THESE sides are due to clash again in the opening round of the NHL Division 3A in less than a month's time, and on the evidence of this Kehoe Shield match at rained-lashed Darver it's the Wee County who have bigger room for improvement.

The weather mitigated against free-flowing hurling at any stage, but the worsening conditions seemed to bring much more out of Fingal who out-scored the hosts 1-5 to 0-1 in the final 20 minutes for a richly deserved win.

Louth were the better side for much of the opening half and led 0-5 to 0-2 at one stage before having to settle for a 0-5 to 0-4 interval advantage.

Their response to Fingal's opening two points of the second half was encouraging for manager Pat Clancy as they not only snatched back the lead but eventually stretched it to 1-7 to 07 by the 49th minute.

However they only flattered to deceive after that and had no answer once the visitors raised the tempo and began hitting the target with a little more regularity.

Fingallians' John Matthew Sheridan was on target with half his side's point tally, while the winners' goal from Andrew Richardson was also a deciding factor.

That score came following fine work from James O'callaghan and was smartly taken by the St Sylvester's man, and it put the north Dublin outfit into a 1-8 to 17 lead on 51 minutes.

Despite the concession of that goal Louth were still very much in contentio,n but crucially wing back David Keogh and Sheridan added points before the home side scored again.

A pointed free from Shane Fennell was Louth's only contribution to the scoring in the final quarter and Fingal pressed home their advantage with impact sub Eoin Power notching a brace of scores in the final minutes to put the issue beyond doubt.

To compound a bad day for the Wee County, one of their better performers, centre back Derek Horan, limped off with an ankle injury near the finish.

Both sides were seeking to put behind them indifferent performances which resulted in their exit from the Kehoe Cup competition and it wasn't difficult to fathom in the opening half why both were playing in the secondary competition.

That first 35 minutes was extremely poor by any standard and the half was nine minutes old before Sheridan broke the deadlock by converting a 65 for Fingal.

Louth responded swiftly with a point from Andrew Mackin and Shane Fennell then converted two frees to give his side a 0-3 to 0-1 lead. Fennell struck two further scores (one free) in response to another Sheridan point to stretch the lead to three by the 25th minute.

The half was in added time when O'callaghan and Sheridan notched points for the visitors to leave the minimum between the teams at the change of ends.

Fingal continued in the second half where they had left off in the first, with two more points, from Ross Mcgarry and Sheridan, to leave them ahead by the 42nd minute.

Centre back Derek Horan halved that deficit from a longrange free before Louth hopes received a timely boost when Brian Corcoran scrambled a goal on 48 minutes. Centre forward Fennell made the opening with a fine run through the middle and Corcoran seemed to be fouled before he eventually got the vital touch to the net.

Shane Callan increased the lead, also from long range, but unfortunately for Louth as the conditions got worse their play went in a similar direction. Fingal took full advantage and were 'lengthening their stride' approaching the winning post.

- SEAN WALL in Darver