Derry hurlers defeat London to maintain perfect league record

Derry 1-27, London 2-15

Derry hurlers will play in the restructured Division Two next season after maintaining their 100% league record in a comfortable nine point victory over London in Celtic Park on Sunday.

Johnny McGarvey's men were in charge throughout a game in which London certainly had their moments but Derry's ability to respond to the Exiles' goals either side of half-time meant they were never in any real danger. Twice London asked questions of a superior Derry side, but each time the ball landed in the home net, it was met with an emphatic gear change from Derry which illustrated their dominance in a game which saw 11 Oak Leaf scorers.

London's first major, courtesy of Eoghan McHugh, came 19 minutes in and tied the game at 0-7 to 1-04, Derry having ceded a six point lead over six minutes. Their reply? Six unanswered points to burst the London bubble and send the home side into half-time with a healthy 0-17 to 1-06 lead.

Back came London within seconds of the restart, Derry keeper Eoin Mulholland seeing his attempted clearance charged back into his own net by London talisman Jack Goulding to bring the deficit back to five.

How did Derry respond? This time it was seven unanswered scores to douse any notion of a resurgence and ensure the remainder of the game was played out with a degree of comfort, even after a harsh black card for Aimon Duffin for a foul on Goulding which brought the visitors a penalty. Goulding couldn't convert, finding the Celtic Park upright on a day when he finished with 1-13, but it's unlikely even another London goal it would have made any difference.

The result means objective No. 1 is in the bag with Derry sitting top of the table, three clear of both Tyrone and Donegal and having beaten both in the head to head matches. With the chasing pack having fixtures against each other, it means Derry won't be ousted from the top three and need only one more win from their final two games to book their spot in the league final.

Derry made one change from the side that defeated Donegal in Letterkenny, Sean Cassidy coming in for the injured Paddy Kelly, but otherwise Derry pretty much picked up from where they had left off in O'Donnell Park with an impressive opening quarter.

And fresh from Saturday's Ulster U20 Championship semi-final victory over Down, it was James Friel who got the Oak Leafers up and running with a point inside 60 seconds as Derry eased to a 0-7 to 0-1 lead inside 13 minutes. Central to that good start was the U20 trio of Friel, Duffin and the excellent Ruairi O'Mianain who hit three points from play in the opening half.

With Cormac O'Doherty as always pulling the strings Derry controlled all but seven minutes minutes of the opening half, their initial lead six point lead wiped out by London's 1-03 without reply which only served to incite Derry into some of their best hurling.

O'Mianain, Meehaul McGrath, O'Doherty (2), Cahal Murray and John Mullan all split the posts before Goulding temporarily stopped the Oak march. Dara Mooney was up next and was quickly followed by a brilliant Murray score. Indeed even when Goulding continued his one man defiance with another free, there was still time for Murray, who was a growing influence, to hit the final two scores of the half and hand his team an eight point interval advantage.

Goulding's freak goal arrived only 30 seconds after the restart but rather than unsettle Derry, it inspired McGarvey's men and once Paul Cleary (2), Callum O'Kane, O'Doherty (f), Corey O'Reilly, Murray and substitute Darragh McGilligan had scored there would be no way back for London.

Goulding's penalty would have brought it back to seven points but it was a harsh call; a foul, yes, but a black card and a penalty seemed excessive.

In any case it was incidental as Derry wrapped up the game with a 60th minute goal from Murray which owed everything to the skill and perseverance of McGilligan who broke a couple of tackles, kept the ball alive and teed up the forward to continued his own red hot scoring streak en soute to a personal tally of 1-04 from play.

It was a fitting finale to another good display from a Derry team yet to hit top gear in any of their three games to date. They remain the team to beat in Division 2B and can cement that league final spot next time out when they face an out of sorts Wicklow in Aughrim on March 10th. It would take a brave man to bet against them at this point!

Derry scorers: Cormac O'Doherty (0-6, 5f), James Friel (0-2), Ruairi O'Mianain (0-3), John Mullan (0-3), Meehaul McGrath (0-1), Paul Cleary (0-3), Dara Mooney (0-1), Cahal Murray (1-4), Callum O'Kane (0-1), Corey O'Reilly (0-2), Darragh McGilligan (0-1),

London scorers: Jack Goulding (1-13, 6f, 1 '65'), Eoghan McHugh (1-1), Niall Geoghegan (0-1),

Derry: Eoin Mulholland, Aimon Duffin, Mark Craig, Sean Cassidy, James Friel, Richie Mullan, Meehaul McGrath, Cormac O'Doherty, Ruairi O'Mianain, Corey O'Reilly, Cahal Murray, Callum O'Kane, Dara Mooney, John Mullan, Paul Cleary. (Subs) Darragh McGilligan for R O'Mianain, 44mins; Padhraig Nelis for D Mooney, 57mins; NIall Farren for M Craig, 63mins; Thomas Brady for J Friel, 66mins; Resse McSorley for C O'Doherty, 66mins;

London: Padraig Collins, Eoghan Ryan, Padraig Muldoon, Matthew Barlow, Evan Kelly, Neil Geoghegan, Cathal O'Carroll, Tom Millerick, James Desmond, Sean O'Meara, Kevin Reid, Adam Cunney, Eoin McGrath, Jack Goulding, Eoghan McHugh. (Subs) Paul Kennedy for E McGrath, 41mins; Padraic Mullen for T Millerick, 60mins; Cillian Mac Sweeney for P Muldoon, 65mins; Stephen Whelan for M Barlow, 67mins;

Referee: Kevin Brady (Louth)