Tricky first hurdle
Wicklow off to face Roscommon in Christy Ring Cup
BARRING a radical course of action from the GAA in the face of a growing public disdain in relation to the football and hurling championships continuing in light of the Level 5 restrictions imposed on Monday evening and which comes into force at midnight tonight (Wednesday) the Wicklow hurlers will make the journey to Roscommon this Sunday for their opening clash in the Christy Ring Cup of 2020.
It’s a 1.30pm throw-in in Dr Hyde Park for Eamonn Scallan’s charges as they look to right the wrongs of 2019 when score difference came back to bite them after they defeated Derry in Derry by three points but exited the competition three points the wrong side of score difference.
Looking at the county footballers and the fantastic start they made to their return to competitive action last weekend you’d hope that the hurlers will benefit similarly when it comes to this clash after a very entertaining and more or less competitive club championship.
Preparations have been badly hampered in terms of challenge games with a scheduled clash with Meath falling by the wayside due to a Covid-19 incident in the Royal County but the Wicklow men did get a tough workout from Down in Abbotstown that saw Mikey Lee shine on the scoreboard and this will have given the management team considerable hope ahead of this clash with the Rossies.
Sunday will be tough, as all trips to Roscommon tend to be. In recent times, the first halves of games between the two tend to be tight affairs with Wicklow pulling away in the second, but with Roscommon reaching the semi-finals of last year’s Christy Ring and registering some serious tallies along the way, this challenge is not one Eamonn Scallan will be taking lightly in any sense of
the word.
Down were the rock that Roscommon perished on in that semi-final last year, defeating them by 3-18 to 1-15 but the westerners toppled Kildare (0-20 to 1-15) at home, London (1-25 to 2-12) away, before losing to Meath (023 to 0-19) at home in their final group game.
Wicklow started their Christy Ring campaign in 2019 with a hard-earned away victory over Donegal (4-12 to 1-15) before falling to the team that they are struggling to beat in recent years, Down (2-25 to 1-19) at home. They followed that with a massive win against Derry away (1-16 to 0-16) but the tally wasn’t sufficient and they exited the championship.
So where are they now? It’s almost impossible to gauge until the game in Roscommon is underway. St Pat’s star Andy O’Brien is not a part of the panel for this competition and while there’s no denying the attacker’s lethal talent, if the club championship has shown anything it is that there are plenty of young, talented hurlers coming through who will be able to fill the boots and inflict damage on defences in his absence.
The attack returned a very respectable total of 3-19 against Down in the recent challenge game, Mikey Lee with 2-3, Mikey Boland with 1-2, Christy Moorehouse with 0-6 (five frees), four from Danny Staunton and one from Mr Impact Sub himself, Eoin
McCormack. Add in the very capable Gavin Weir, Sean Cranley, Gary Hughes and the likes into the mix and you have a very capable attack.
The return of Stephen Kelly is a major boost for Wicklow and the Éire Óg man showed a real abrasiveness in his game for the club in the championship against Carnew.
A defence with the likes of ‘Chester’, Warren Kavanagh, Martin O’Brien, Peter Keane, Gary Byrne and John Henderson ready for battle will prove hard for any team to break down.
Whether or not the Division 2A league campaign will benefit the Wicklow side is very unlikely given the gulf of time that has
passed since their last game – a disappointing 4-29 to 1-14 defeat away to Offaly.
However, as tough as the campaign was, with defeats to Antrim, Meath, Kerry and the Faithful, and one victory away to Mayo, playing at that higher level certainly won’t have done them any harm.
The 2020 Christy Ring Cup gets underway this Saturday when Offaly welcome Kildare to Bord na Mona O’Connor Park in Tullamore.
Derry welcome Sligo to Celtic Park on Sunday while Wicklow make the trip to Roscommon with Down receiving a bye through to the next round where they will be drawn against the three winners of the first round.
It goes without saying that Offaly are the red hot favourites to win this competition and get themselves out of the third-tier competition but there are many dramas and twists and turns before they can achieve that goal.
For Wicklow, they must first get past the Roscommon hurdle although a slip up will not be the end of the world as the losers get a second bite at the cherry when they are entered into the Round 2B where all three first-round losers are placed in a pot with the loser of the Down v Round 1 winner clash.
Allianz NHL DIVISION 2A results from 2020:
Round 1: Kerry 2-24 Mayo 0-13; Offaly 0-26 Meath 1-21; Antrim 0-20 Wicklow 0-11.
Round 2: Meath 2-24 Wicklow 3-18; Antrim 4-19 Mayo 0-7; Kerry 2-11 Offaly 0-14.
Round 3: Kerry 0-13 Meath 0-8; Wicklow 1-16 Mayo 1-13; Offaly 0-20 Antrim 2-14.
Round 4: Kerry 1-20 Wicklow 1-12; Antrim 5-27 Meath1-15; Offaly 5-29 Mayo 1-13.
Round 5: Meath 1-17 Mayo 0-18; Antrim 2-20 Kerry 2-14; Offaly 4-29 Wicklow 2-14.
Final: Antrim 2-23, Kerry 2-20