Seven wonders of th
WICKLOW’S impressive dismantling of Antrim in Aughrim last Saturday afternoon has left them on the summit of Division 4 and facing a massive game against Wexford this weekend with promotion the coveted prize at stake.
As always nothing will come easy across the border, and with Shane Roche’s men getting the better of Limerick in Rathkeale on Sunday the Model County side will be coming into this game with a real pep in their step and they will certainly fancy their chances against a side who haven’t claimed a league win on their home patch since 1997.
Scoring 7-11 in an inter-county football match is serious going when it’s not against a team like Kilkenny, and scoring it against a defensive-minded side like Antrim is even more noteworthy. This is a very similar Saffron team to the one that blitzed Limerick in their last league game back in March by 2-27 to 1-12 barring a few exceptions, most notably the absence of Odhran Eastwood, named at 13 but replaced from the start by Dermot McAleese. He bagged 2-3 that day against Billy Lee’s men.
But it was the manner of the victory by Davy Burke’s side that was most pleasing to Wicklow GAA supporters who may have watched it on the GAAGO service or who will have followed updates on social media or heard about it from friends or acquaintances.
This was a performance of ambition, of confidence, of patience, of timing, of intelligence. In times past there has been criticism offered in terms of Wicklow sides seemingly devoid of ambition or intent or sharpness, teams who move the ball laterally across an opponent’s 45 because they have no other options, teams who got turned over with relative ease by hungry defences. There was plenty of lateral movement and ball retention on Saturday in Aughrim but it was of a different variety. A reporter in the stand mentioned at half-time that it was a bad game but it could be argued that it was anything but. Wicklow were showing patience, holding the ball, not coughing up possession, probing, testing the Antrim rearguard, creating two on ones, punching holes, getting runners coming from deep or seeking one of the inside pair with intelligent ball, not hoofed in because there are no other options.
A sign of what was to come in this game was the passage of play that led to the Wicklow penalty for a foul on Davy Devereux after nine minutes. Antrim owned the ball for about two minutes prior to the turnover by Podge O’Toole but they could find no way through the Wicklow rearguard. When Antrim won the ball in the middle Wicklow players drifted back, forcing Antrim to go across the field. The Saffron sideline were calling for ‘runners, runners’ but these were in short supply and with Dan Keane, Jamie Snell, Darren Hayden and Conor Byrne working hard across their own 45 to limit the options and Davy Devereux loitering with intent as a sweeper inside, Antrim were eventually overturned by the excellent Podge O’Toole when he dispossessed Dermot McAleese. Eoin Murtagh won a free before Davy Devereux set off on a scorching run through the Antrim defence before being fouled by centre back James McAuley and referee John Hickey spread the arms for a penalty. Antrim had gone from having possession to being ripped asunder on the counter in a matter of seconds. It would be the story of their day in many ways.
In the early stages Wicklow took the ball into tackles at least twice and were overturned and when Kevin Quinn got on the end of a sweeping move to open the scoring after three minutes you got the feeling that Antrim were in the mood to continue where they had left off against Limerick in March.
But a competitive club championship and an obviously healthy camp with Davy Burke has left this Wicklow side in good shape both physically and mentally and with an abundance of options off the bench.
The patience in the build up of the Wicklow attack was prominent for their opening score by Podge O’Toole. The Kiltegan man rode a strong challenge before hoisting over a stunner off his left but it was the intelligence beforehand that caught the attention.
Seanie Furlong blasted the penalty past Oisin Kerr to give Wicklow a great boost early on but they followed this with a shot dropped short by O’Toole and wides from a Seanie Free won by Dan Keane, Conor Byrne after a storming run from deep and a Mark Jackson free.
Catching the attention early on were Paddy O’Keane and Eoin Murtagh who were looking very sharp and the Dunlavin man thwarted the next Antrim attack after a through ball from Kevin Quinn but Murtagh was out in front to punch out over the sideline.
Wicklow were content with Antrim having the ball up until the home side’s 45 but when they tried to punch a hole, Davy Burke’s men pressed hard, Seanie Furlong intercepting the next attack and then Wicklow rampaged up the field, holding until more support followed. Conor Byrne sent a missile into Andy Maher who had taken up a very temporary position on the edge of the Antrim square. The AGB man lost out under a 50/50 ball but on another day, he might have had a free. Still, the signs were very positive.
Signs that all was not well in the Antrim camp were evident shortly after when a long ball from Patrick McBride to Conor Murray at full-forward ended up with a harmless wide when the attacker seemed to just give up on the chase. The visitors were notably quiet in themselves as well with Wicklow proving very vocal and supportive throughout, both on the
field and from the sideline.
