Allianz Hurling League Division 2B: Derry 1-11 Wicklow 1-21
AFTER 10 minutes, Derry were in a promising position at 0-4 to 0-1 ahead with Ruairi Convery (0-2), Odhran McKeever and Alan Grant on target – but once man of the match Andy O’Brien drove through a minute later to fire the sliothar to the net a minute later, Derry’s early confidence disappeared.
They did have a chance to hit back moments after the Wicklow goal but Gavan McCormick was brilliantly hooked in the goalmouth with the net at his mercy.
In quick succession, Danny Staunton and Andy O’Brien – after a stunning catch on a diagonal cross by Padraig Doyle – put the Garden county 1-3 to 0-4 ahead.
McCormick did stem the scoring rush with a fine point but O’Brien won a free that joint top-scorer Christy Moorhouse (0-8) converted and then O’Brien, who landed 1-5, pointed for 1-5 to 0-5.
Derry’s woes mounted with the lost the experienced Ruairi Convery through injury in the 25th minute. Then Andy O’Brien (0-2), John Henderson – son of the great Kilkenny player of the same name – and Christy Moorhouse added to Wicklow’s tally for a 1-9 to 0-6 interval lead.
A despondent Derry manager Collie McGurk reflected ruefully on the spurned chances in the first half.
“We started very well but Wicklow’s shooting was far superior to ours,” he said.
“I think we missed something like 1-11 in the first half whereas Wicklow missed only three points from play.
“Our wide tally for the whole game was 17 and we had a couple of goal chances that were blocked on top of that and you just can’t afford to miss that many chances at this level of hurling.”
Any hopes of a Derry second half recovery were dashed within a few minutes of the restart as Moorhouse plundered four points by the 50th minute, adding another brace from placed balls in the 59th and 60th minutes, as Wicklow picked off points at will.
Liam Hinphey picked up a second yellow card in the 64th minute, with Alan Grant getting a consolation goal in the 70th minute to bring his personal tally to 1-4.
While the Derry manager bemoaned the missed scoring chances in the first half he got some joy from the display of Darragh McCloskey.
“I thought did well on O’Brien whenever he went in,” he said.
“He battled hard and we also had other good performances, especially from our young players.
“Odhran McKeever did excellently and young Ciaran Steele had a good game. Gavin McCormick was another who had a good game so it wasn’t all doom and gloom.”
Derry: D McDermott; P Turner, S McCullagh, D McCloskey; C Steele, T McCloskey, O McKeever (0-1); A Grant (1-4, 0-4 frees), B Óg McGilligan; R Convery (0-3, 0-1 free), O McCloskey, E McGuckin; A Kelly (0-1), G McCormick (0-2), D Cartin.
Subs: C Murphy for Convery (25), L Hinphey for T McCloskey (41), T O’Kane for Cartin (61), T Magee for McGuckin (68).
Wicklow: E O’Mahoney; L Maloney, M O’Brien, W Kavanagh; G Byrne (0-1), E Kearns (0-1), J Henderson (0-1); R Keddy (0-2), D Staunton (0-1); A Byrne, C Moorhouse (0-8, 0-2 frees, 0-2 65s), P Keane; P Doyle, A O’ Brien (1-5), G O’Brien.
Subs: E Dunne 0-1 for Kavanagh (h-t), D Masterson for Keddy (55), G Connors for G O’Brien (55), J Byrne 0-1 for A Byrne (60), W Kinsella for A O’Brien (66).
Referee: K Brady (Louth).
Allianz Hurling League Division 2B: Mayo 0-12 Down 2-23
Mike Finnerty in Castlebar
IT was far too easy for Down in Castlebar yesterday as they powered to their second successive Division 2B victory against a disappointing Mayo outfit.
Goals in either half from Malachy Magee and Danny Toner extinguished any hopes the home side may have had of giving the Ardsmen a run for their money.
The only blot on Down’s copybook was the late dismissal of the influential Caolan Taggart, who had nailed five points by the time he left the field.
Portaferry’s Conor Mageean also raised five white flags, while midfielder Conor O’Prey chipped in with a couple of scores for good measure.
But the main man for Down on a soft day in the west was corner-forward Danny Toner (right), who finished with 1-8 and did more than anyone to torment the Mayo backline.
For three-quarters of this game the home side were no match for the visitors as they continue to feel the absence of dual stars Keith Higgins and Fergal Boland.
JP Coen’s team certainly looked a pale shadow of the side that captured last year’s Nicky Rackard Cup crown.
The writing was on the wall by half-time as Down led by five points despite having played against the strong wind in the opening 35 minutes.
And as the second half progressed, they pulled away at their leisure with the outstanding Toner’s goal just after the restart killing off Mayo’s challenge once and for all.
Down tacked on a dozen points from there to the finish, picking off scores from all angles and distances, while Mayo could only manage three points at the other end.
The Westerners were also far too reliant on free-taker Kenny Feeney for scores, with the talented Tooreen marksman accounting for all but two of Mayo’s points from placed balls.
However, early on it looked like being a competitive affair as Down only led by 0-7 to 0-6 at the end of the first quarter.
But even at that stage the Ardsmen looked sharp and were moving the ball smartly against the stiff breeze. Feeney nailed all of Mayo’s early scores.
Then on 23 minutes came the breakthrough score for Down as Magee beat Davog Frayne for the opening goal of the day.
The visitors took huge confidence from that score, while Mayo were visibly shaken, and by half-time Down were in control, leading 1-11 to 0-9.
Corner-forward Joe McManus was the only Mayo player to score from play in the opening period with Feeney contributing all the other efforts from placed balls.
Down, who were hammered by Meath in the opening round by 20 points in Navan, are now very much back in the promotion frame after successive wins over Connacht neighbours Roscommon and Mayo.
Mayo: D Frayne; B Hunt, G McManus, S Mulroy; C Freeman, D Kenny, T Sweeney; G Nolan, K McDermott; S Leneghan, K Feeney (0-10 frees), S Regan; D McLoughlin, P Hickey, J McManus (0-2).
Subs: J Cotter for Leneghan, D McTigue for Freeman, D Harrison for J McManus.
Down: S Keith; A Bell, M Hughes, S Ennis; J McGrath, C Woods (0-1), M Ennis; C O’Prey (0-2), D McManus; C Mageean (0-5), C Taggart (0-5), M Magee (1-0); E Sands, C Egan (0-1), D Toner (1-8, 0-4 frees).
Subs: P Sheehan (0-1) for McGrath, G Johnson for Bell; S Nicholson for McManus, O McManus for Egan.
Referee: S Hynes (Galway)
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