Promotion dashed

Wicklow footballers defeated by Waterford

WATERFORD WICKLOW 2-17 1-11

ON this week in 2010 the Wicklow footballers traveled to Dungarvan to face Waterford in a crunch game in their Division 4 campaign of that year.

Victory would leave them in the mix for promotion but the headline ‘Footballers Flop’ on the back page of the Wicklow People suggested the result didn’t go their way.

IT WAS D for disaster day for Mick O’Dwyer’s footballers on Sunday. Once again Fraher’s enchanted field in Dungarvan was to prove the burial ground for the hopes of a team aspiring to greater things in Gaelic games.

Our chances of promotion in the NFL died a sudden death in the five-minute spell leading up to half-time.

The knock-out blow, or blows, were delivered by a flying corner-forward called Liam O Lionain.

His two-goal salvo delivered in the 30th and 32nd minutes stunned Wicklow in a way that had seldom happened before and all efforts by Micko and his backroom team, both in the dressing room at half-time and from the line in the second-half, proved of no avail.

Wicklow started well and were leading by 0-4 to 0-1 after ten minutes, Tony Hannon from a free after a foul on Paddy Dalton which earned Niall Hennessy a yellow card, Patrick McWalter after a great movement which involved Paul Cunningham, Leighton Glynn and Darren Hayden; Hannon from a 45 won by Paddy Dalton and Hannon again from play after good work by Jacko Dalton and Paul Earls.

They were still in control and leading by 0-5 to 0-3 on the stroke of the half hour. Then in the space of three minutes they were blasted right out of this match.

It started with corner-forward Liam O’Lionain blasting to the net from a tight angle to put the home side in front for the first time. A quick point by Brian Wall was followed up with a second O Lionain goal, this time the ball lobbed to an empty net from the wing.

Full-forward Robert Ahearn and Wayne Hennessy completed the massacre with points.

Paul Earls had the last point of the half, a great first timer from out close to the end line.So from a lead of two points Wicklow went in trailing by two goals, 2-6 to 0-6 at half-time, all in the space of five minutes.

Waterford had the first two points of the second half but some running repairs by the mentors got Wicklow going again.

Seánie Furlong was fouled and Tony Hannon pointed the free and Paul Earls added another. Then Wicklow appeared to get the break they badly needed. When half-time sub Dean Odlum, who had brought life to the attack sent over a good cross from the right wing, midfielder Jacko Dalton came powering through to box to the net.

That was in the eighth minute of the half and left only a goal between the sides -2-8 to 1-8.

When he sits down with his selectors to analyse this match Micko will probably worry more about what happened in the final quarter than he will about conceding the goals.

After Dalton’s goal Wicklow only got three more points, one from play by Tony Hannon and two from Seánie Furlong frees, while Waterford tacked on nine more points.

Wicklow are now definitely out of contention for promotion as Waterford, Clare and Limerick battle it out for the top two places.

They are on nine points with one match against Kilkenny to go but their maximum of eleven points will not to be enough. Tomás O’Gorman at full-back, Tom Prendergast in midfield and Conor McGrath stood out for Waterford but their match winner had to be Liam O Lionain who scored 2-2.

Only Paudge McWalter, Darren Hayden, John Paul Dalton, Paul Earls and Tony Hannon reached anything like their best form for Wicklow. Ciarán Hyland and Alan Byrne did some good things but overall, the full-back line conceded a total score of 2-8 and all six Waterford forwards got on the scoresheet.

Unluckiest man on the field was full-back StephenKelly who carried the can for this overall poor display. Kelly was conceding at least six inches in height to the Waterford full-forward Robert Ahearn but still only conceded one point to the Stradbally man.

Mick O’Dwyer may have been disappointed with the loss of the points and even more so with the overall display, but he did not let it show after the game.

‘This was a league match,’ he said, ‘and while it would have been nice to win it is not the end of the world. This was a good Waterford team and well deserved their win. On the form they showed today they would be a match for any team. We have to go home and buckle down to training for the Carlow match in the Championship.’