Carlow have to dig deep

Carlow 2-6 London 0-4:THIS WAS a game Carlow were never in danger of losing, but the difficult conditions at Ruislip forced them to dig deep for their first points of the campaign.

Luke Dempsey’s side trailed London for most of the first half, but gradually assumed control to lead 0-4 to 0-2 at the break.

Carlow’s first goal arrived three minutes into the second half to dampen London’s hopes – Ed Finnegan played in Brian Murphy, who finished calmly.

Substitute Paul Reid added a brace of points and a late goal from JJ Smith sealed the win for the Leinster side.

CARLOW: T O’Reilly; BJ Molloy, P McGelligott, P Murphy; B Kavanagh, S Redmond, T Bolger; Brendan Murphy, J Murphy; Brian Murphy (1-2, 0-1f), C Murphy, E Finnegan; JJ Smith (1-0), S Gannon, D Hayden (0-1, f). Subs: D St Ledger (0-1, f) for Hayden (24 mins); P Reid (0-2) for C Murphy (half-time); E Ruth for Brian Murphy (49); C Walshe for Finnegan (66); C Mullins for Smith (68).

LONDON: D Traynor; S Bradshaw, S Browne, D McGreevy; S Hannon, S Mulligan, J Scanlon; M Gottsche (0-1), A Raftery; C McCallion, S Doolin, S McVeigh; L Colfer (0-1), L Mulvey, M Mullins. Subs: T Gaughan (0-1) for Bradshaw, E ONeill (0-1, f) for Colfer (both half-time); C Hands for Browne (52 mins); E Mageegan for McCallion (62); S Kelly for Doolin (64).

Referee: R Moloney (Limerick).