Wicklow facing fierce battle against Wexford
A week’s a long time in politics... and sport. The GAA can produce some amazing results at times and Wicklow’s Senior and Minor footballers are a prime example of that.
Davy Burke’s Senior footballers put seven goals past Antrim in a resounding victory in the county grounds last Saturday afternoon in what was a superb performance by a renewed and resurgent Wicklow side.
The win propelled Wicklow to the summit of Division 4 given that Wexford were to defeat Limerick in Abbeyfeale the following afternoon and this now sets up Saturday’s clash between the neighbours in Chadwicks Wexford Park as a must-win scenario with promotion to Division 3 the grand prize on offer.
Can Wicklow manage it? Playing in the manner that they did on Saturday and it will take a fine performance to stop them but no better side than Wexford to throw a spanner in the works and no better man to realise that than Wicklow boss Davy Burke.
‘My job now for seven or eight days, you know, expectation levels. Coming up against a right good Wexford team. You could throw everything out there, a couple of Corona cases, manager left, we won’t buy into any of that stuff. Wexford Park... you’ll be landed out on your arse in two seconds so you won’t hear any of that from me this week. My job is to get them fit. Dan Keane picked up a knock, hopefully get him back right and we’ll be in Wexford Park next Saturday,’ said Burke after the game on Saturday.
Regarding the playing of GAA games under the current Covid-19 restrictions, Davy Burke couldn’t be any more enthusiastic about continuing on through the championship.
‘Is there anywhere safer than where we are now? I would do anything to keep this going. If it means no meals, takeaway meals, meetings outside, I don’t care what it means. The enjoyment levels are there to turn up with a group of men every Tuesday and Thursday. I get the kick out of that, and you can see that they’re enjoying it. You don’t tackle and work like that if you’re not enjoying it. We’d train and play every day outside to restrict movement and limit the risk. I want this to push on. I want championship,’ he added.
It wasn’t just the Seniors who shone brightly in Aughrim on Saturday. Paddy Dalton’s Minors thumped Longford in the second game of the day. In the last few weeks these young men have suffered defeat to Dublin and were roundly beaten in a preparatory challenge match against neighbours Wexford at Arklow which they convincingly lost on a scoreline of 3-14 to 1-10.
Based on that evidence, one would not be inclined to give much for Wicklow’s prospects in the Leinster championship as they faced off against Longford.
But you would have been very wrong. Last Saturday in Aughrim the Minors had a thumping 4-14 to 3-9 victory over Longford at the same time as both Wexford and Dublin were unceremoniously dumped out at the first hurdle.
Obviously, Paddy Dalton had a number of surprise aces up his sleeve which were not so apparent a couple of weeks before in the trial against Wexford.
Last Saturday Wicklow were a team transformed. From goalie to corner-forward, every one of the players played out of their skins. From the off Longford were left trying to play catch-up. But it was always a losing battle for them.
Rathnew man Eoin Doyle is a class act. Wearing the number 14 jersey, he scored 1-7 of Wicklow’s 1-10 total in the first half as they led by 1-10 to 1-2 at the break. And he had 14 other talented accomplices to support him. Of course, not forgetting the super substitutes who also knitted in seamlessly.
Wicklow had no weakest links on Saturday. There were no ugly ducklings, only graceful swans.