WICKLOW SIDES PREPARE FOR THREE CRUNCH GAMES
THREE huge games loom on the horizon for Wicklow county teams this weekend.
John Evans’ footballers welcome Laois to Joule Park, Aughrim, this Sunday afternoon and it promises to be a major challenge for his young side.
At the same time in the west, Seamus Murphy’s county hurlers take on Mayo in a crunch NHL Division 2B tie, while in Roundwood the Wicklow ladies will hope to maintain their unbeaten run when they take to the field to face Antrim at 2pm.
But first to the footballers. It would be unfair to compare it to David and Goliath but on Sunday, a team that has yet to win will take on a side that only knows how to win thus far.
Wicklow will welcome Laois to Joule Park and, with two draws and a loss under their belt, John Evans’ side will hope that this weekend will see them collect their first victory and bring Laois’ 100% record to an end.
The sides tangled in the championship last summer and Laois shaded that battle by three points but Evans reckons this is a vastly improved Laois side that he will attempt to derail on Sunday.
But following a very encouraging draw in Antrim, his side are buoyant at the moment.
“We’re looking to build a team here. We battled well against Antrim and it was great to see but that can’t be a once-off, we need consistency in our game.
“We’ve already faced Antrim who would be one of the three top teams in the division but Laois would probably be the table-toppers. It is a huge challenge and we’ll be looking to make a good impression against them.”
Evans thinks Laois will be eyeing up a perfect league campaign but he’ll have to outdo a few of his fellow Kerry men if he wants to disrupt that.
“They’re a bit of an unknown quantity. They have two Kerry men involved there (John Sugrue and Jerome Stack) and they’ve done a very, very good job. They’ll be better than they were last year.
“Laois aren’t a Division 4 team. They’ll have hopes of going the whole league campaign unbeaten. Wicklow will just be a number in their eyes.”
Daniel Keane will not recover in time but Evans is hoping to be able to call upon Kevin Murphy. The mood is good in the Garden County at the moment and Evans wants that to translate onto Joule Park.
“We’re training very hard and there is great commitment from the lads. We’re hoping to give a good account of ourselves on Sunday.”
Seamus Murphy’s hurlers bounced back from their defeats to Down and Longford in recent weeks with a superb battling performance against Donegal in Joule Park, Aughrim, on Sunday afternoon last.
Wicklow travel to Ballina in search of what would be an uplifting victory and would pull them level on points with the westerners.
Wicklow have acrued four points from their three league games so far while Down and Mayo are on six, so a win on Sunday would be the perfect tonic for Seamus Murphy’s charges.
The hurlers have yet to really find their feet as a team following the raft of injuries suffered within the squad.
Eamon Kearns, Ronan Keddy and Chrusty Moorehouse Snr both featured on Sunday, with Keddy and Kearns playing the entire game and Moorehouse coming on late in the second half.
The squad are travelling up on Saturday night, so the long journey won’t be a factor and should allow the hurlers focus on their game as they bid to launch a serious push for league glory.
The Wicklow ladies recorded a big win in Limerick last weekend and on Sunday they take on their northern visitors in the shape of Antrim this Sunday in Roundwood at 2pm.
The Limerick match was a tight affair in gruelling conditions.
However, after a goal from Clodagh Fox settled them down to lead 2-3 to 0-1 they went on to record a comfortable enough victory on a score of 2-7 to 1-5.
This victory left Wicklow atop the Lidl Division 4 by a single point and they will wish to keep it that way.
The Antrim side, whose sole defeated was to Limerick, will make the long journey south knowing that Wicklow are currently on the crest of a wave.
On Sunday, Avonmore FC Youths take on Freebooters in the third round of the LFA Youths Cup.