Lancashire 2-10
Hertfordshire 1-8
THE first round of the All-Britain Championship took a disappointingly familiar road as two of the four games failed to take place over the weekend.
London and Warwickshire will meet this Sunday after being handed walkovers in their first round matches after both Yorkshire and Scotland forfeited, while Saturday saw Gloucestershire travel over to Nowlan Park where they were defeated by Kilkenny.
At Pairc na hÉireann, former champions Lancashire got their campaign underway against Hertfordshire with a solid five-point victory which sees them into a second round fixture against the Cats.
Seeking to reclaim the title they last won in 2013, Lancashire set to work against the side they faced in that final two years ago. Caolan Conroy’s early free was nullified by a Hertfordshire opener from wing-forward Mark Ryan, but from there on the side from the North West took control.
Martin Carey’s superb strike paved the way for the game’s first goal when a long ball into full-forward Liam Coyne enabled Kevin Canigan to place a 15-metre shot low beyond Kevin Morrissey.
A neatly hooked point from Colm Conway extended the early lead to five for Lancashire, who were then forced into a prolonged spate of defending as Hertfordshire clicked into gear.
Three goal scoring opportunities came and went before the half-time interval, including an unbelievable passage of play that saw Hertfordshire strike the post twice after Mark Ryan saw a shot cleared off the line in the space of 20 seconds.
Cormac Flynn followed up with a close range free before playing his part in releasing Ryan to shoot for goal only to be denied by Declan Alder, then shortly before half-time a fantastic run down the left by Pearse McGlynn needed a brave block by Alder to keep the corner-forward out.
Had Hertfordshire taken any of those chances, the complexion of the game might have been different.
However, Lancashire looked the more assured side in possession and they cut down on the wides in the second-half to take more of a command.
They were rocked early in the second-half though as Hertfordshire finally found the back of the net when a low McGlynn effort was parried by Alder but only into the path of JP Doyle who side-footed home from 10 metres.
Lancashire took the sting out of things straight away with their second goal when Rory O'Donoghue refused to give up on a passage of play that appeared to be fizzing out, squaring to Conway who beat Morrissey high to his right.
Lancashire could have made the game safe when James MacKenzie was penalised for a foul on Carey in the goalmouth, however Coyne didn’t net the penalty as it went over the bar.
A fine score from Aaron Murtagh was bettered by a fantastic score from Hertfordshire’s Eoin Mageean, the corner-forward rounding off a counter-attack instigated way down at the other end of the pitch.
Healy remained a threat at full-forward as Hertfordshire continued to chase in the closing stages and was very unlucky to see his powerful drive cannon back off the crossbar.
He added his fourth free to reduce the deficit to six with less than five minutes on the clock, yet his side were unable to find that necessary second goal to bring them back into any contention.
This weekend sees the second annual Coley Folan Memorial Tournament at Pairc na hÉireann.
Last year’s event saw clubs from across Britain and Ireland come together and this year’s charity fundraiser will get underway at noon on Saturday (June 6), with the 9-a-side tournament the centrepiece for a day which includes music, dancing, children’s entertainment, hot food, and bar.
Man of the match: Martin Carey (Lancashire) The Lancashire wing-back was pivotal in both defence and attack, capping his performance with an excellent point from long range early on.
Score of the match: A counter-attack from defence to attack resulted in a fine score by Eoin Mageean for Hertfordshire.
Turning point: After a slow start Hertfordshire could have dragged themselves back into contention only to miss three golden goal chances before the interval.
Wides: Lancashire (7) 11, Hertfordshire (2) 4
Frees: Lancashire (8) 17, Hertfordshire (5) 13
Black Cards: Lancashire 0, Hertfordshire 0
Yellow Cards: Lancashire 1 (Ronan Gallagher 19), Hertfordshire 1 (Stephen Lavery 14)
Red Cards: Lancashire 0, Hertfordshire 0
Scorers
Lancashire: K Canigan 1-1, C Conway 1-1, C Conroy 0-3 (3fs), G Jacob 0-2 (2fs), M Carey 0-1, L Coyne (0-1, 1 pen), A Murtagh 0-1
Hertfordshire: C Healy 0-4 (4fs), JP Doyle 1-0, E Mageean 0-2 (1’45), M Ryan 0-1, S Hayes 0-1
Teams
Lancashire: D Alder; E Kerr, M Gallagher, J O’Hagan; M Carey, G Morris, R Gallagher; D O’Neill, K Canigan; R O’Donoghue, G Jacob, A Murtagh; C Conroy, L Coyne, C Conway. Subs: J Sheehan for O’Donoghue (50 mins), R O’Donoghue for Morris (54 mins).
Hertfordshire: K Morrisey; M Nevin, J MacKenzie, E Twomey; S Doran, S Hayes, B O’Leary; R MacKenzie, A Kelly; JP Doyle, S Lavery, M Ryan; E Mageean, C Healy, P McGlynn. Subs: T Gaughan for Twomey (50 mins).
Referee: M McLoughlin
