An Antrim goal two minutes into the second half in Sunday's Division 1B encounter against Limerick looked to have put them in a great position to perhaps go one step further than last weekend's narrow loss. Instead they were thereafter outscored 0-13 to 0-3 in plummeting to an anticlimactic eight point defeat.

It had been tit-for-tat for much of the opening half with Limerick leading the blows yet unable to shake their Ulster opponents.

Playing in typically winter conditions Shane Dowling had been leading the scoring charge for Limerick in the first half and he was a threat throughout especially from placed balls. Yet it was Antrim who broke the game from a one point affair for the first time since the seventh minute, Eoghan Campbell's well taken goal put them 1-9 to 0-10 ahead on 37 minutes.

Having come within a point of Wexford in last weekend's league opener what would occur in the following 33 minutes was certainly not anticipated as Antrim were unable to muster a single score in the final 25 minutes - it finished Antrim 1-12 Limerick 0-23.

Meanwhile Wexford put back-to-back wins together with an important nine point victory over Offaly, albeit the final winning margin may have flattered them somewhat.

While it may have been the second half before they added legs to their lead, it was their hard earned 1-8 to 0-7 half time lead which supplied the ground work for the win, having already played into the conditions in the opening half.

Things looked even brighter for them when Offaly substitute Cillian Kiely was red carded within five minutes of the restart.

Offaly held in their though and only trailed by that decisive Jack Guiney goal entering the final ten minutes, although a litany of late points and a late second Wexford goal by Podge Doran killed the contest off and so it ended Wexford 2-15 Offaly 0-12.

Elsewhere in Division 2A Kerry edged Wicklow in the early throw-in whilst Derry impressed with a narrow one-point win over Westmeath.

In Division 2B there were wins for Armagh, Kildare and Meath whilst in Division 3A Tyrone edged Fingal as Louth and Monaghan secured home wins.

1B

Antrim 1-12 Limerick 0-23

Offaly 0-12 Wexford 2-15

2A

Wicklow 1-06 Kerry 2-20

Derry 2-15 Westmeath 3-10

2B

Armagh 1-18 Donegal 2-10

Kildare 2-15 Down 1-12

Mayo 0-09 Meath 3-08

3A

Fingal 1-15 Tyrone 1-16

Louth 4-17 Fermanagh 3-07

Monaghan 0-17 Roscommon 1-10