A wide from Niall Donnelly followed, the centre back squandering a decent chance off his left but the Pat’s man made up for it when he linked up with Podge O’Toole and Eoin Darcy before the Tinahely star showed lovely hands to release O’Toole and the Kiltegan man struck home beautifully on the gallop to the bottom corner of
the Antrim net, 24 gone, 2-1 to 0-1.
A wide from Dean Healy and the loss of the solid Dan Keane to injury followed. Rory Finn, named at 10 but who didn’t start, was sent into the fray with a bandaged leg. He would go on to have a massive game, with his first real impact coming when he saved the day in front of Mark Jackson after a speculative Conor Murray shot
had been kept in on the endline. The Kiltegan man used all his experience to draw a foul and relieve the danger.
Antrim were in real trouble after 28 when Conor Byrne rifled the ball to the roof of the net at the second time of asking and it was 3-5 to a point at the break courtesy of points from Eoin Darcy (free), Furlong, Rory Finn, and Furlong
again (free). Antrim were down Colum Duffin to a black card while Niall Donnelly was sitting out for 10 minutes for Wicklow after a lazy pull down.
Lenny Harbinson had made two changes in that opening half to try and rescue the situation and inject some sharpness into the team with Niall Delargy and Paddy McCormack coming in
and the Antrim boss sent in Eoin Nagle at the break in place of fullback Ricky Johnston. They were in serious bother.
Paddy O’Keane began the second half with a stunning dispossession and the tone was set. Eoin Darcy and Tomas McCann swapped points before Antrim squandered a couple of massive goal chances that would have
radically changed the mood of this game.
Wicklow too coughed up a major when Conor Byrne rocketed the ball off the Antrim upright with Seanie Furlong inside in a potentially better position. The Avondale man was informed in the bluntest of fashions as to what others believed was the better option.
Rory Finn made it 3-7 to 0-2
with a peach from out near the sideline but Antrim struck back with a Tomas McCann free, Patrick McBride from play and, crucially, another missed goal chance, this one from McBride after he got in behind Eoin Murtagh thanks to a stunning ball from Declan Lynch. Full credit to the Dulavin defender, though. He got back quickly and put the Antrim man off and the shot came back off the upright.
A Kiltegan combination linked up for the next Wicklow goal. Podge O’Toole fed Seanie Furlong for the ace attacker to slide home after good work by Eoin Darcy and Mark Kenny. That made it 4-7 to 0-4 after 13 of the second half and a mountain to climb for the visitors.
They wouldn’t get far on that climb. Wicklow finished this game ruthlessly, carving them open time and again and adding goals from substitute Pat Burke, Eoin Darcy and substitute Gearóid Murphy in what was a very positive performance.
Davy Burke’s men have plenty to work on but lots to be pleased about. It’s very unlikely that Wexford will be so resigned or so easily dissected but Wicklow were the
authors of this victory due to their energy and ambition. Antrim never really looked like winning but that had more to do with Wicklow’s performance than issues within the Saffron camp, and if the Garden County men can replicate that in Wexford this weekend then Davy Burke’s side will have engineered a huge achievement by securing promotion to Division 3 in this strangest of seasons.
WICKLOW: Mark Jackson (0-1, f); Paddy O’Keane, Jamie Snell, Eoin Murtagh; Andy Maher (0-1), Niall Donnelly, Davy Devereux; Podge O’Toole (1-1), Dean Healy; Dan Keane, Mark Kenny (0-1), Darren Hayden; Eoin Darcy (1-2, 1f), Conor Byrne, Seanie Furlong (2-2, p, 1f). Subs: Rory Finn (0-2) for D Keane (26, inj), Saoirse Kearon for N Donnelly (50), Pat Burke (1-0) for D Devereux (55), James Sheerin for C Byrne (58), Gearóid Murphy (1-0) for P O’Keane (62).
Oisin Kerr; Patrick Gallagher, Ricky Johnston, Kevin O’Boyle; Declan Lynch, James McCauley, Peter Healy; Mark Sweeney, Marc Jordan; Kevin Quinn (0-1), Colum Duffin, Patrick McBride (0-2); Dermot McAleese (0-1), Conor Murray, Tomas McCann (0-2, 1f). Subs: Paddy McCormack for P Healy (33), Niall Delargy for M Jordan (33), Eoin Nagle for R Johnston (HT), Adam Loughran for C Murray (40), Patrick Cunningham (0-1) for P Gallagher (48).
John Hickey (Carlow)