Unlucky Wicklow
Hurlers h ave Keh oe Cup snatch ed from grasp
THE Wicklow hurlers had the Kehoe Cup snatched from their grasp in the closing minutes of an intensely hard fought and entertaining final, played in Westmeath’s citadel of hurling, Castletown Geoghegan, on Sunday.
It was a goal by full-forward Seamus Qualter four minutes from time that decided the issue in the end.
Wicklow started poorly and were three points down after 10 minutes. Casey O’Brien opened the Wicklow account with a point from a long-range free in the 11th minute and little separated the sidces up to half-time.
Don Hyland, the best forward on the day, added two more points with Sean McLoughlin pointing three frees for the home side to leave it 0-6 to 0-3 at half-time.
TOTALLY DOMINATED
Wicklow totally dominated the third quarter. Casey O’Brien landed a point from a 65, conceded by a hard-pressed defence. Hyland put Wicklow in front for the first time with a goal from an angled shot in the 11th minute.
Ned cremin had a great goal from close range and Wicklow were four points up. Westmeath did not get a second-half score until the 20th minute when their flying winger Robbie Galvin sent over a point.
It was the No. 10 who again set up Qualter for the winning goal after one of the few mistakes by a very tight Wicklow defence.
It was an injuiry to Don Hyland with ten minutes to go that really let Wicklow back into the game. The Carnew ace was the main link-man between defence and attack and was using his speed and skill to keep the home side on the back foot.
When he was forced to switch to full-forward Wicklow had no one to take over the feeder role.
If Wicklow have learned a lesson from this game and can put it to use for the B championship then it may have been a worthwhile exercise for all.
LACK OF PACE
A lack of pace and finishing power up front was cruelly exposed on Sunday. Only two of the forwards scored and only Hyland and Timmy Collins had the pace to match the opposition. Worse still the selectors had very little on the line to improve matters.
Whether the selectors were wise in leaving John Keogh, who scored 0-11 in his last league outing against Roscommon, on the line for the hour is another question.
The Kiltegan youngster is grossly over-worked at present and the decision to ‘rest’ him is probably the right one in the long term.
The presence of formner Kilkenny All Star John Henderson was a boost to the Wicklow defence but it was the other corner-back, Lar Byrne, who stole the show.
Casey O’Brien, Christy O’Toole and in the first half Timmy Collins were others to catch the eye.
Robert Doyle, Tom Byrne, Nigel and Sean Byrne also had their moments but really no one could be faulted on the score of effort.