| Hurlers need a slice of fortune
London
Mayo
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 London hurlers were
unlucky to lose out to Kerry in the first game of this year’s NHL.
That result hinged to a large extent on the sending off of London’s
John Dillon. London manager Mick O’Dea will have to plan without
the talented half-back and plans to start with Keith Kennedy, who impressed
as a substitute against Kerry.
O’Dea told The Irish Post: “The players felt hard done by
against Kerry. We played all the hurling in the second-half especially
considering we had only 14 men. Kerry got a goal from nowhere and that
killed us.”
Mayo lost by three points to Kerry in their most recent game— a
scoreline which indicates there shouldn’t be much between London
and Mayo.
The Connacht side have in Niall Higgins one of the finest hurlers in Ireland
but O’Dea notes that Higgins will be marked on the day by Fergus
McMahon who has played Railway Cup hurling for Leinster, just as Higgins
has for Connacht and that battle could go a long way to deciding the game.
London prepared for this game by playing challenge matches against Glen
Rovers and Blackrock in Cork and O’Dea believes confidence is high
in the camp.
He said: “There won’t be any hammerings in the league this
year. We are well capable of holding our own in this division.
“On the form there won’t be more than the puck of a ball between
us and Mayo at the weekend hopefully the luck we didn’t have against
Kerry will go our way and the players can get the win they deserve.”
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