Carlow 1-25 Down 1-20

Ciarán Whelan helped himself to 0-12 at Abbotstown on Sunday as Carlow recorded a five-point triumph over Down in the third round of the Kehoe Cup.

Despite falling behind by four points during the early exchanges, Carlow rallied to lead 0-8 to 0-6 on the first-quarter mark. Centre-forward Whelan contributed 0-5 in this juncture, while Jack McCullagh, Ciaran Kavanagh and Jack Treacy also got themselves on the Barrowsiders’ scoresheet.

Dead-ball specialist Paul Sheehan was keeping Down in contention, however, and he finished the opening period with seven points to his name.

Yet with Jon Nolan and James Doyle finding the range in clinical style, Carlow brought a slender 0-12 to 0-11 cushion into the interval.

A brace of Marc Fisher points briefly edged Down back into the ascendancy on the resumption, before Carlow took control of the contest with a dominant third-quarter display.

Treacy, Nolan, Whelan and Kavanagh added to their personal tallies, in advance of Conor Kehoe shaking the Down net on the stroke of 50 minutes.

This moved Carlow nine points clear (1-19 to 0-14) at the National Games Development Centre, but Chris Egan’s green flag strike in the 54th-minute added new life to the Down challenge.

Sheehan continued to lead by example for the Ulster side and ended the game with an outstanding personal haul of 0-13.

Nevertheless, with Whelan displaying unerring accuracy from placed-balls, Carlow did more than enough to claim the spoils in the end.

Scorers – Carlow: C Whelan 0-12 (9f), C Kehoe 1-1, James Doyle, J Nolan 0-3 each, J Treacy, C Kavanagh 0-2 each, J McCullagh, P Boland 0-1 each. Down: P Sheehan 0-13 (9f, 1 ’65’), C Egan 1-0, M Fisher 0-2, M Conlon, R McCusker, T Prenter, O MacManus, F Turpin 0-1 each.

Carlow: C Abbey; D Dunne, C Lawlor, P Doyle; J McCullagh, K McDonald, F Fitzpatrick; C Kehoe, James Doyle; J Nolan, C Whelan, John Doyle; P Boland, C Kavanagh, J Treacy. Subs: F O’Toole for Kavanagh (47-51, blood), Jake Doyle for John Doyle (51), O’Toole for Treacy (53), R Coady for Kehoe (63), T Lawlor for McCullagh (66), E English for Fitzpatrick (68), S Joyce for Dunne, L Doyle for P Doyle (both 70).

Down: S Keith; D Mallon, B Trainor, T Murray; D McCartney, C Taggart, N McFarland; M Conlon, O MacManus; R McCusker, C Egan, M Fisher; T Prenter, F Turpin, P Sheehan. Subs: J Croskery for Mallon (42), R Blair for McFarland (51), P Doran for Fisher (57), E Pucci for Murray, P Smyth for Keith (both 63).

Referee: M Molloy (Wicklow).