Ryan and Buckley on fire for Lilywhites in Aughrim
KILDARE WICKLOW 0-12 1-7
A poor first-half performance from the Wicklow Minor footballers saw them slump to a 0-12 to 1-7 defeat to Kildare in Aughrim as part of the double header with the Seniors in 1990.
The Garden County lads were up against a serious outfit with names like Glen Ryan and Niall Buckley adorning their team sheet but the home side were still only beaten by two points having only played for 30 minutes of the 60.
‘The opening 30 minutes were a nightmare for Wicklow who were reduced to the role of little more than spectators at the football feast served up by a rampant Kildare side,’ wrote Mark Kennedy in the Wicklow and Bray People newspaper.
‘Glen Ryan and Niall Buckley were giving Kildare total domination of the midfield play and when they jumped into a three-point lead after just four minutes, things were looking really black for Wicklow.
‘In the first 10 minutes alone, it was a huge effort for Wicklow to even get the ball past midfield and in one of their two sorties into enemy territory in this period Damien Behan opened their account with a point after eight minutes.
‘That Wicklow succeeded in ending the half on level terms with their opponents (1-4 to 0-7) was due more to two unnecessary fouls by the Kildare goalkeeper Christy Byrne than to their own endeavours.
‘After 16 minutes Byrne presented Darren Coffey with a point from a free when he carried the ball too far when attempting to make a clearance.
‘And he was to present Wicklow with an even more valuable gift goal eight minutes later. This time Byrne clipped Wicklow’s full-forward Sean Doyle as he was coming off his line to clear, conceding a penalty which Darren Coffey cracked into the corner of the net,’ he added.
Wicklow were a transformed team in the second half with Darren Coffey switching to midfield in a swap with Fergal Donoghue and Coffey gave the home side the lead for the first and only time with a point from a free after two minutes.
Glen Ryan levelled things from a 45 and Kildare powered ahead through points from Kevin Horgan and Alan O’Sullivan only for Sean Doyle and Darren Coffey to square things yet again.
However, the class act on the field that day was Kildare midfielder Glen Ryan and it was suitable and fitting that he would fire over the two points that secured victory while the visitors were also denied a pair of majors after Ronan Quinn and Brian Fahy hit the woodwork.
Wicklow: Liam Cullen; Peter Heffernan, Alan Dignam, Don Doyle; Colin Byrne, Stephen Dagg, Brendan Brady; Damian Behan (0-2), Fergal Donoghue; Ronan Coffey, Darren Coffey (1-3), David McGraynor; Joe Clancy, Sean Doyle (0-1), Conor O’Sullivan (0-1). Subs: Pat Nolan and David Richardson.