Maher fires London to Christy Ring triumph

NEWS ROUND-UP:LONDON BECAME the first county to come up from the third tier to win the Christy Ring Cup on Saturday, just 12 months after claiming the Nicky Rackard. The 4-20 to 1-19 margin was unflattering to Wicklow but there were no question marks surrounding the merit of the Exiles' success over last year's beaten finalists.

Jonathan Maher terrorised Wicklow with a brilliant performance that yielded 3-4 from play. The Kilburn Gaels man had 1-3 on the board in the first half, and Wicklow manager Casey O’Brien was forced to replace Jim Connors after just 18 minutes.

Martin Finn rifled a 20-metre free to the net soon afterwards but an Enan Glynn goal and a fine display of point-taking from Jonathan O’Neill (who finished with 0-11) kept Wicklow in touch. They could never get closer than four points, however, and Maher’s 49th-minute goal gave the winners the vital breathing space before the hat-trick was completed late on.

It was a stroll for Armagh as they consigned Louth to a second consecutive Nicky Rackard Cup final defeat, 3-20 to 1-15. Declan Coulter bagged two goals in the first half, while Conor Corvan also raised a green flag for Michael Johnston’s charges, who led by 3-13 to 0-8 at half-time.

David Carvill hit five of the winners’ points in that period, while Shane Fennell was Louth’s chief scorer with a similar tally. Louth provided stouter resistance after the break and though Brian Corcoran’s goal in the 58th minute was reward for their efforts, they were never likely to reel Armagh in.

Hot-favourites Tyrone needed a point right at the end of the second half of extra time from Conor Grogan to snatch the Lory Meagher Cup from Fermanagh on a 2-24 to 3-20 scoreline.

Last year’s runners-up conceded first-half goals to Shea Curran, Declan McGarry and Seán Corrigan – who notched up 1-8 from play – but excellent long-distance shooting from placed balls by Justin Kelly, in addition to a goal and three points from Seán Óg Grogan, saw them go in at the break 1-12 to 3-4 ahead. The sides could not be separated in normal time, finishing at 1-20 to 3-14.

Both sides were reduced to 13 players in extra-time but Fermanagh were three points clear with four minutes left when a Kelly goal brought Tyrone level before Grogan pounced for the winning point.