Allianz Football League: Donegal outclass Cork as Antrim and Down win in Division Three

Patrick McBrearty (centre) hit 1-6 in Donegal's dominant win over Cork at Ballybofey

Donegal earned a dominant opening 1-20 to 2-6 Division Two victory over Cork in the Allianz Football League as Antrim and Down won in Division Three.

Patrick McBrearty hit 1-6 in Jim McGuinness' return to league action.

Donegal led 0-12 to 1-3 after a wind-assisted first half and as the wind dropped, they bossed the second half.

A Dominic McEnhill penalty and Ruairi McCann goal helped Antrim beat Limerick 2-14 to 2-7 while Down won 0-18 to 0-13 in Wicklow.

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At Ballybofey, Cork goals in either half from Eoghan McSweeney and Chris Og Jones threatened to make a game of it but, in truth, McGuinness' side were streets ahead rubberstamping their authority with a McBrearty goal three minutes from time.

Donegal were aided by a strong breeze in the first half and raced into a 0-4 to 0-0 lead, Jamie Brennan opening the scoring and McBrearty knocking over two frees either side of an Odhran Doherty points.

The Rebels finally got on the scoreboard 15 minutes in, Ruairi Deane squaring across the face of goal for McSweeney to punch home.

Jim McGuinness was taking charge of Donegal in the Football League game for the first time since 2014

Brian O'Driscoll levelled soon after before long-range efforts from Doherty, Ciaran Thompson found their destination between the sticks.

Jones got the final Cork score before half-time before Donegal added three scores in quick fashion, Daire O Baoill, Brendan McCole and Shane O'Donnell giving the home team a six-point advantage at the break.

The strong wind that was evident in the first half died down and Donegal hit the first three scores after the restart with O Baoill on target again after McBrearty tapped over a free.

Gavin Mulreany was called forward to kick off the ground and duly converted the mid-range free.

However, Mulreany then coughed up possession a long way from goal, the visitors punted it long for Jones to fire into the empty net.

But Donegal quickly reasserted their dominance and McBrearty smashed into the net to seal a two points for Donegal against one of their promotion rivals that they will regard as vital at even this early stage of the competition.

Dominic McEnhill's penalty helped Antrim to see off Limerick in their opening Division Three game

Antrim hold off Limerick fightback

Antrim fended off a spirited Limerick comeback to win 2-14 to 2-7 in their Division Three opener in Rathkeale.

Andy McEntee's side started superbly and held a six-point advantage at the break after Dominic McEnhill's penalty.

Limerick kept fighting and hit the back of the net twice in the second period.

However, Antrim weren't to be denied with Ruairi McCann scoring the Saffrons' second goal, before the visitors closed out the win by scoring four of the game's last five points.

Antrim were fast out of the blocks in Rathkeale, and looked comfortable when they raced into an eight- point lead following McEnhill's penalty.

However, Limerick rattled off 1-4 in a row either side of the break to cut the deficit to one, with Iain Corbett also finding the net from the spot.

Antrim appeared to have settled down with three straight points of their own in reply, but it was a one-point game once again when Tommy Childs scored Limerick's second goal of the contest.

But in a game where momentum swung back and forth, Antrim raced up the other end a minute later and McCann responded with a goal for the visitors.

That seemed to knock the wind out of Limerick's sails and the Saffrons scored four of the next five points after that to seal the win.

Down got their Division Three campaign off to a satisfactory start as they defeated Oisin McConville's Wicklow 0-18 to 0-13 at Aughrim

Havern and Guinness star for Down

At Aughrim, a strong second-half performance helped Down get their bid for promotion off to a winning start with a five-point victory over Wicklow.

Pat Havern and Daniel Guinness were sharp shooting in front of the posts, as they combined for 0-9 of Down's tally, whilst exciting prospect Oisin Savage marked his league debut with a point.

Spearheaded by the scoring of forward Chris O'Brien, Wicklow stayed within touching distance of the favourites throughout the first-half, trailing by just three points at the break.

However, Down came out of the changing rooms the sharper of the two sides for the second half and grabbed seven of the next nine points to move eight ahead, with Rory Mason making an impact off the bench with 0-2.

Wicklow did grab four of the last five points in the game, but it was too little, too late for Oisin McConville's side.