A NIGHTMARE END
Hyland runs amok as Wicklow thumped by Kildare
KILDARE WICKLOW 3-17 0-4
WICKLOW finished out their Leinster under-20 football championship campaign with a fiercely disappointing defeat to Kildare in St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge last weekend.
John Evans’ side were coming into the game on the back of two losses but having played superbly in their last game away to Laois where they were pipped at the end by a late point and would have expected to put up something of a battling performance against the Lilywhites.
Alas, when Kildare took the lead through the seemingly unstoppable Jimmy Hyland after 16 minutes it was the beginning of a very bad end as the home side filleted the visitors over the next 45 minutes during which time Wicklow could only manage two scores, one from a free.
In the opening quarter Wicklow looked competitive. They were funneling men back in defence and trying to break at pace and locate the high inside pairing of Sean Gregory and Conor Byrne. This year’s captain of the St Kevin’s CC Senior football team who lost out in the county final to Coláiste Bhríde Carnew, Mark Barrett, from Ballymore Eustace, was positioned at corner-back for Kildare and together with full-back Mark Dempsey and later Jack Bambrick they combined superbly to wipe out the threat of Gregory and Byrne with an outstanding defensive show.
The story of the game is about Kildare corner-forward Jimmy Hyland who finished the game with 12 points (three from frees) or, from Wicklow’s point of view, the failure to deal with the Ballyteague club man and Kildare Senior panel member.
Blessington’s Aaron Curran was given the woefully difficult task of trying to curtail the Kildare corner-forward but marking the Lilywhite sharpshooter would be a bit like trying to catch your shadow – there were times when he had the ball in his hands for no more than three seconds before splitting the Wicklow posts.
Curran needed protection in the worst possible way but until he left the field after 41 minutes there didn’t seem to be any afforded to the corner-back.
Wicklow opened the scoring through a Conor Byrne free after a foul on the Avondale man by Mark Barrett. Kildare were looking threatening in the early stages but had recorded two wides by the time that Hyland finished a patient move to bag their opener after nine minutes as the home side tried to find a way through the busy Wicklow defence.
Dan Kelly fired over a free awarded for another foul on Conor Byrne who wasn’t going to get much room from Barrett over the course of this game and Kildare fired wide with a goal chance after 12 and regained the lead after 16 though Hyland and that, I’m afraid, is as good as it got for Wicklow.
The remaining 44 minutes were torturous. Perhaps the fact that the game was effectively a dead rubber for Wicklow might explain the complete rout that followed but Kildare simply marched over Wicklow from there until the final whistle.
Their first goal came late in the first half from the boot of full-forward Brian McLoughlin after a ball from Hyland and the corner-forward fired over three more points between the goal and the half-time whistle to leave it 1-11 to 0-2 at the break. Wicklow were being forced to shoot from mad positions by a dogged Kildare defence and they were being turned over and were making unforced errors at an appalling rate.
Things got worse in the second half. Hyland had two of the opening three points for Kildare before substitute Padraig Nash found the back of Tom McGurk’s net.
Dan Kelly got Wicklow’s opening score of the second half after 14 minutes and by the time the Baltinglass man got their fourth and final point Kildare were ahead by 2-17 to 0-4 and all that remained was Padraig Nash’s second goal on 60 minutes to add insult to injury as Kildare eased to a quarter-final meeting with Carlow by beating a Wicklow side that just didn’t perform to anywhere near their potential.
Scorers - Kildare: Jimmy Hyland 0-12 (3f); Padraig Nash 2-0; Brian McLoughlin 1-1; Paddy Woodgate (1f), Stephen Comerford, Tony Archbold and Jack Bambrick 0-1 each
Wicklow: Dan Kelly 0-3 (2f), Conor Byrne 0-1 (1f)
Aaron O’Neill; Mark Barrett, Mark Dempsey, DJ Earley; Stephen Comerford, Jack Bambrick, Ruadhan Ó’Giolláin; Aaron Masterson, David Marnell; Darragh Ryan, Sam Doran, Tony Archbold; Jimmy Hyland, Brian McLoughlin, Paddy Woodgate. Subs: Padraig Nash for Doran, h/t; Niall Murphy for McLoughlin, 41; Matthew Betts-Symonds for Masterson, 44; John O’Toole for Archbold, 48; Jack Cully for Woodgate, 50; Cian Costigan for Hyland, 52
Tom McGurk; Jack Cotter, Conall Gallagher, Aaron Curran; Fintan O’Shea, Jacques McCall, Thomas Kearns; Padraig O’Toole, Ciaran Coffey; Jack Bellamy, Cathal Keller, Gearoid Murphy; Sean Gregory, Dan Kelly, Cconor Byrne. Subs: Peter Hempenstall for O’Shea, 31; Kevin Mulhall for Gregory, 36; Andrew Maher for Curran, 41; Ronan Murray for Kelleher, 46; Eoghan Dolan for Bellamy, 48; James Hedderman for McCall, 52.
Kildare: Wicklow: Referee:
Chris Dwyer (Offaly)