Holders fall at the first hurdle

Wicklow ... 2-12 Carlow ... 2-9Reigning champions Carlow relinquished their crown at the first hurdle in their opening match at Aughrim yesterday.

Carlow never led at any stage of this match but still went close to sneaking a draw in the dying moments when wing-forward Richard Sinnott crashed a free against the crossbar.

With the counties using the competition as a warm-up for the start of the league in February, both of them fielded largely experimental teams, with John O'Leary introducing six first-time starters and Carlow nine newcomers.

O'Leary, whose team face Dublin in the O'Byrne Cup next Sunday at Parnell Park, will be pleased with the performance of some of the young bloods, particularly Alan Byrne at corner-back and Wayne O'Gorman at corner-forward.

Wicklow raced into a 1-8 to 1-4 lead at the break, with Dalton, O'Gorman and Anthony Nolan causing problems for Carlow, with Gary Duffy, Alan Byrne and Gary Jameson also showing.

Nolan, the scorer of 1-8 of their total, increased Wicklow's lead to 1-10 to 1-4 with two points after the restart but the home side failed to kill off their opponents.

WICKLOW: R Hollingsworth; A Byrne, G Jameson, C Davis; V Quigley, A Foley, JP Connolly; D Dillon, G Duffy; B Mernagh, P Dalton (0-2), N Butler; T Gill (0-2), A Nolan (1-8, six points from frees), W O'Gorman (1-0). Subs: S Cushe for JP Connolly, M Kelly for N Butler.

CARLOW: J Clarke; R Burke, B Farrell, M Drea; J McGrath, K Walker, J Hayden; K Doyle (0-2), W Power (0-1); R Sinnott (0-1), G Morrissey (0-1), M Carpenter; S Rea (1-4, three points frees, goal penalty), D Walker, D Nolan. Subs: B English for M Drea, P Nolan for J McGrath, D Leonard for D Walker, Eddie McGarry (1-0) for D Nolan, T Bolger for M Carpenter.

Referee:M Deegan (Laois).