THE JOURNEY’S END
Wicklow Schools defeated in Leinster ‘A’ semi-final
ST PETER’S (WX) 0-13 WICKLOW SCHOOLS 1-8
WICKLOW SCHOOLS’ fine run in the Leinster Senior ‘A’ football championship came to an end when they bowed out at the hands of a strong St Peter’s side from Wexford in a very hostile environment in Enniscorthy last Wednesday afternoon.
All the odds seemed stacked against the Wicklow students as they took to the field in the well proportioned ground tucked away at the end of a maze of narrow streets that led up through a quiet housing estate.
The St Peter’s team were followed by a tremendous support and they were a fine, big team who were more than capable of winning the physical contest on the field of play.
And those factors shaped the early stages of the game to the distinct advantage of the Peter’s side.
They shot into a four-point lead at 0-4 to 0-0 within the opening quarter hour. Corner-forward Conor Devereux fired over a free after two minutes into what looked to be the scoring goals in St Patrick’s Park after a foul on midfielder Rory O’Carroll. Conor Byrne had dropped an early shot short.
Ross Coogan fired wide after good work from Cathal Kelleher as Wicklow put a few promising moves together but they were being hounded by a zealous Peter’s outfit who were really fired up for the game.
A lovely run saw Rory O’Carroll slot over superbly and magnificent play from Conor Byrne went unrewarded on two occasions when his final product dropped into the arms of Peter’s goalkeeper Ricky Ryan.
A jersey pull allowed Peter’s full-forward Barry O’Connor to point a free and then Conor Devereux fired over another placed ball as the Wicklow defence were being put to the test big time.
Finally their efforts brought some fruition when Conor Byrne swept over a free with 14 on the clock. Wicklow were doing well enough despite being slightly under the kosh and their defensive set up was keeping Peter’s subdued but Chris Murphy’s men hit a rich vein of form for the remainder of the first half as they pushed out to a 0-9 to 0-3 lead at the break.
Wicklow were being forced to shoot under pressure; Cathal Kelleher got their second point, a magnificent score off his left as he was falling while Mark Jackson trotted up to the Peter’s 45 with Peter’s corner-forward Dylan Lyne keeping him company all the way while whispering sweet nothings in his ear and, despite a barrage of noise pollution from the crowd, the Baltinglass man split the Peter’s posts superbly.
Wicklow Schools needed a magic start to the second half and for a time they looked like getting it. Ross Coogan fired wide. Kelleher pointed a wonderful score on the run off his right. Conor Byrne went wide before Paul Garrigan introduced Ross Ward for Liam Miley with seven on the second half clock.
A sneaky foul on Thomas Kearns provided Mark Jackson with another opportunity and his new best friend Dylan Lyne tried to provide him with support on his journey up the field but was prevented by some very protective Wicklow Schools players. This intervention took on the form of a mini schemozzle when some of Lyne’s colleagues waded in to defend the corner-forward but it was all over in a flash and Mark Jackson got down to doing what he does best from frees and he slammed it over the bar with gusto despite the horrendous noise from the crowd ringing in his ears.
A wicked point from midfielder Mark Barrett brought Wicklow to within three points of the Wexford school as the switch from a defensive plan to a man on man situation proved really positive for the Wicklow side.
But Peter’s took the Wicklow burst in their stride and hit back with two points of their own through Devereux, one from play and one from a free before Wicklow’s Luke Evans pointed smartly off his left with a score that was made by Darragh Fitzgerald further out the field. In fact, the second half performance by Fitzgerald was excellent as was the performance of the Wicklow full-back line, especially Cian Lee from Baltinglass.
A Ross Coogan effort pulled Wicklow to within three points of Peter’s again but at this crucial period of the game Wicklow started to tire and with that tiredness came a squandering of possession brought about largely by the pressure from the Peter’s play.
