KILDARE and Wexford set the early pace in Divisions 3 and 4.
After a 2024 to forget, new Lilywhites manager Brian Flanagan saw his side explode out of the blocks in Newbridge and never look back against fellow relegated side FERMANAGH, romping home 2-24 to 1-12.
Mick O’Grady and Declan McCusker traded the first two points of the evening but Kildare then set the tone with seven unanswered scores.
Fermanagh tried to make a dent in their deficit and Darragh McGurn raised the first orange flag of the night.
And there were just five between the sides when Shane McGullion made it 0-18 to 1-10 with still over 20 minutes left.
Kildare moved through the gears in the final quarter, however, striking goals from Darragh Kirwan and Ryan Sinkey, two-pointers from Alex Beirne and David Hyland and restricting Fermanagh to just two further McGurn points.
In Division 4, WEXFORD made short work of LONDON, the Models home and hosed by half-time of a 2-24 to 2-6 win.
Seán Nolan and Páraic Hughes put two-pointers on the board early on at Wexford Park as the home side raced into a five-point lead before London got off the mark.
It was 1-13 to 1-2 at the end of a one-sided first half and by the end, John Hegarty’s side had nine scorers from play, Nolan finishing with 0-9 while Hughes bagged 1-2.
CARLOW will feel that they should have joined their neighbours at the top of the table but their game with TIPPERARY finished in a 2-13 to 1-16 draw at Dr Cullen Park.
Thirty-eight minutes in, Tipp’s Ben Comerford and the hosts’ Ross Dunphy had traded goals to leave it at 2-10 to 1-7 in favour of the Barrowsiders.
However, after putting 13 scoreless minutes behind them with a flurry of three points in a row from John Murphy, Mikey Bambrick and Conor Doyle, Carlow again failed to score from the 56th minute onwards and were ultimately reeled in for a draw.
Cian Smith, Steven O’Brien, with a two-pointer, and Seán O’Connor all kicked frees for the Premier in the last five minutes to tie it up
