Wicklow withstood a late rally by London to open their account with a win at Ruislip yesterday. Both counties availed of the opportunity to introduce a number of new players and for Wicklow in particular the experiment proved a big success. Especially prominent was the midfield pairing of Darren Coffey, scorer of four points from frees, and Barry Jackson. But it was not until the introduction of former All Star Kevin O'Brien midway through the first half that the attack posed any serious threat.
O'Brien used his experience to good effect 14 minutes into the second half to send the ball past goalkeeper John Collins to give the visitors a lead which they never subsequently lost.
WICKLOW: T Murphy; S Nolan, T Keogh, T Burke; M Coffey, B O'Donovan, B Whelan (0-1); D Coffey (0-4, frees), B Sheehan; B O hAannaidh, T Doyle (0-1), D Jackman; T Gill (0-1), R Coffey (0-1), T Hannon (0-1). Subs: K O'Brien (1-0) for B hAannaidh, O hAannaidh ( 0-1) for D Coffey, J O'Keeffe (0-1) for D Jackman.
LONDON: J Collins; B McDonagh, P Rafter, N McSherry; C Lynott, D Morgan, F Downey (0-2); T Murphy (0-3), K Waldron; D McGinley (0-1), T McGivern (0-1), D Deering; A Gillane (0-1), J Grimes (0-2), S Lynch (0- 1). Subs: C McCarthy for Rafter, P Joyce for D Deering.
Referee: M Gibbons (Galway).
