Allianz National Hurling League Division 3a
Emerald Grounds, Ruislip
Admission: £5.00
Programme: Donation
Match Rating: 3
On my way home from Clacton-on-Sea, I decided to divert to Ruislip on arrival at Liverpool Street Station via the Central Line tube to South Ruislip, from where the Emerald Grounds is about a 15 minute walk, to catch my first hurling action of the season - and my first at London for a couple of seasons - to watch two of the pace-setters in Division 3A of the hurling league, with Wicklow coming over the Irish Sea to take on London.
Both teams had won their opening two games in the league this season, London beating Armagh by a goal and six points (3-16 to 2-10) last time out in Northern Ireland, and Meath by firve points in their opening game (1-13 to 1-8). Wicklow had a narrower victory against Meath in their last game, winning by a goal (1-11 to 1-10), and beat Kilkenny by three points in their opening game (2-14 to 1-17).
Today was a surprisingly sunny day although the pitch - unsurprisingly considering the extensive rainfall that has fallen in south-east England in recent weeks - was in a pretty poor condition - bumpy and with sand laid down in patches, and this certainly played a part in the game, with players unable to rely on the roll and bounce of the ball. Wicklow started the game strongly, scoring two early unanswered points as well as scoring an early goal, but after that, London completely took control of proceedings for the rest of the first half and by the time the referee blew his whistle for half-time, London had opened up a commanding 1-12 to 1-4 lead.
The second half saw a much more even game, for the most part a midfield battle with little scoring taking place and with Wicklow doing little more than chip away at London's large lead. However, with a quarter of an hour of the game remaining, Wicklow were suddenly within range of London and an excellent turnaround to claim the victory looked on the cards for the first time in the afternoon, and indeed, they went on to completely dominate the final stages, as London could barely mount an attack, and with just three minutes remaining, Wicklow went back into the lead, which they held onto fairly comfortably to claim a one point win. Full credit to Wicklow who kept battling away to the end even when they were quite far in arrears and got their rewards. London will wonder how on earth they managed to lose this match, having looked so commanding in the first half, but just could not get going in the second half, as their haul of just two points testifies.
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