WICKLOW COME UP A WEE BIT SHORT
WHAT value has a block? 66 minutes on the clock. Robert Lambert has just come up the field to kick a monster free from outside the 45 and Wicklow are a point down. It’s all Wicklow at this stage. The ball and both teams are camped inside Louth’s half.
Darragh Fitzgerald has spent 50 minutes getting used to Senior inter-county championship action and has found his feet. He demands the ball and takes off, daring Louth to catch him. They can’t. John McGrath has come on, no doubt unhappy he hasn’t started, though his league form wasn’t great.
He kicked the point before Lambert’s beast, and now he’s manoeuvred his way in front of goal and pulls the trigger. A point here, level game, who knows?
Eoin O’Connor knows. The Louth full-forward has been immense all day. He gets his hands in the way and off Louth go, counter attacking in a way they’ve counter attacked all day. Jim McEneaney doubles the Louth lead. Two point swing.
And so it is, as it always has been, though hopefully not always will be. Wicklow lose having had a chance to win it.
Were Wicklow the better side? No. But sometimes the better team loses. Louth had a defensive system in place, any number of players retreated back to mind the house, including O’Connor and his corner-forward colleague Ruairi Moore.
They also had an attacking system in place intent on causing chaos. They had the freedom to attack as they wished, Wicklow sitting back within their 45 and welcoming Louth on. Defenders and midfielders and attackers all end up in different places, bamboozling the Wicklow players who don’t know who to mark or where to go.
The likes of Padraig Rath in corner-back and Conal McKeever in front of him at wing back each scored a point in the first half while Anthony Williams on the other wing provided O’Connor with his goal. The Louth scores came that little bit easier that Wicklow’s scores.
Having said that, Paul Cunningham and Seanie Furlong were very good at winning ball in the full-forward line when outnumbered and made as much as came their way. Dean Healy stood at centre-forward and went straight at goal whenever he could and kicked a point for his troubles while also being fouled for a few frees.
And the Wicklow defence stood up well. Their tackling was hard and fair. Young Louth whippersnapper Ryan Burns had veteran Ciaran Hyland for company and only scored one point from play before being hauled off with 15 minutes to go.
The game started evenly enough for the first 10 minutes and Louth led by two points to one while Wicklow led by two wides to one. Then came Louth’s goal.
Anthony Williams ghosted into space totally unmarked, a result of the chaos caused by Louth and Wicklow not knowing who to follow. Williams drew Stephen Kelly and passed to O’Connor for the goal.
Wicklow respond really well. First Cunningham kicks a point and then Healy is dragged down by Williams, who receives a black card, and Furlong converts the free.
Moments later Wicklow take the lead with a goal. Louth went short with their kick outs all day and Furlong intercepts a poor one, feeding Mark Kenny who makes no mistake.
A few minutes elapse before 120 seconds of all hell breaking loose. First, David Boothman extends the Wicklow lead with a beautiful point. Louth’s Conal McKeever replies. Then Darren Hayden races towards goal after a good Mark Kenny lay off but his shot is tipped over the bar by Craig Lynch. Paraic Smith brings it back to a one point game.
Four scores in two minutes, hard to keep up with it all. 1-05 to 1-04 to Wicklow.
The scores keep coming, though thankfully not as frequently. Burns converts a couple of frees to retake the lead, O’Connor doubles it. Back come Wicklow, St Pat’s duo Dean Healy and Conor Ffrench equalise. All to play for, seven minutes until half time.
Unfortunately Louth finish better and kick four points on the trot. They lead by 1-11 to 1-07 at half time.
Four points down, Wicklow haven’t been great in the third quarter during the year. Against Laois in the O’Byrne Cup they went in ahead at half time and coughed up two early goals. Against Carlow in the league they were three points ahead at half time and were four points down by the time they scored another point.
This time, it was different. Cunningham and Furlong reduce the deficit to two and then a Furlong free makes it one and then Mark Kenny makes it zero. Fifty minutes on the clock and the game is level. Louth are kicking numerous wides to let Wicklow off the hook but that doesn’t matter.
What does matter however is that Louth are winning all of Wicklow’s kick outs. Tommy Durnin alone wins three in a row and by the time Niall Gaffney stops the concessions Louth are three points up again, 56 minutes on the clock.
Will Wicklow wilt? No. Fitzgerald takes off like a livewire, taking the game to Louth. There is one Louth attacker in the Wicklow half, everybody else defending the Wicklow onslaught.
John McGrath brings the game back to two points, up jogs Lambert to slot over the free. McGrath has a chance to level but O’Connor gets the block. Up Louth go and the lead is two. They kick a few more points to win by five.
And so it is, as it always has been.
Scorers – Louth: Ryan Burns (4f, 1 45) 0-06; Eoin O’Connor 1-02; Paraic Smith, Jim McEneaney, Declan Byrne 0-02 each; Padraig Rath, Conal McKeever, Bevan Duffy, Ruairi Moore, Gerard McSorley 0-01 each.
Wicklow: Seanie Furlong (3f) 0-04; Mark Kenny 1-01; Paul Cunningham (1f) 0-03; Robert Lambert (1f), David Boothman, Darren Hayden, Dean Healy, Conor Ffrench, John McGrath 0-01 each.
Louth: Craig Lynch; Padraig Rath, Patrick Reilly, Kevin Carr; Conal McKeever, John Bingham, Anthony Williams; James Stewart, Tommy Durnin; Darren Marks, Paraic Smith, Bevan Duffy; Ruairi Moore, Eoin O’Connor, Ryan Burns. Subs: Darren McMahon for Anthony Williams (12 mins, BC); Jim McEneaney for Conal McKeever (46 mins); Declan Byrne for Ruairi Moore (50 mins); Sam Mulroy for Ryan Burns (53 mins); Gerard McSorley for Paraic Smith (58 mins); Kurt Murphy for Darren Marks (72 mins).
Wicklow: Robert Lambert; Ciaran Hyland, Stephen Kelly, Brendan Kennedy; Darragh Fitzgerald, Paul McLoughlin, John Crowe; David Boothman, Niall Gaffney; Darren Hayden, Dean Healy, Conor Ffrench; Mark Kenny, Seanie Furlong, Paul Cunning- ham. Subs: Anthony McLoughlin for David Boothman (59 mins); John McGrath for Paul Cunningham (59 mins, inj.); Peadar Traynor for Paul McLoughlin (62 mins); Rory Finn for Mark Kenny (69 mins). Ref: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh)