Magee looking to learn from O’Byrne Cup games
HIS Wicklow under-21 footballers fell to Leitrim on Monday in the Hastings Cup, but the defeat wasn’t without its positives according to Johnny Magee who got his third season as Garden County boss up and running in Cloone.
A long bus journey and the unavailability of some key men due to work and illness left Wicklow facing an uphill struggle against a Leitrim under-21 team who have progressed very well since Minor grade.
A poor start and some innocent play allowed Leitrim gallop into a strong lead and despite a very positive second half performance the Wicklow lads had too much ground to make up in the end.
“We’re using the Hastings Cup to try and find a few players and we’re trying to be as fair to players as we can be and it’s great to see these lads playing against their own age group,” said Johnny Magee.
“The second half was more positive for us but the three goals we conceded were soft enough and with more games and more experience we would expect to keep them out,” he added.
It’s a busy schedule for Wicklow football teams over the next few weeks.
The under-21s are back out this weekend against Offaly. The game is scheduled for Bracknagh at 2pm on Saturday but there is a possibility of that fixture being changed. They play Meath in Bray in the final group game on January 15.
The Wicklow Seniors face three games in quick succession with the visit to Navan the first of those this Sunday where they take on a Meath team that is under the new management of Andy McEntee and is reported to be experiencing a major injection of enthusiasm and numbers.
Wicklow have said farewell to several players for 2017 but have welcomed in and retained one or two as well.
Not taking part in this season’s campaign will be Bray’s Arran Murphy and Niall Gaffney and Baltinglass’ Kevin Murphy. Rumours had abounded that Paul Cunningham would also be unavailable but the Bray attacker will wear the Wicklow jersey according to Johnny Magee.
St Pat’s star Tommy Kelly is in the panel and will hopefully be available early in the league as he completes his recovery from the elbow injury he picked up in the club championship.
Stephen ‘Chester’ Kelly is also expected to take part in the league at some stage having undergone an operation on the shoulder while Paul McLoughlin is recovering from a knee operation but is hoped to be back by the start of the league.
Johnny Magee understands the difficulty his side faces in Navan on Sunday with reports of the Royals operating a training panel of 50 players.
“We’ll try to put out the strongest team possible but the O’Byrne Cup is also about blooding a few players and you like to have a look at lads and see how they respond.
“We’d be hoping to give a couple of debuts to lads in the O’Byrne Cup as well,” said the Wicklow boss.