Derry v London, Christy Ring Cup Round 2A, Saturday May 16, Owenbeg
BUOYED up by a smashing replay success over holders Kildare London’s Christy Ring Cup adventure continues on Saturday at Owenbeg.
Martin Duggan’s hat-trick steered London to a dramatic 3-16 to 0-19 triumph over Kildare at Newbridge and manager Fergus McMahon was pleased with how clinical the Exiles were against the Lilywhites. “We did well in Newbridge; it was a great result for us - we took our goal chances in this game,” McMahon told The Irish Post on Monday. “In the drawn match the Kildare ‘keeper was fantastic. In fairness he was great again, but we did enough this time which is a huge boost for us.”
Now another mad scramble has taken place as London face another trip to Ireland which McMahon admits is tricky. “The logistics of it all are difficult. A lot of lads were forced to take a half day from work last Friday which isn’t ideal. We couldn’t all travel together on the same flight which is difficult and the same will probably happen again.
“We will have some lads leaving from Luton and others from Stansted which isn’t ideal. In saying that it is probably a good complaint too in so far as we are winning games.”
Under the stewardship of Tom McLean Derry, who defeated London in the Allianz Hurling League in March, are quietly confident of making an impact in the Christy Ring. “Derry are a good team and they have improved a lot this year,” is McMahon’s verdict. “We battled well against them in the League at Greenford, but we feel as if we have made strides since then. It will be a big test for both teams.
“The extra game we got against Kildare is definitely worth a couple of weeks training to us. It has brought us on an awful lot and to beat Kildare was a great boost. They are the reigning champions of the Christy Ring Cup so to compete with and beat the standard bearers is encouraging.”
With London set to face a third match in as many weeks McMahon is doing his utmost to ensure the Exiles remain fit and focused. “The scheduling of the matches is hard for the lads. You have to get the balance right training between the games to make sure you recover properly.
“There is no point pushing them too hard. If we win against Derry we would have a week off which would be very helpful. It is certainly another incentive for us to win the match, but we are under no illusions about how tough a game we face. If we win it might even be enough to earn a home semi-final which would be brilliant for us.
“We have a couple of lads struggling with injuries like Bernard Gaffney and Stephen Lambert, while Henry Vaughan is ruled out. Hopefully Bernard and Stephen will be okay because numbers wise we are tight enough.”
