MATTERS are still up for grabs for the first division teams chasing four quarter-final places in the National Football League, which resumed yesterday after the winter break.
Meath and Donegal maintained their position at the top of the table by drawing in Navan 2-4 to 0-10, courtesy of a lively finale which saw Tony Boyle equalise for the northerners not once but twice in injury-time his final riposte coming in the fourth minute of time added-on.
Goals from Barry Callaghan and Ollie Murphy had kept Meath afloat and points from Jimmy McGuinness and Murphy had threatened to sneak them home before Boyle's intervention.
Behind them, Kerry and Tyrone were contriving something similar with Ciaran Corr's point at a similarly late stage saving a point for the home side in a 0-10 to 1-7 draw at Dungannon. The two teams are now in joint fourth place on five points.
Leapfrogging the pair of them are Derry who had a hard-fought 1-6 to 0-7 victory over Kildare in Celtic Park. Damien Cassidy's first-half goal was crucial and the result sends the losers into the drop zone, on three points, with only a doomed-looking Clare below them in the table.
John O'Keeffe's men made the trip to Portlaoise for a match which turned out a less than appealing affair. Laois's Tony Maher got the line but his team got the points, defeating the visitors 0-10 to 0-6. The victory is important for Laois as they edge towards safety and they are now a point above the bottom two.
In Division Two some progress was made towards clarifying its likely outcome and that looks increasingly grim for the last two All-Ireland winners. Dublin failed to achieve a lift-off to their promotion campaign, losing to Louth in Dundalk, whereas their predecessors as champions, Down, travelled to Breffni Park, lost to Cavan and now face the awful prospect of life in Division Three next season. With two matches left, they have only two points.
Their companions in the basement, Westmeath, made a brave but futile attempt at the points in Cork and the home side's victory leaves them in pole position for promotion at the end of the month by which stage the League's regulation fixtures will be over.
Joining them at the top are Cavan whose defeat of Down puts them in an equally strong position to achieve promotion, for the second year running.
Leitrim's chances of ascent were badly dented by defeat in Lurgan where Armagh's powerful second-half display overhauled the Connacht side's four-point interval lead. Des Mackin scored two goals as Armagh won by 3-8 to 1-10.
