Footballers keep league promotion hopes alive
Rory on song as Wicklow secure victory in London
TWO first-half penalties from Rory Finn and goals from Eoin Darcy and Gearóid Murphy paved the way for a convincing Wicklow win in Ruislip.
By the time Andy Maher tapped home Wicklow’s fifth goal 15 minutes into the second half, Davy Burke’s men were 14 points to the good and any designs on a first win of the season for London were long gone. Wicklow were also indebted to a fine penalty save from Mark Jackson, as he kept out Sean Hickey’s spot kick after the interval. But even with a late red card for Dean Healy, the Garden County had built up enough credit in that opening salvo to come out comfortably on top.
The returning Killian Butler gave the basement side a lift and he came in to the starting lineup for injured captain Liam Gavaghan. Butler was responsible for seven of London’s scores and his direct running throughout the afternoon troubled the Wicklow backline.
Both sides traded scores early on, with Darcy and Seanie Furlong settling the visitors down with well taken frees and Liam Gallaher and Sean McDonnell responding for the hosts. A foul on Darcy presented Wicklow with their first penalty of the afternoon and the first chance to open up a notable gap between the two sides.
Finn’s left-footed strike was nerveless and Wicklow were four points to the good. London were still trying to clear their heads when Murphy cashed in on slack marking to fire his side’s second goal of the afternoon with barely 20 minutes on the clock.
Darcy was then quickest to react when Furlong’s long pass from wide left arrowed into the danger area and he steered the ball past London keeper Noel Maher to continue the onslaught.
Mark Kenny exploited more woeful marking to power through and tap the ball over the bar as the visitors maintained the pressure, pushing the lead out to an already daunting-looking 10 points.
Then a moment of inspiration for London from Gallagher. He slalomed his way through a succession of challenges on the left before cutting in from an acute angle to fire low past Jackson for the home side’s first goal of the afternoon.
That could have been the moment for the Exiles to rally and close the gap, but their momentum was checked when Furlong was brought down by Noel Maher and Finn dispatched his second penalty of the afternoon just before the interval.
Padraig O’Toole’s quickfire point ensured Wicklow had a 13-point lead at the turnaround and any notion of a London revival seemed fanciful.
The impressive Killian Butler got the first score of the second half before it was business as usual with well-taken points from Darcy and Murphy for the visitors.
Any lingering doubts about the outcome were banished when
O’Toole combined with Dean Healy on the left moments later. O’Toole’s cross was gleefully tapped home by the onrushing Andy Maher for Wicklow’s fifth green flag of the afternoon.
With Storm Jorge now firmly taking hold, it was damage limitation for London in every sense. The deteriorating conditions aided their cause in this instance, with Wicklow struggling to get any sort of purchase on kicks from deep.
The visitors were then grateful for Jackson’s agility, as he dived low to his left to keep out Hickey’s spot kick after Noel Maher’s ’45 had caused consternation in the Wicklow defence.
Butler finally netted again for the home side in injury time, smashing home with his right foot after good work by Fergal McMahon. It was just reward for a fightback, of sorts. London limited their opponents to just two points from open play in the second half.
‘We knew we had to get at them quickly and set the tempo early on,’ said Wicklow’s Mark Kenny after the match. ‘The high press was a big focus for us in training during the week and that worked for us today.
‘We were able to pick London off in the first half with some good scores. They peppered our goal after the break, but we were disciplined and dug in when we needed to.’
Scorers – Wicklow: Rory Finn 2-0, Eoin Darcy 1-3 (1f), Gearoid Murphy 1-2, Andy Maher 1-0, Mark Kenny 0-2, Podge O’Toole 0-1, Seanie Furlong 0-1 (f).
London: Killian Butler 1-6 (2f), Liam Gallagher 1-1, C Duggan 0-1, S McDonnell 0-1
WICKLOW: Mark Jackson; O McManus, Jamie Snell, Andy Maher; Paddy O’Keane, Niall Donnelly, David Devereux; Podge O’Toole, Rory Finn; Dean Healy, Mark
Kenny, Darren Hayden; Gearoid Murphy, Eoin Darcy, Seanie Furlong. Subs: Chris O’Brien for E Darcy (52 mins), Conor Healy for D Devereux (58), Zach Cullen for G Murphy (64) Fintan O’Shea for A Maher (67). LONDON: Noel Maher; Philip Butler, Eoin Flanagan, Conor O’Neill; Ronan Sloane, Mathew Moynihan, Eoin Walsh, Ryan Forde, Liam Gallagher; Sean Nolan, James Hynes, Christopher Duggan; Sean Hickey, Sean McDonnell, Killian Butler.
Subs: Thomas Clarke for S Nolan (35 mins), Fergal McMahon for R Forde (35), David Carrabine for C O’Neill (35), Ryan Jones for P Butler (49), Kenny O’Connor (0-01) for S Hickey (61).
RED CARD: D Healy (Wicklow) 70 mins BLACK CARD: P O’Keane (Wicklow) 57 mins
YELLOW CARDS: C O’Neill (London) 35 mins, N Donnelly (Wicklow) 35 mins REFEREE: John Hickey (Carlow)