NFL round-up:Down took full advantage of Aiden O'Shea's early red card to end Mayo's 100 per cent record in Division 1 of the Allianz National Football League this afternoon. The Ulster county ran out 1-13 to 0-11 points in Castlebar after Mayo were forced to play with fourteen men for all but nine minutes of the game.
With the scores level at two points apiece, O’Shea was shown a straight red after being reported by the linesmen for the alleged use of the elbow on Daniel Hughes. Down then got the only goal of the game on 19 minutes with Conor Maginn who flicking the ball over the head of the advancing Mayo keeper Robert Hennelly.
Down took a four-point interval lead with them to the dressing room and although Mayo did close the gap to two points James McCartan’s side never looked like being caught. The result earned Down their first win of the campaign with Mayo tasting defeat for the first time.
In Killarney, Kerry hammered Donegal out of sight with the Ulster champions facing the long trip north on the back of a 2-16 to 1-8 reverse. Bryan Sheehan added a penalty to his seven points to fire the Kingdom to the top of the table.
Donegal actually had the temerity to make the early running, taking a 0-3 to 0-0 lead before Sheahan sparked Kerry into life with three unanswered points and Patrick Curtin grabbed the first goal of the game. Sheehan struck the killer blow shortly after the break and although Donegal got a goal back through Michael Murphy Kerry were never going to be pegged back.
“I demanded a lot of the lads, “O’Connor said after their defeat to Armagh in the last round. “They responded pretty well today . . . our main aim going into the league was not so much to win it but to discover young players. We no have had five young lads who settled really well into the team.”
And the Kerry boss was full of praise for Sheahan after his man-of-the-match performance. “It’s a smashing bonus for us,” he added. “He’s kicking scores that so many other players in the country wouldn’t kick. It gives us a great cushion because the opposition realise if the give a foul in and around the 50 more often than not he’ll nail them.”
At Croke Park, Diarmuid Connolly gave a virtuoso display as a rampant Dublin crushed Armagh 4-17 to 1-10. Connolly almost beat the northerners single-handed, kicking 3-3 on an evening when everything clicked for the corner forward in front of almost 25,000 at headquarters.
Philly McMahon’s dismissal late on for a second yellow card took some of the gloss off the win but overall Dublin manager Pat Gilroy can reflect on a job well done.