Wicklow prove too strong for Meath
2-5 (2 45, 3f), Matthew Ging 0-5 (4f), John Keogh 0-2 (1f), Sean Doody 0-1, Eoghan Byrne 1-0.
Kildare: Aaron Kennedy 2-2, Jack Smyth 1-2, Muiris Curtin 0-4 (3f), Alex Beirne 0-2, Sam Morrissey 0-1, Paddy McDermott 0-1, Michael McGovern 0-1.
John Ball; John Lynch, Sean Hill, Jack Hamil; Nick Jackman, Kevin Kelliher, Paddy McDermott; Liam Broderick, Marcus Kiely; Tom Browne, Alex Beirne, Michael McGovern; Muiris Curtin, Aaron Kennedy, Jack Smyth. Subs: Eoghan O’Haire for J Smyth (BC), Daniel Caulfield for N Jackman, Drew Costello for L Broderick, Sean Englishby for M Curtin, Davy Higgins for M McGovern, Liam Broderick for M Kiely, Marcus Kiely for Broderick (Blood).
Ben Fennell; Fionn O’Carroll, Samuel Kearney, Tom Moran; Kevin Quinn, Oisin Cullen, Chris Grimes; Eoghan Byrne, Sean Doody; Alan Barrett, Craig Maguire, John Keogh; Matthew Ging, Eoin Darcy, Andy Foley. Subs: Cillian McDonald for O Cullen, Shaun Cranley for C Maguire, John Doyle for A Foley (inj), Jack Fleming Foran for A Barrett, Oisin Cullen for F O’Carroll, David Lawlor for J Doyle..
Chris Dwyer (Offaly)
WICKLOW MEATH 1-10 1-8
A win or a draw against Meath last Wednesday evening would suffice for the Wicklow Minors to progress to the Leinster Minor football championship semi-final against Kildare and in the end, after a very entertaining clash against a somewhat experimental Royal side, it was a fully deserved two-point win for Kevin O’Brien’s men in Joule Park Aughrim.
Experimental this Meath team might have been in terms of the team that started against Offaly in their previous game or their starting 15 from their subsequent semi-final drubbing of Laois, but, nevertheless, they were a team of young Meath footballers all biting at the bit to secure a starting place on the team so this Wicklow win should not be diluted in any way.
A 0-5 to 0-3 lead for the Meath men at half-time suggests that this was a tight game with defences on top and that as certainly the case for the visitors who kept a tight leash on Wicklow’s Eoin Darcy, leaving three players in close proximity to the Tinahely man at times, and this tactic helped curtail the Wicklow attack with Matthew Ging proving the only scorer for the home side with two frees and a superb score off his left out on the stand side last in the first half.
Meath were full value for their half-time lead with full-forward Niall Smullen looking really dangerous on the tight-marking Sam Kearney of Bray Emmets who was proving to be a thorn in Smullen’s side wherever he went.
The Royals made four changes after the break and Wicklow hit a magical purple patch when Craig Maguire took the game by the scruff of the neck to bang over two points and then Oisin Cullen rampaged up the field from deep and lashed home to the bottom right corner of the Meath net to fire Wicklow three points clear.
Everything about the game had now changed. The tempo was up, the speed, the passion, the crowd were more involved, and this could be seen in the players. Eoin Darcy won a ball and raced towards the Rednagh Hill end as the sun contemplated setting to his right. On went Darcy and he stepped inside a defender, took a wicked shot off his right only to see it rebound off the butt of the upright and away from danger. What an effort though!
Despite the changes for Meath, they never lost their threat, and Niall Smullen beat Ben Fennell in the Wicklow goal after 15 of the second half to give them a onepoint lead.
A marvellous John Keogh point off his left drew the sides level and from here for the next 10 minutes it was nip and tuck with Matthew Ging and Shaun Cranley pointing to keep Wicklow level with the Meath men.
But from here Wicklow rallied, drawing deep from the well of belief, from the years of coaching and mentoring in the Garden County Academy and, indeed, in their respective clubs.
Eoin Darcy pointed a superb free off the ground and Matthew Ging bagged the final score of the game from a free to secure victory for Wicklow and send them on a collision course with Kildare. And that is a whole different story.
Scorers – Wicklow: Matthew Ging (3f) 0-5, Oisin Cullen 1-00, Craig Maguire 0-2, Eoin Darcy (f), Shaun Cranley, John Keogh 0-1 each.
Meath: Nial Smullen 1-2, Joe Moore, Killian Price 0-2 each, Colin Hawdon, Darragh Swaine 0-1 each.
Ben Fennell; Fionn O’Carroll, Sam Kearney, Tom Moran; Kevin Quinn, Oisin Cullen, Christopher Grimes; Eoghan Byrne, Sean Doody; Alan Barrett, Craig Maguire, John Keogh; Matthew Ging, Eoin Darcy, Andy Foley. Subs: Jack Fleming Foran for A Barrett (41), Shaun Cranley for J Keogh (51), Cillian McDonald for A Foley (55), David Lawlor for K Quinn (61), Cian McHugh for M Ging (63).
Eoin Griffin; Adam Barrett, Jack Dardis, Killian Price; Luke Newe, Conor Harford, Oisin McCloskey; Adam Reilly, Killian Hogan; Adam Treanor, Colin Hawdon, Dylan Morgan; Adam Kelly, Niall Smullen, Joe Moore. Subs: Conor Hetherton for C Harford, Sean Martyn for A Kelly, Niall Bennett for A Reilly, David Carr for L Newe (all HT), Darragh Swaine for D Morgan (35), Cillian Hegarty for C Hawdon (48).
J Hickey (Carlow)