By Cóilín Duffy
Kerry, Kildare, Tyrone and Warwickshire celebrated Allianz Hurling League successes this afternoon.
A quintet of first-half goals helped Kerry to Division 2B honours, after a 5-17 to 3-17 win over Westmeath at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick.
Mickey Boyle (2-2) rattled two of the five goals, with Shane Nolan (1-3), Colm Harty (1-2) and Keith Carmody (1-0) also raising green flags before the break for the Kingdom, who led by 5-5 to 1-6 at the interval.
Full-forward Derek McNicholas (2-1) netted one goal in each half for Westmeath, but his side struggled to cope with Kerry’s lightning start.
Mark Delaney was impressive from placed balls as Kildare claimed Division 2B honours, thanks to a 0-22 to 0-17 win over Meath at Cusack Park, Mullingar.
The Lilywhites maintained their unbeaten record, with a second win over Meath in this campaign, in a game where they pulled away in the second half.
Kildare edged a 0-11 to 0-10 interval lead, after the sides had been level on five occasions in the opening half.
Meath welcomed back their captain Sean Heavey after a six-week layoff through injury, while IT Carlow student Jack Fagan worked hard, but it was Kildare who got on top on the restart.
In Keady, last year's Division 3B winners Tyrone continued their strong progression, with a 0-18 to 1-11 win over Monaghan.
Monaghan pushed 0-4 to 0-0 ahead early on, but Tyrone fought back to level matters with birthday boy Conor Grogan and free-taker Damien Casey impressive.
Casey had a penalty blocked, but Tyrone led by 0-6 to 0-5 at the break.
Scores from Casey and Justin Kelly pushed the Red Hands further in front on the restart, but a Lambe goal levelled the tie, to ensure a tight final quarter.
However, Tyrone outscored their opponents by 0-9 to 0-5 in response to that goal, with Monaghan reduced to 14 men late on.
Cork native Sean Hennessy bagged nine points for Warwickshire in their hard earned 1-15 to 2-10 win over Longford in the Division 3B decider in Ratoath.
A 29th minute penalty goal from Eoin Donnellan (1-05) helped Longford to a 1-7 to 0-7 interval lead, but the Midlanders were down to 14-men at this stage, after a straight red card for Cathal Mullane.
Warwickshire fought back with an unanswered 1-03 inside five minutes of the restart, including a goal from substitute Colm McBride.
Longford cut the gap to a point, but were reduced to 13 men, when Paddy Corcoran picked up a red card.
Warwickshire kept on top, and despite Bart Hartley netting a late goal, the Exiles stayed in front for their captain Emmet McCabe to lift the cup after the game.