Hi °C | Lo °C Derry blew away the challenge of Wicklow in difficult conditions, as a convincing second-half performance gave them the victory.
On an already heavy pitch at Swatragh these sides then had to contend with torrential rain midway through the first-half that made conditions virtually impossible for good hurling.
Derry had to battle hard for their 1-07 to 0-06 interval lead, but it was a different story in the second-half when Kevin Hinphey moved to centre half back and Sean McCullagh switched onto danger man Joe Murphy.
However Murphy was extremely fortunate to escape with a yellow card for an indiscriminate pull on Sam Dodds who was forced to retire with a suspected broken ankle at half-time.
Derry just shaded the opening quarter to lead 0-5 to 0-4, but that was as near as Wicklow got to a Derry team that improved immeasurably in the second-half.
In the 21st minute the ball broke to Ruairi Convery in the goalmouth and he whipped a low shot into the net to put Derry 1-6 to 0-4 ahead.
Derry lost Dodds at half-time, following that wild pull by Murphy. The latter was booked, but then was shown a straight red card late in the game after another wild pull on Mark Craig, but he Oak Leafs powered on.
Derry dominated the second-half, the visitors failing to score until ten minutes from time when they landed a couple of late points.
By the 47th minute the game was over as a contest when Aaron Kelly lashed home the second goal, Convery finishing with 1-5 as Derry coasted to a twelve point win.
Derry scorers: Ruairi Convery (1-5), Aaron Kelly (1-2), Sam Dodds (0-3), Oisin McCloskey (0-2), Mark Craig, Paddy McCloskey and Eugene McGuckin (0-1 each).
Wicklow scorers: Eoghan Dunne (0-4), Joe Murphy (0-3), John Keogh, Geoffrey Bermingham (0-1 each).
