Down made it two wins from two Dr McKenna Cup games with a 2-14 to 1-10 win over Donegal while Derry overcame Fermanagh and Cavan beat Antrim.
Liam Kerr and Conor Francis netted for the Mourne side in the Section A encounter at Pairc Esler in Conor Laverty’s first home game in charge.
Derry fought back to beat Fermanagh 0-11 to 1-04 at Ederney in Section B.
Cavan began their Section C fixtures with a convincing 2-10 to 0-9 victory over Antrim in Portglenone.
A Martin Reilly goal after eight minutes had the Breffni county in control and they didn’t look back.
Pat Shivers and Dominic McEnhill were on hand to keep the Saffrons in touch but Brandon Boylan raised another green flag to put Mickey Graham’s side five points in front.
In the second half Killian Clarke and Liam Brady helped the visitors pull away. Antrim reduced the arrears with McEnhill remaining accurate from dead ball situations but after the midweek defeat against Armagh Andy McEntee’s men were soundly beaten by seven points.
Derry opened their McKenna Cup account with a comeback victory after the Erne county, beaten by Tyrone Wednesday, found themselves ahead at the break but the Oak Leafers rallied to seize control in the second half.
Garvan Jones’ major gave Fermanagh an early lead with the home side leading 1-02 to 0-04 at the break. In the second period a pair of scores from both Niall Loughlin and Shane McGuigan turned the tide with Derry 0-9 to 1-3 in front on 60 minutes
Fermanagh only managed two points in the second half and the Ulster champions stood firm to emerge four-point winners.
Laverty making instant impact
The seeds of hope have been sown in Down after this encouraging win over Donegal at Pairc Esler. In the space of four days, Laverty’s new-look Down side – who will play in Division Three this year – have beaten two Division One sides, backing up Wednesday’s win in Monaghan with another positive performance.
New Donegal boss Paddy Carr will not be too despondent to lose an opening Dr McKenna Cup game, however there is clearly a rebuilding job to do in the post-Michael Murphy era.
Down played with plenty of conviction and purpose in Newry and did most of the damage in the first half with goals by Liam Kerr and Conor Francis. Pat Havern sparkled with 0-5 from play and while his opposing number 14 Paddy McBrearty also landed five points including four from frees, he had a mixed afternoon and was off target with several placed balls.
Down got off to a flying start and raced into a five-point lead after 10 minutes including Kerr’s deft finish low across the goal and into the far corner of the net. Donegal were slow to settle in their first game of 2023 before Ciaran Thompson’s long-range point raised their first white flag of the year.
Daire O Baoill palmed home a Donegal goal on 10 minutes after a strong run through the middle by Stephen McMenamin, who passed the ball out wide to Jamie Brennan. His unselfish pass across left O Baoill with an unmissable target.
Down played with cohesion and fluidity under their new manager and in Pat Havern they had the outstanding forward on show. He hit four first-half points off both feet and caused Donegal lots of problems.
Conor Francis squeezed home a second Down goal at the near post as their dominance grew and they led 2-9 to 1-7 at the break. The second half was very stop-start and littered with substitutions, with both managers keen to blood as many players as possible.
Down lost Conor Fitzpatrick to a black card early second half but it mattered little as Donegal only scored three points while the hosts did enough to protect their sizeable lead with substitutes Tom Close and Mark Walsh adding late points.
