| Louth Hurlers suffer heavy defeat to dominant London outfit |
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| Saturday, 30 April 2011 20:10 |
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Aided by the strong first half breeze London had the game sown up by the half-time whistle thanks to goals from Henry Vaughan, goalkeeper Aidan Ryan and Patrick Sloane, whilst midfielder Kevin Bolger and full forward Martin Finn both scored four points each. Louth scores came from the lively Brian Corcoran and free taker Gerard Smyth (2), but the visitors superior scoring left Louth with an uphill task in the second half. Half-time: Louth 0-03 London 3-14 Though London were first to get off the mark in the early stages of the second half, thanks to a nonth minute penalty, Louth fared better in the exchanges, and gained two quick scores from substitute David Dunne and midfielder Donagh O'Sullivan. Two pointed 65' from Smyth further closed the gap, but London kept taking their own scores to keep the scoreboard ticking over. A goal in the 58th minute from substitute Diarmuid O'Sullivan was due reward for Louth's determination, and though Smyth and Dunne added further points for the Wee County, the London side grabbed two more majors to extend their lead further. Full-time: Louth 1-10 London 6-20 Though Louth battled gamely front start to finish, their opponents were superior throughout. Indeed some supporters questioned the legitimacy of London in the competition such was their superiority. In fact, since the start of the year the English outfit have attained the services of 90 Senior hurlers, ode to the on-going recession, and as such they will be favourites to win the competition outright. Louth Scorers: Gerard Smyth (0-06), Diarmuid O'Sullivan (1-0), David Dunne (0-02), Donagh O'Sullivan and Brian Corcoran (0-01 each). LOUTH: James Connolly; Mark Wallace, Conor Kerrigan, Adrian Wallace; Domhnall McArdle, Ronan Byrne, Diarmuid Murphy; Donagh O’Sullivan, Shane Callan; Darren O’Hanrahan, Wesley Morrissey, Derek Horan; Brian Corcoran, Gerard Smyth, Kevin McNally. Subs: David Dunne for Shane Callan, Diarmuid O’Sullivan for Diarmuid Murphy, Barry Murphy for Adrian Wallace, Gary Rellis for Wesley Morrissey, Aidan Callan for Kevin McNally. LONDON: Aidan Ryan, Tony Hogan, Brian Costello, Colm Burke; Michael Walsh, David Maher, Gary Hill; Enda Cooney, Kevin Bolger; Richard O'Connell, Kevin Canty, Shane Ryan; Patrick Sloane, Martin Finn, Henry Vaughan. Subs: Niall Forde for Shane Ryan, Jonathan Maher for Martin Finn, Conor Sexton for Aidan Ryan, Jimmy Mulcahy for Kevin Bolger, Thomas Lally for Colm Burke. |