Our u21 Heartbreak
A look back at Wicklow’s battles in provincial deciders
IT may come as a surprise that before 1964 there were no under 21 grades in either hurling or football.
At times we have had high hopes of success for various panels.
In the late 70s and 80s we had some terrific gatherings of footballers but didn’t even reach a final.
Now with the age bracket changed to under 20 a new roll of honour has begun. Maybe we can get our name on the honours list soon.
Here is a quick recap on our five previous Leinster final appearances in football. We will take a look at hurling soon.
1967: Wicklow 0-4, Kildare 3-11 Wicklow qualified for their first final back in 1967. Wins over Carlow and Wexford had earned the Garden men a shot at the holders. They would meet a Kildare team in the final who were chasing their third title on the trot.
The Lilywhite’s were in no mood to be denied this day either. Played in Croke Park in late July Wicklow were not at the races as they say.
Johnny McDonald who was mentioned as being one of Wicklow’s best players on the day got our first point in the 13th minute but by then Kildare already had 1-3 on the board.
Dermot Murphy would score the other three Wicklow points as Kildare led 2-5 to 0-2 at the break. Wicklow had nine wides in the hour but in truth if it were not for some great saves by Ashford’s Noel Deignan it could have been a lot worse. A bad result but a great boost for football in Wicklow to reach the final.
Wicklow: Noel Deignan (Ashford), Syl McDonald (Rathnew), Brian Carty (Ashford), Pat Corrigan (Dunlavin); Pat Carey (Annacurra), Frank O’Neill (Stratford), Sean Doyle (Carnew); Tom Murphy (Rathnew) and Mick Lawler (Kilmacanogue); Don Ferguson (Ballinastoe), Sean Doherty (Ashford), Dermot Murphy (Kilmacanogue 0-3), Gerry Sinnott (Newtown), Lar Kelly (Forestry College), Johnny McDonald (Rathnew, 0-1). Subs used: Gerry Farrell (St Patricks) for Ferguson, Liam O’Loughlin (Annacurra) for Carey.
1969: Wicklow 2-6, Laois 2-7 A memorable year in Wicklow football could have been even better but for an agonising loss to Laois in this final.
Wicklow regularly fielded ten of their Leinster junior championship winning team on this under-21 team.
Wins once again over Carlow and Wexford had set up a semi-final with Kildare. Revenge for the final defeat of 1967 was sweet with a fantastic 3-10 to 0-10 win in Croke Park.
This performance going down as one of Wicklow’s best ever in Croke Park. With footballing going so well hopes were high of our first win.
The final was played in early August in Dr Cullen Park in Carlow. Things were tight early on before a Laois goal from Johnny Lawlor opened up a small gap. Moments later Pat Hedderman made what was described as a ‘miracle save’ from Harry Mulhare to keep Wicklow in the game. As a result, it was 1-4 to 0-3 at the break.
Moses Coffey was giving an exhibition of fielding in the middle of the park and Laois tried a succession of players on him over the hour. A second Laois goal looked to have ended the Wicklow chances. They got a lifeline almost immediately. Johnny McDonald scoring a goal direct from a sideline kick.
Wicklow substitute Sean Murray was to have a big say in the game shot a rapid fire 1-1 and Wicklow were well in it as the clock now became their biggest enemy. They actually thought they had snatched a draw but Mick O’Toole was blown for picking the ball off the ground as the ball sailed between the uprights. The final whistle sounded seconds later.
Special mention was given in the report for Pat Cronin in goal, Pat Hedderman, Liam O’Loughlin and Jim Sullivan at the back. The two midfielders of Coffey and Tom Foley were exceptional with Laois struggling to contain them. Johnny McDonald and John Simpson in the other corner were the biggest forward threat. The substitutes were credited with making the difference in the second half. A fine game of football which could have went either way.
Team: Pat Cronin (Stratford); Willie Whelan (Dunlavin), Liam O’Loughlin (Annacurra), Pat Hedderman (Tinahely); John Doyle (Donard), Jim Sullivan (Forestry College) John Davis (Ballinastoe); Moses Coffey (Rathnew 0-1) and Tom Foley (Dunlavin); Gerry Farrell (St Patricks), Mick O’Toole (St Patricks 0-1), Gary
O’Toole (Geraldines); Johnny McDonald (Rathnew 1-2), Gerry Sinnott (Newtown), John Simpson (Tinahely). Subs used: Sean Murray (Kilmacanogue 1-1) for Farrell, Murty Doyle (Rathnew) for G O’Toole, Tommy Kennedy (Carnew 0-1) for Sinnott.
1990: Wicklow 0-6, Meath 1-14 Meath were the opposition the next time we reached the final. We had taken them to a replay the previous year in the semi-final and were confident of going one better.
Once again Carlow and Wexford had fallen in earlier rounds before a narrow win over Offaly in the semi-final in Athy. A popular venue for Wicklow teams over the years this was probably one of the last times any Wicklow team played in Geraldine Park.
Played in Newbridge in April the holders were not for turning in this final. They blew Wicklow away with a fine display. They led by 0-10 to 0-2 at the break and a goal by sub Alan Browne near the end sealed the deal. Brendan Reilly, Colm Brady, Jody Devine and the dangerous Tommy Dowd excelled with bright careers ahead of them.
Wicklow tried hard and had levelled early on through Paul Kenny but Meath took over completely after that.
