GOALS DO DAMAGE
Wicklow lose out to neighbours in uninspiring contest
CARLOW WICKLOW 2-5 0-8
DEAN HEALY saw red and four of the Wicklow players were forced off due to injury, as Davy Burke’s tenure as the manager of the county senior footballers got off to an inauspicious start following a drab defeat in Carlow in the O’Byrne Cup.
In a game of little inspiring quality, Carlow came away with the slender yet deserved win thanks to preventable goals from Daniel St. Ledger and Robbie Kane.
Wicklow, meanwhile, will rue the loss of four players to injury in the second-half, including Darragh Fitzgerald and Daniel Keane, while Dean Healy was shown a red card late on for a second bookable offence.
Davy Burke named a young, experimental side for Saturday’s O’Byrne Cup opener in Netwatch Cullen Park. Andrew Maher and Eoin Darcy were handed starts in a team that held an average age of just 24, while Wayne Doyle was joined by Fintan O’Shea and clubmate Paddy O’Kane in the full-back line.
This youthful XV started the contest well, with Donard Glen’s Conor Healy grabbing the first score of the game inside just two minutes. While Healy’s point flattered a big performance from Wicklow, they would spend much of the game struggling to turn chances into scores.
After Daniel St. Ledger levelled for Carlow, Mark Jackson and Chris O’Brien both saw frees drift wide.
Encouraged by Wicklow’s misfiring place-kickers, Carlow went about taking control of the game in the middle third of the half through a fortunate St. Ledger goal.
Taking aim from a 45’, St. Ledger’s speculative strike seemed to be landing comfortably into the arms of Dean Healy in front of the Wicklow goal, only for the Pat’s stalwart to miss his catch, leaving Mark Jackson hopeless as the ball rested into the back of the net.
Burke’s troops would grow into the game as the half progressed, with Mark Kenny in the centre of it all. After Jackson missed his second free, Kenny reduced the deficit to within four points with his first point of the day.
He doubled his tally on 23 minutes after Wayne Doyle had done well to overturn possession, kicking off a counter that ended with Kenny curling the ball over the bar from wide on the right.
It would be Carlow who would end the half the better, as Darragh Foley sent the hosts in at half-time leading 1-4 to 0-3; Chris O’Brien registering Wicklow’s fifth wide free at the end.
Burke would opt to replace Mark Kenny with Conor Byrne at half-time, despite his growing influence on the game, while Fintan O’Shea was brought off for Eoin Murtagh. These changes would do little to spark a visibly match-weary Wicklow team into life in the second-half, as Carlow came away with the rather uninspiring victory.
Nothing of note occurred in the opening 10 minutes of the half, other than Alan Daly being withdrawn with a quad injury on 37 minutes; Cian O’Sullivan coming on.
Daniel Keane would close the gap to within a goal following good set-up play by Chris O’Brien, only for disaster to strike shortly thereafter, with Keane being forced off with a head injury for Thomas Kearns.
A pair of successful frees from Mark Jackson and Chris O’Brien set the stage for a previously unlikely comeback, only for such hopes to be extinguished on 47 minutes.
After conceding a close range free, the Wicklow backs turned their back on the play in expectation of a simple point. Noticing this, Conor Doyle had the simple task of popping the ball to Robbie Kane, who made no mistake in burying the ball past Jackson.
The injury problems kept mounting for the visitors in the meantime. Darragh Fitzgerald was withdrawn with an arm injury for Shane Mooney, who would be forced off himself later on in the game; JP Hurley coming in.
On top of this, Conor Healy was sin-binned on 55 minutes by way of a black card, while Dean Healy – who struggled against the physicality of Sean Murphy and Conor Doyle in midfield – was shown a red card by referee Marius Stones for a second bookable offence with five minutes left to play.
The final scores of the afternoon would arrive before the 60-minute mark, as Daniel St. Ledger notched a free before Chris O’Brien rounded off the Wicklow scoring with a fine point off the right-hand side.
Wicklow won’t have long to recover from their O’Byrne setback, as they welcome Kildare to Aughrim on Saturday afternoon at 2 pm.
Scorers - Carlow: Daniel St. Ledger (1-3; 0-2f), Conor Crowley (0-1), Darragh Foley (0-1f), Robbie Kane (1-0)
Wicklow: Conor Healy (0-1), Mark Kenny (0-2), Daniel Keane (0-1), Chris O’Brien (0-3; 0-2f), Mark Jackson (0-1f)