Forget the Manchester derby, the big draw in the sporting world today was the return of inter-county Gaelic Football at grounds across the country. Here’s how it went down.
The FBD League set the ball rolling on the new GAA season in absolutely atrocious conditions during the week and thankfully the weather was that little bit better when everyone else got in on the act today.
With male model and part-time TV star Eamon Fennell in a full forward role, All-Ireland champions Dublin ran out seven point winners over Carlow in the O’Byrne Cup, while third-level sides UCD and DCU scored impressive wins over Laois and Wicklow respectively.
In the McKenna Cup, Peter the Great made the perfect start to his tenure as Fermanagh manager, erne-ing an eight-point win over Antrim, with UUJ shocking Donegal with a two-point victory in Letterkenny.
Out west, NUIG got the better of Galway, GMIT and Roscommon couldn’t be separated and Mayo defeated Leitrim in their first game of 2012.
In the preliminary round of the McGrath Cup in Munster, meanwhile, Tipperary, Clare and Tralee Institute of Technology, or TIT as they are more commonly known, were all victorious.
Yes, the GAA is back people and thank God for it, because the last three months seemed like a lifetime.
See below for a full list of today’s GAA results.
O’Byrne Cup:
Meath 1-13 1-10 Wexford
Wicklow 1-14 0-18 DCU
Longford 0-13 1-09 Athlone IT
Kildare 2-11 0-09 Dublin IT
Offaly 3-06 0-07 Westmeath
Carlow 0-10 0-17 Dublin
Laois 0-11 0-15 UCD
Dr McKenna Cup:
Tyrone 1-13 1-05 Queens University
Fermanagh 2-11 1-06 Antrim
Monaghan 0-14 0-06 St Mary’s
Down 2-12 0-10 Armagh
Derry 0-13 0-12 Cavan
Donegal 0-09 0-11 UUJ
McGrath Cup:
Waterford 0-14 2-14 IT Tralee
Clare 0-18 1-08 UL
Tipperary 2-13 3-08 LIT
FBD League:
GMIT 2-08 1-11 Roscommon
Mayo 0-10 0-06 Leitrim
Sligo 1-17 0-09 London
Galway 0-09 1-08 NUIG
