors ahead by two scores, despite Darragh Whyte kicking a penalty Midleton had enough to see out the win.
Clogher Valley (6T) 40-7 Bruff (1T), The Cran
With Galwegians not playing this weekend, Clogher Valley are 11 clear at the summit with a commanding win over promotion chasing Bruff in dismal conditions.
It was a cagey opening but Clogher would manage to strike first, Ewan Haire crossing for a try converted by David Maxwell. Shy of the break The Cran faithful had their second try as Jamie Allen crossed the whitewash, 12-0 at the interval.
Having shown their exploits on the scoring front this year, Valley kept the foot on the gas in the second half, Callum Smyton added their third try which Maxwell converted and then captain Paul Armstrong crossed for the bonus point which Maxwell also converted, the lead 26-0.
Smyton soon added his second try of the contest and the final try arrived from Matthew Bothwell, Maxwell converting both. Bruff managed a consolation score late on Clem McCaulife crossing with Paul Collins converting.
Galwegians P-P Bangor, Crowley Park
The game between Galwegians and Bangor was called off with just minutes to go to kick off due to an unplayable pitch.
Omagh Academicals (1T) 8-21 Clonmel (0T), Thomas Mellon Playing Fields
Josef O’Connor produced an emphatic display from the kicking tee as Clonmel picked up the points in Tyrone at the weekend.
Connor Watherston-Spencer gave the hosts the lead with a 40m penalty after ten minutes, it was the O’Connor show for the remainder of the half as the Clonmel kicker dissected the posts with three successive penalties, discipline costing Omagh as they trailed 9-3 at the interval.
Into the second half and Clonmel put on some serious pressure as twice they were held up for a try, O’Connor kicked his fourth penalty minutes later to further their lead. O’Connor was in inspired form and with 20 left he made it 15-3. Phil Ewing crossed for a try for the hosts and it certainly made it a nervy finish, O’Connor kept his composure to land two more penalties, seven of the best from O’Connor.
Tullamore (1T) 13-16 Enniscorthy (2T), Spollanstown, 2:30pm
Ben Kidd struck a last second penalty to give Enniscorthy the points in a cagey affair with Tullamore.
It really was a game of two halves, Tullamore controlled the first and took the lead when Conor Dunne struck an early penalty. The hosts kept up that momentum when Eoin O’Reilly went over and Dunne converted for a 10-0 lead. Dunne added a further penalty as Tullamore were ahead 13-0 at the interval.
Scorthy kicked into gear in the second stanza, Kidd with an early penalty to reduce the arrears. Davie Murphy crossed for the opening try soon after and the gap was reduced to five. Momentum was all with the visitors as they put the pressure on, it told as both sides slogged it out in the muck shy of the Tullamore line, Scorthy mauling over their second try. Kidd would take the responsibility of winning the tie, a beautiful penalty for an important point haul in the promotion race.
Diarmuid Kearney
Diarmuid Kearney is a freelance Sports Journalist based in Co Kerry. He has more than 5 years experience covering domestic and international soccer for different media organisations, while also working for local and national print and digital organisations covering GAA.