Division Two: Armagh draw with Donegal as Cavan maintain promotion hopes

Armagh and Donegal played out a tense 1-9 to 0-12 draw in the Allianz Football League Division Two top-of-table game at the Athletic Grounds.

Andrew Murnin's goal helped Armagh lead 1-5 to 0-7 at half-time and the key moment thereafter was Blaine Hughes' penalty save to deny Oisin Gallen.

Cavan retain Division Two promotion hopes after beating Louth 2-13 to 3-9.

Fermanagh suffered a late 1-14 to 0-16 defeat by Cork while Sligo beat Antrim 1-19 to 1-13 in Division Three.

The Athletic Grounds draw keeps Armagh top of the Division Two table on scoring difference from Donegal but Cavan are now only a point off the top two after earning their third win in four games.

Donegal had the better of the opening and closing stages of the first half at the Athletic Grounds but a purple patch for Armagh midway through the period where they outscored the opposition 1-4 to 0-1 had them a point ahead at the break.

New GAA president Jarlath Burns was among the spectators at the game in Armagh

The hosts were finding Donegal hard to break down early on and didn't register their first score until the 13th minute before Murnin's goal suddenly shot the game into life.

Ciaran Mackin showed tremendous vision to pick out the full forward with a 50-yard pass which went over the heads of the Donegal defence, and ended in the arms of Murnin, who drilled home in a one on one.

However, Donegal scored the last three points of the half to trail by just one, 1-5 to 0-7 at the break.

Donegal continued their momentum to lead 0-10 to 1-5 in early in the second half with Patrick McBrearty and Oisin Gallen doing the heavy lifting on the scoreboard, but Armagh turned to their star-studded bench - including Rian O'Neill - for a response.

On 66 minutes, Donegal had a huge chance when they were awarded a penalty with the game level, but Gallen was denied by a superb Hughes save.

Rian O'Neill then thought he had won it in stoppage time, when he put his side ahead, but Shane O'Donnell fired an equaliser before Jarlath Og Burns missed a late chance to secure an Armagh win as his fisted effort dropped shot into Shaun Patton's hands.

Armagh led 1-5 to 0-7 at half-time at the Athletic Grounds

Cavan keep promotion hopes alive

Cavan kept their promotion hopes in Division Two very much alive by edging out Louth in a 2-13 to 3-9 thriller in Ardee.

Gerard Smith slammed into the net early on to give the Breffni County an early lead.

But a penalty from Sam Mulroy and Ryan Burns' major soon turned the tide and Cavan were 2-3 to 1-5 down at half-time.

Ciaran Smith's strike early in the second period gave Cavan the advantage once more in a helter skelter encounter.

Smith was then shown a second yellow and when Sam Mulroy converted his second goal it looked like Louth would steal the points.

But Tiarnan Madden stemmed the hosts' barrage before Cavan finally landed the decisive score to gain what could be a huge two points.

Maurice Shanley's late goal earned Cork a dramatic and vital Division Two win over Fermanagh at Ederney

In contrast, Fermanagh now look to be in a relegation battle in Division Two after Maurice Shanley's late goal earned Cork a 1-14 to 0-16 victory in Ederney - a win the Rebels badly need to boost their hopes of avoiding the drop after three opening defeats.

Shanley netted two minutes into injury-time to put Cork 1-13 to 0-14 ahead and two late Garvan Jones points couldn't save the home side, who drop to fifth spot - only one point ahead of Louth and Cork, with Kildare bottom after their latest defeat by Meath.

Fermanagh will look back on a goal chance they had in the 69th minute when leading 0-14 to 0-13 as Cork keeper Christopher Kelly saved a Shane McGullion shot.

Kelly had also denied McGullion early on but in spite of that, the Ernemen led 0-7 to 0-3 before Cork cut the margin to 0-8 to 0-6 by half-time.

Granted Cork could have been ahead by the break with Fermanagh keeper Sean McNally denying Ian Maguire's goal chance.

Points from Brian Hurley and Chris Og Jones saw Cork levelling after the resumption and McNally came to Fermanagh's rescue on two more occasions as he blocked Colm O'Callaghan and Conor Corbett goal attempts.

Fermanagh seemed to have regained the initiative as scores from Declan McCusker and McGullion plus two Jones points put them 0-14 to 0-11 up but they couldn't put the Rebels away and Shanley's goal led to the visitors snatching a dramatic win.

Antrim's promotion hopes suffer big blow

Antrim suffered a second consecutive Division Three defeat which severely dented their promotion hopes as they were beaten 1-19 to 1-13 by Sligo at Markievicz Park.

Whilst Antrim led 1-9 to 1-8 at the break, Sligo captain Niall Murphy scored eight points as the hosts registered their third win of the campaign.

The Saffrons struck an early goal when Ronan Boyle fisted home from close range after the ball had fallen to him on the goal line when Ruari McCann's free dropped short.

Sligo got back into the game midway through the first half with Cian Lally firing home a goal before two further points from Darragh Cummins and Pat Spillane established a four-point advantage.

Antrim fought back with six points without reply to take a one-point lead in at half-time but Sligo outscored the Saffrons 0-12 to 0-4 in the second half as Luke Towey's introduction proved key.

Antrim finished the game with 14 players after a late black card for Marc Jordan.