It was very interesting to note the differences between the two styles of play of both teams. Peter’s looked to take on their men at every opportunity and were fully confident of winning the exchanges on that front. Wicklow, given their smaller size, were being forced to feed the ball around the field and laterally in a bid to avoid that confrontation and probable turnover. One Wicklow man who was fully capable of taking on his marker, or at times markers, was Conor Byrne who frequently got the better of his men.
Peter’s pushed on again with two more points, the second an outstanding effort from corner-back David O’Keeffe.
Wicklow did come with a late burst and managed to pierce the Peter’s rearguard for Luke Evans to palm a ball to the back of the net but it was too little too late and referee David Hickey sounded the final whistle with the Peter’s side progressing to meet Moate CS in the final after the Westmeath side seen off Good Counsel of Wexofrd in the other semi-final.
One thing of note from before and during the game was the phenomenal support the St Peter’s side brought with them to Enniscorthy. However, that support was tarnished somewhat by certain things that were shouted over a megaphone.
Packed bus after packed bus had pulled up on the busy street some 100 yards from the venue and had coughed out their cargo of enthusiastic St Peter’s supporters who then moved en masse up the hill towards St Patrick’s Park.
By the time the glut of energetic youngsters had reached the small stand on the far side of the pitch from the main gate they were numbering close to 400 and creating a cacophony of noise.
Now, all support is welcome, the more the merrier as they say. And it was interesting that no school in Wicklow who had players involved elected to send a busload of supporters, but, given that the Wicklow Schools team is a combined team, having one or two players on a team may not have justified the hiring of a bus from the point of view of the school.
However, within that wonderful crowd of St Peter’s supporters was a person with a megaphone and here’s where a line was crossed in this writer’s opinion.
Prior to the game starting and while the Wicklow players were warming up, the person on the megaphone proceeded to insult the Wicklow team and hurl insults at individual players to guffawing laughter from the crowd. This happened within earshot and within sight of teachers from the Wexford school and, unfortunately, within earshot of the Wicklow players and, frankly, it left a bad taste in the mouth.
That’s not to say that it was a factor in the defeat. Wicklow manager on the day Paul Garrigan said after the game that it was “an unhealthy situation” but he said that the team could do nothing about it and that it was down to the school to handle it. He added that the team had prepared for the atmosphere as best they could.
It should be said that there can no issue with the level of support. Huge credit should go to the school for their efforts in supporting the team. The cheering and heckling of the freetakers, while not really sporting or ideal, is also not a major issue. The problem was that a young person representing the school was permitted to shout out insults and derogatory remarks about the other team as teachers from the school looked on. That was wrong.
Scorers – St Peter’s: David O’Keeffe 0-1; Rory O’Connor 0-2; Ben Moore 0-1; Conor Devereux 0-6, (4f); Barry O’Connor 0-3 (2f).
Wicklow Schools: Mark Jackson 0-2 (2f); Mark Barrett 0-1; Conor Byrne 0-1 (f); Ross Coogan 0-1; Cathal Kelleher 0-2; Luke Evans 1-1. Wicklow Schools: Mark Jackson; Cian Lee, Tom Maher, John Kavanagh; Jacques McCall, Thomas Kearns, Darragh Fitzgerald; Mark Barrett, Jack Mockler (capt.); Conor Byrne, Ross Coogan, Sean Gregory; Cal Connolly, Cathal Kelleher, Luke Evans (1-1). Subs. - Liam Miley for Connolly (31), Ross Ward for Miley, inj (38), Eoin McTague for Mockler (50).
St. Peter’s College: Richie Ryan; Eoin O’Leary, Ben Maddock, David O’Keeffe; Quinn Saunders, Conor Firman (capt.), Finn O’Driscoll; Brian Deeney, Rory O’Connor; Peter Barry, Ben Moore (0-1), David Gouldson; Conor Devereux, Barry O’Connor, Dylan Lyne. Subs: Dylan Furlong for Barry (31), Michael Codd for O’Driscoll (46), Jack Devereux for Gouldson (47), Kyle Firman for J. Devereux (58).