Hurlers see off Rossies in real style
THE Wicklow under-21 hurlers turned in an excellent second half performance to dismantle Roscommon’s challenge in the All-Ireland B quarter-final in Pearse’s Park last Saturday afternoon.
The sides were all square at half-time with a Seanie Germaine goal igniting the Wicklow outfit who fell prey to a superb performance from Roscommon’s Daniel Glynn who bagged six of their first half tally of 10 points and had helped them to a 0-09 to 0-02 lead after 16 minutes of play.
Seamus Murphy’s side had struggled big time up to this point with both the hurling ability of the visitors and the physical strength of the Rossies all over the field.
It was a very useful looking Wicklow side which was turned out for this clash and while improvements are needed ahead of the semi-final against Kildare this weekend it is with some hope that this squad will tackle the Lilywhite challenge.
There were two very new faces on the starting 15 for the Garden county. Arklow Rocks man Cormac Whitmore and Ballyboden/St Endas’ Michael Boland (formerly of Bray Emmets) were presented with their Wicklow debuts and they both impressed considerably. Whitmore, a Wexford native, lined out at midfield and looked capable while full-forward Boland held his own for the opening half before sparking into life in the second period where he caused all sorts of difficulties for the Roscommon defence.
There are some frailties in this Wicklow side but there are some real strengths as well as. Goalkeeper Cian Staunton and his full-back line of Martin Gilbert, Seanie Maloney and Oisin Furlong will face a stern test against Kildare but they kept a clean sheet against the Roscommon men in terms of goals in this game.
Terry Healy, Matthew Traynor and Liam Benville are all very capable hurlers with Traynor producing a very fine second half that included two monster points at a vital time. Whitmore and Christy Moorehouse in the middle will need to maintain a ferocious work rate while, on form, Aaron Meade, Padraig Doyle and Enda Donohue can do serious damage from the half-forward line.
Seanie Germaine is a fine hurler and he is enjoying a spell of confidence which is great to see while Michael Boland and Jack Doyle look to have the potential to unlock defences.
Add in substitutes of the standard of Sean Hughes, Gary Hughes, Justin House, Jonathan O’Neill jnr, Brendan Hawes, Eoin McCormack and the likes and Seamus Murphy and Michael Neary have plenty of talent to call on when Kildare come knocking.
In the opening play in Pearse’s Park it looked as if Wicklow would cause damage early on.
Germaine skipped away from his man with ease and his whipped ball across the square was collected by Michael Boland who turned James Fitzmaurice with remarkable ease but Boland’s pass to Enda Donohue saw the Carnew man whip the ball back across the square with a little too much umph and it trickled out over the sideline. Jack Doyle took the cut which Boland collected and his pass to Germaine in the square qas overcooked ever so slightly and the goal chance passed and Roscommon broke up the field and midfielder John Brennan split the posts with ease.
Carnew’s Jack Doyle had started well and his foraging for possession allowed him play an intelligent ball to Whitmore who was running into space and the Rocks man raised Wicklow’s first white flag with three minutes on the clock.
And then suddenly Roscommon took control of the situation. An Enda Donohue free after six minutes made the score 0-05 to 0-02 in favour of the visitors who were getting the better of their opponents in most sectors of the field and they were also starting to win frees from overexuberant tackles and with Daniel Glynn in the form he was in they were being punished at every turn.
It was 0-09 to 0-02 after 16 minutes and Wicklow were in a little bit of trouble. The Garden county side had coughed up a few wides and they needed something to ignite their cause and a nice burst through the middle from Christy Moorehouse saw the ball reach Padraig Doyle and the captain produced a lovely turn and pass to Germaine who was through on goal with only Aida Clogher to beat and he slotted home superbly for the game’s opening goal.
Donohue pointed a free and then Wicklow racked up two more wides before Germaine popped over a free to make it 1-04 to 0-09.
Seamue Murphy switched Jack Doyle with Enda Donohue and Wicklow added points from Boland and a converted Padraig Doyle free and all of a sudden the sides were level at 1-06 to 0-09 with 29 minutes gone.
But still Wicklow were prone to silly fouls and a chop from Martin Gilbert allowed Glynn the chance to point and he did so with aplomb while Wicklow finished the half with a pointed Germaine free.
Five Glynn points sent Roscommon into a very healthy lead within 10 minutes of the restart and Wicklow needed something big time. In fairness to Murphy’s men, they did seem to possess a goal threat and their approach did suggest that there was some encouragement to pursue that potential at every opportunity.
Excellent work by Michael Boland set Jack Doyle up with a goal chance around this time and although the Carnew man had some work to do to avoid Aidan Clogher in the Roscommon goal he managed to do that and give the decent sized crowd something to cheer about.
Enda Donohue’s free taking was improving and he banged over two points and Jack Doyle turned creator for Boland with the Ballyboden/St Endas man raising a white flag before Whitmore got
in on the scoring act along with Traynor’s opener and Wicklow led by 2-12 to 0-15 with 20 gone in the second half.
A fine clearance from Éire Óg’s Sean Hughes left Michael Boland with plenty of work to do down on the sideline and things became even more complicated when he lost his hurl but he managed to control the ball with his boot and work it to Padraig Doyle as Wicklow attacked in numbers.
Doyle returned the pass to Boland – still without his hurl – and he passed inside where he rolled perfectly past Clogher and Jonathan O’Neill jnr and into the path of Seanie Germaine who managed to shovel it over the line for Wicklow’s third goal and a 3-12 to 0-15 lead.
Donohue, Whitmore, Traynor’s second beast from deep and a Padraig Doyle point left Seamus Murphy’s charges leading by 3-16 to 0-16 having dominated the play in the closing stages.
Boland’s infuence on the game was still very much to the fore at thgis stage and he gathered a breaking ball from a Staunton puck out and raced down on the Roscommon goal and he flicked across to Padraig Doyle who unleashed one of his rockets that flew into the back of the net.
A sublime Boland point concluded the scoring and left Wicklow resounding winners at the end by 4-17 to 0-16.
It took them a while to settle but once they did there was no stopping them.
Scorers – Wicklow: Seanie Germaine 2-02 (1f), Enda Donohoe 0-05 (5f), Padraig Doyle 1-02 (1f), Cormac Whitmore 0-03, Jack Doyle 1-00, Matthew Traynor 0-02 (2f), Michael Boland 0-03.
Roscommon: Daniel Glynn 0-11 (8f), Ronan Kilcline 0-02, John Brennan, Gearóid Keenan, Jason Martin(0-01 each.
Wicklow: Cian Staunton; Martin Gilbert, Seanie Maloney, Oisin Furlong; Terry Healy, Matthew Traynor, Liam Benville; Cormac Whitmore, Christy Moorehouse; Aaron Meade, Padraig Doyle, Enda Donohoe; Seanie Germaine, Michael Boland, Jack Doyle. Subs: Sean Hughes for M. Gilbert (41min), Gary Hughes for A. Meade (41min), Justin House for M. Traynor (57min), Cian Doyle for T. Healy (59min).
Roscommon: Aidan Clogher; Thomas Treacy, James Fitzmaurice, Johnny Mulry; Eoghan Costello, Michéal Beirne, Anthony O’ Riordan; Gearóid Keenan, Cathal Mahony; John Brennan; Ronan Kilcline, Dylan Keaveney, Daniel Glynn; Jason Martin, John Murray. Subs: John Donoghue for A. O’ Riordan (42), Brian Lawlor for D. Keaveney (48), Jamie Curley for J. Murray (56).
Referee: Gearoid McGrath (Wexford)