Antrim beat Westmeath but Down lose out to Laois

Antrim defeated Westmeath 2-29 to 2-20 at Corrigan Park in Saturday's Joe McDonagh Cup game but Down lost out 4-28 to 0-27 to Laois at O'Moore Park. Laois's win over the Mournemen means that they edge closer to a third McDonagh Cup final in a row, with Carlow already assured of contesting the decider. Aaron Dunphy starred with a points tally of 3-5, including a second-half hat-trick, while Stephen Maher grabbed eight points to become his county's all-time leading scorer in the championship.

Down trailed 0-18 to 0-11 at the interval and their deficit increased further in the second period. Pearse Og McCrickard top-scored for them with 0-15 but their hopes of making the decider hang by a thread at best. They need to beat Westmeath in the final round of fixtures, hope that Laois lose to London and Antrim defeat Carlow, and emerge with a huge swing in points difference also.

Antrim clinched a comfortable nine-point victory over Westmeath. Darragh McCormack and Oisin Donnelly traded goals late in the first half, with Eoin Keyes finding the net for the visitors in the second period, and Joseph McLaughlin scoring Antrim's second goal. McLaughlin and Seaan Elliott contributed 1-4 and 0-7 respectively for the Saffrons, while David Williams accumulated 10 points for Westmeath.