It was contrasting fortunes for the two Mayo teams who were in action in the stormy weather this afternoon. The women’s encouraging start to this year’s LGFA NFL Division One campaign was bolstered by a gritty win over Waterford but the hurlers fell to a narrow NHL defeat to Wicklow, a loss that places their status in Division 2A in serious peril.

The howling wind was a significant factor in both games today and Waterford had the gale at their backs in the first half of this afternoon’s match at Swinford Amenity Park. Their hope would obviously have been to build up a decent lead, which they’d then seek to defend after the break.

But it didn’t work out that way for the Déise women. When the teams went off at the break they were tied at two points apiece – Rachel Kearns getting both of ours – and so the match was, in effect, now the home team’s to lose.

Four unanswered second half points in increasingly bad playing conditions sealed the win for Peter Leahy’s team. The weather deteriorated so much in that half that the ref had to stop the play at one point to let a hail shower pass.

The win sees Mayo climb to joint-second in the Division One table (which is here) after three rounds. Cork are out in front and it’s an away clash with the table-topping Rebels next weekend for the Green and Red.

Match report by Michael Gallagher for Ladies Football is here. The same report is also carried by RTÉ – here. Match photos from Swinford by Sportsfile are here.

It was wild and windy up the road at the Connacht Centre of Excellence in Bekan too. Wicklow’s first half aim was the same as Waterford’s down in Swinford, as they too won the toss and opted to play with the gale in the first half.

The Garden County lads made good use of it too, going in at the break six points in front. The scoreline then stood at 1-9 to 0-6.

The home team’s cause was far from hopeless at that stage. With just over ten minutes of the second half played and the gap shaved back to a single point, the win looked well within their grasp.

But, try as they might, the Mayo lads just couldn’t get back on terms. Instead, the visitors steadied the ship and pushed their lead back out to four points. Wicklow won by three at the finish, on a scoreline of 1-16 to 1-13.

The defeat leaves our lads rooted to the foot of Division 2A (table here), with three losses from three outings. Indeed, with tough games still to come against Offaly and Meath, relegation is now more a probability than a possibility.

Match summary from RTÉ is here and some great match photos from Ciara Buckley at Memories thru a Lens are here.

Finally, a quick reminder about the Mayo GAA Lotto, the weekly draw for which takes place tomorrow night. The jackpot is back up to €8,100, with match tickets for Clones and an overnight stay at the Four Seasons Hotel in Monaghan next weekend up for grabs as well in tomorrow night’s draw. Full details on that here.