Wicklow did enjoy a spell of dominance in the second period with Conan Daye landing three points to cut the lead to 0-12 to 0-6. Hugh Kenny, Peter O’Brien and David Gordon were keeping Meath at bay.
The Royals finished with a last-minute goal past Stephen Kennedy who had produced some fine saves earlier to deny them.
Team: Stephen Kennedy (St Patricks); Dermot Gordon (Carnew), Hugh Kenny (Baltinglass), Thomas Donoghue (Baltinglass); Thomas Keogh (Stratford), David Gordon (Carnew), William Carey (St Patricks); Conor Doyle (An Tochar) and Fergus Daly (Blessington 0-1); Conan Daye (Eire Óg 0-3), Terry Allen (Hollywood), Philip McGillycuddy (An Tochar); Thomas English (Dunlavin), John Walsh (Bray 0-1), Paul Kenny (Baltinglass 0-1). Subs used: Enda McGillycuddy (An Tochar) for Dermot Gordon, Peter O’Brien (Kilcoole) for Carey, Shay Cullen (An Tochar) for Walsh.
1991: Wicklow 1-5, Meath 0-9 It was Meath again in 1991, played in Portlaoise this time. We had beaten Wexford and Louth to secure our final place.
This was definitely one we could and probably should have won. A succession of wides when wind assisted in the first half really hurt. A gilt edged goal chance missed at the death sealed our faith.
The biggest of all regrets was the unavailability of the injured Hugh Kenny from the start. A broken finger sustained against Dublin in a league quarter-final ruled the influential Baltinglass man out. His loss seeing the team rejigged line by line with Thomas Keogh moving to full-back.
In a tight first half Wicklow led 1-3 to 0-2 with five minutes to go to the break. Ronan Coffey was causing massive trouble for Meath all through the opening half from a wing forward position.
Wicklow did have a let off after Tommy Murphy was left with little alternative other than pull down a Meath man through on goal but they missed the resultant penalty.
Paul Allen and Coffey had points before Terry Allen set up Coffey for a composed finish to the net. Bill Byrne had the last Wicklow score of the half. A good solid half from Wicklow.
Wicklow missed another goal chance early in the second half before Paul Kenny pointed to put a goal between the teams again, 1-4 to 0-4. Billy Shaw was the man Meath were relying on for scores mainly from placed balls. They were soon ahead as the game entered the final ten minutes.
Wicklow threw caution to the wind. Hugh Kenny was brought on and had a strong claim for a penalty waved away. Thomas English pointed from a blasted free that was finger tipped over but that last score eluded Wicklow in a shattering last couple of minutes. Later in that summer Wicklow took Meath to a replay in the senior championship.
Team: Tommy Murphy (Rathnew); Thomas Donoghue (Baltinglass), Thomas Keogh (Stratford), Brendan McGarr (Kilbride); Stephen Dagg (Shillelagh), Dermot Gordon (Carnew), Willie Carey (St Patricks); Thomas English (Dunlavin 0-1) and Paul Kenny (Baltinglass 0-1); Bill Byrne (Stratford 0-1), Terry Allen (Hollywood), Ronan Coffey (Rathnew 1-1); Shay Cullen (An Tochar), Paul; Allen (Hollywood 0-1), Enda McGillycuddy (An Tochar). Subs used: David Brady (An Tochar) for McGarr, Eddie King (St Patricks) for Cullen, Hugh Kenny (Baltinglass) for Dagg. 2002: Wicklow 2-4 Dublin 1-17 The Dubs were the opposition in Newbridge in our last final appearance. A fabulous win over Westmeath in Mullingar and an extra time semi-final success over Wexford seen us through this time.
Dublin had first use of the wind and got the opening point but David Dillon scored an opportunist goal after three minutes to shock them. Rather than deter Dublin it awoke them and they kicked an amazing twelve points in the next fourteen minutes and would lead 0-13 to 2-0 at the break. Barry Sheehan netted Wicklow’s second major. It was brilliant goal by Sheehan who planted a piledriver past Stephen Cluxton from 20 metres. Mossie Quinn and Alan Brogan were causing serious problems for the Wicklow defence but with the wind at our backs there was still hope of a turnaround.
After the restart Ciaran Foley had an inspirational score for Wicklow and Dalton also kicked one but Dublin kept the scoreboard ticking over and were comfortable. Declan Lally goaled for them before Alan Nolan brought the scoring for the day to an end. Alan Byrne fought manfully to stem the blue tide all game ably assisted by Foley and Manning. The forwards didn’t get the supply they needed to hurt the metropolitans. The strong Dublin half back line of Paul Casey, Brian Cullen and Barry Cahill was the springboard for many of their attacking moves.
Team: David Nolan (Blessington), John Mulryan (Hollywood), Alan Byrne (Annacurra), Shane Corrigan (Dunlavin); Kevin Manning (Ashford), Ciaran Foley (Baltinglass 0-1), Derek Daly (Kiltegan); Barry Sheehan (Avondale 1-0) and Dara O’Hannaidh (Bray); Paddy Dalton (Coolkenno 0-1), David Dillon (Tinahely 1-0), Liam Óg Mooney (Hollywood); Paddy Moynihan (Bray 0-1), Brian Lennon (Donard The Glen), Johnathan Daniels (Blessington). Subs used: Niall Butler (Coolkenno) for Lennon, Liam Kennedy (Carnew) for Mulryan, Luke Ferguson (An Tochar) for Manning, Alan Nolan (Tinahely 0-1) for Daniels.