Brian O’Halloran impresses in Waterford win as Offaly get off to good start

Waterford hurlers got their competitive season of to a winning start when they had 7 points to spare over LIT in the preliminary round of the Waterford Crystal Cup at Carriganore - winning 1-22 to 0-18.

Brian O’Halloran gave a sparkling display for the winners which yielded 1-4 from play and was literally the difference between the sides in a well fought contest.

Both sides operated with an extra defender making goal chances hard to come by. The Davy Fitzgerald managed LIT side won plenty of possession in the opening half but trailed by two points at the break 0-11 to 0-9 with the deadly accurate Pauric Mahoney hitting 0-6 (0-5f) in the opening 35 minutes for the Déise.

The crucial and only goal of the game came after 45 minutes when Waterford substitute Jake Dillon combined with Mickey Kearney to allow Brian O’Halloran the opportunity to shoot low past Aaron Murphy in the LIT goal. This gave the home side a five point advantage (1-16 to 0-14) and some breathing space.

The Limerick students reduced their arrears to just 3 points with 10 minutes to play but late points from Pauric Mahoney, Brian O'Halloran and one apiece from substitutes Donie Breathnach and Shane Bennett eased Waterford into the quarter finals.

On Saturday an experimental Cork side set-up their quarter-final against CIT by hanging on to deny UL in a well-contested second-half at the CIT grounds.

Cork led by 1-11 to 0-4 at the interval after playing with the strong wind, the goal coming early from Dayne Lee, who had played the previous day for his school Gaelcholaiste Mhuire AG in a narrow Dr Harty Cup defeat by Thurles CBS.

But, UL improved significantly on the resumption thanks to the efforts of Mark Carmody, substitute PJ Scully and Conor Martin’s 1-1 with the Cork defence under pressure.

UL cut the gap to four points at one stage before Cork, who were playing their third game in eight days, rallied with three scores on the spin, though the students battled to the end to ensure an anxious finish for the home side - Cork 1-18 UL 1-15.

Meanwhile in the Walsh Cup Offaly had a positive start to 2015 with a 2-15 to 1-13 win over Westmeath in their local derby encounter. Stephen Quirke scored twice for Offaly, his second putting them 2-5 to 0-6 ahead, although a plucky Westmeath side stayed the course and had their opportunities to run their neighbours even closer.

Antrim also had an encouraging start to the year with a 1-22 to 2-12 victory over DIT while Laois tallied an impressive 2-22 to 1-8 victory over UCD. Zane Keenan and PJ Scully were the goalscorers as both Cha Dwyer and UCD and Wexford captain Matthew O'Hanlon were sent off.

Elsewhere Carlow and NUIG couldn't be separated in a hard fought encounter which ended 1-13 to 2-10. The students let a healthy half time lead slip and in the second half they missed an opportunity to win the game with a last minute free.