Liam Sheedy and James Horan are off to winning starts in the league upon their returns, with the Tipperary hurlers and Mayo footballers respectively.
Meanwhile, the Dublin hurlers staged a second-half fightback to overcome Carlow, and the Laois footballers earned a significant result in Division Three, beating Down away.
Tipperary 2-16 Clare 1-11, NHL Division 1A
The Premier avenged their Munster Senior League final defeat to the Banner by taking the spoils at Semple Stadium. The home side were quicker out of the blocks, racing into a 0-13 to 1-3 half-time lead. As Clare attempted to mount a fightback after the break, Tony Kelly was contentiously given his marching orders which handed Tipp the initiative to see off their Munster rivals by eight points.
Sheedy’s side have secured an important home win to send them top of the Division 1A table, ahead of the clashes of Kilkenny v Cork and Wexford v Limerick on Sunday afternoon.
Dublin 3-15 Carlow 0-18, NHL Division 1B
Mattie Kenny’s charges were wasteful at times, but had enough in reserve to see off Carlow at Parnell Park. The Sky Blues got off to a perfect start, with Darragh O’Connell’s early goal helping them into a four-point lead. However, Colm Bonnar’s charges rallied to take a deserved 0-11 to 1-6 lead at the break.
The Boys in Blue came out stronger in the second half, with Eamonn Dillon leading the scoring charge, and Danny Sutcliffe returning as a substitute to help the Dubs over the line.
Mayo 1-8 Roscommon 1-7, NFL Division 1
A late goal from newcomer Brian Reape proved decisive as Mayo edged the all-Connacht affair at McHale Park. Despite the Rossies leading by four-points earlier in the low-scoring affair, Mayo clawed their way back into the tie to take the two points on offer in front of 10,941 in Castlebar.
The narrow loss comes as a blow to Anthony Cunningham’s charges, as they aimed to build on last week’s FBD League title.
Down 1-12 Laois 2-15, NFL Division 3
John Sugrue’s Laois side, promoted last year from Division 4, got off to the perfect start in Newry, beating the Mourne County by six points. With the Ulster side ranked amongst the favourites for promotion this year, this comes as a major result for last year’s Leinster finalists.
Other results:
Antrim 2-16 Kerry 1-21 (NHL Division 2A)
Warwickshire 0-11 Wicklow 2-20 (NHL Division 2B)
Down 0-14 Derry 1-16 (NHL Division 2B)
Lancashire 0-10 Tyrone 2-17 (NHL Division 3A)
Waterford 0-9 Wicklow 1-7 (NFL Division 4)
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