Hurlers Open With Victory

I'm sure Mayo's hurlers were delighted when it emerged that their opening NHL Division 3A game against Derry on Sunday was switched to Magilligan due to an unplayable pitch at Banagher. This meant that the men from the Heather County (I kid you not) would have to travel as far as the North Derry coast to get their campaign underway. The Magilligan venue has a long-held reputation for having the driest pitch in the county. It's a claim that must have been sorely tested over the past week or so, but - as much of the county was receiving another fresh carpet of snow on Sunday afternoon - the game was the only Division 3 fixture to go ahead. Although the Mayo squad might have wished for something a little closer at hand.

They probably wished also, that in 70 minutes of hurling they would be able to muster a single point from play. But they managed to get as far as the final whistle without one to their name. That statistic was one of the key reasons why Derry's low tally of nine points was enough to secure a three-point victory (0-9 to 0-6) on a bitterly cold, windswept afternoon. Derry's section also contains teams such as Meath and Kildare, so it won't be easy for Brian McGilligan's relatively young squad to gain promotion to a strong-looking Division 2. Speaking last week, the Dungiven man acknowledged that promotion wasn't yet on the agenda:

"We need to retain our position in the division we're in. We don't want to be dropping down, but I don't think we're strong enough yet to go up."

Sunday's win will go some way to securing Division 3A status as Derry look forward to a game against Armagh next weekend. As for Mayo, they'll probably be happy just to get home.