Wicklow ready for Leinster clash with Longford
WICKLOW will take on Longford in their inaugural Under 17 Leinster championship match this Wednesday evening (tonight) in Joule Park, Aughrim.
It’s a game which both players and management are keenly looking forward to and we got the thoughts of Baltinglass man and team captain Tadhg O’Toole.
“We’ve trained hard since the beginning of the year and I think everyone is just really excited that the championship has finally come around the corner. It’s the last year a lot of the lads will play at this age grade, myself included, so it’s one will absolutely be determined to do well in.”
A sub plot to the game is that Wicklow played Longford in the first round of the minor championship with players from both sides will be reacquainted with each other on Wednesday. Wicklow lost that match by 5 points having gallantly battled back from a disastrous opening 20 minutes but Tadhg downplays the significance of that match and says that the team will be treating it the same as any other championship match.
“That was disappointing as we felt we could have won despite starting badly but I don’t think that’ll be in our minds going out onto the pitch on Wednesday. This team has been playing Longford since under 13s and our record against them is actually very good so we will obviously respect them but won’t hold any fear towards them. At the end of the day no matter who you play at this level it will be a challenge so we’ll treat it as we would any other championship match and back our own ability to come out with the win.”
The under 17s have been training since the start of the year and after the minors exit from the championship back in May O’Toole and 5 of the other eligible players came back in with the under 17s. Over recent weeks they have played practice games against Wexford, Louth and Carlow and seem well battle ready for the challenge the Longford men will bring.
“As a team will have worked really hard together and it may be a cliché but there is a real unity and no individual is more important than any other. There has been great commitment to training and matches and lads have even put off holidays so they can be involved for the championship.
“We played Wexford, Louth and Carlow in recent weeks and getting that win against Louth 2 weeks ago I think was great for our confidence and shows we are well capable of beating quality opposition. Having those matches behind us will stand us in good stead on Wednesday but of course we have to turn up and do the business on the night as well.”
Having home advantage could well be crucial and Tadhg says that he is excited about lining out at Joule Park and hopes that the Wicklow supporters will come out in numbers to support them.
“It’ll be my first championship match in Aughrim so it’s exciting and is a chance for all of us to show our supporters what we can do both as individuals and as a team. Aughrim has never been an easy place for any teams coming to play Wicklow and we have a responsibility to ourselves and the supporters to put in a big performance. Confidence in Wicklow football is probably a bit low amongst the supporters at the moment but it would be great if we could get a good crowd to cheer us on Wednesday night and me and the lads would love to be able to repay the support with a win.”
Tadhg is right that confidence amongst Wicklow football supporters is low but that being said there is no doubt that this team possess some seriously talented footballers and seem in with a real shot at winning the match. This is the first team to come up through the Wicklow academy and will be the biggest match of these young players lives so far so there’s no doubt they deserve as much support as possible which could prove invaluable during the game.
A win would see Wicklow progress to the Quarter finals in two weeks’ time while a defeat would see them enter the qualifiers with the possibility of facing either Dublin or Meath so there really is a lot on the line. Tadhg and his teammates and the management team of Paul Garrigan, Eoin Doyle and Gail Dunne are sure to give it a right crack and it promises to be a great game on Wednesday evening.