‘A great work ethic in this group’

REACTION

WICKLOW manager Derek Byrne was delighted for his side that they got their first win of the league campaign, but he was also very open about the fact that he considered it their poorest performance to date but that unlike the other three games where nothing went their way, they got a few breaks in against Derry on Sunday.

“They really put it up to us. I think we’re lucky to come away (with the win),” he said. “It’s funny. I think we performed well in our three away games against good opposition, and I don’t think we got what we deserved from them. All the games could have gone either way, and a bounce or a breaking ball didn’t go our way.

“Today, I think we got a little bit of luck because I think we got out of jail. Us as a management (team) have great faith in these girls and the work they put in and how they play the game, but we’re a bit disappointed today with the performance.

“And I don’t know whether it was the first game at home, and we have an awful lot of new girls, but I thought we were cautious and cagey and we didn’t play the fluid, fast, attacking football that we usually do.

“We have to realise that these are very young girls. The average age of this team is 21. Nine girls have made thir inter-county debut this year, and today we had two, Sarah O’Toole and Charlotte Nagle, which was brilliant.

“I think maybe there was that in it, and you know yourself, when you’re playing football, and you put so much effort into it and the results are going the wrong way, to get that first win, there’s a weight on the shoulders, and I thought they played with a weight that we hadn’t in the previous three games,” he added.

After the previous game, Derek’s brother Mark spoke about getting that one win that could send this team on a successful run.

“And that’s massive,” said Derek. “And then you can get a bounce and go on a bit of a run to break that ceiling of getting that win.

“And maybe the girls put a bit of pressure on themselves to get that win, maybe we as management did as well, but we want to see these girls express themselves because we fully believe in them, they’re good footballers.

“And we want to see them playing with a smile on their face. We don’t want this weight or cautiousness or cageyness. And today, I just thought we were that bit cautious.” he added.

Up to now, Derek feels that small decisions and moments in games haven’t been going the way of the Garden County. A disputed square ball last Sunday and the width of a post at the Rednagh Hill end were two to add to a growing collection.

“There are a few things, and they’re not going for us. Sinead McGettigan hit a rocket off the post up there, and then the square ball.

“To me it was a blatant square ball. And you don’t want to be criticising, it’s a hard job (being a referee), but there were three girls standing on top of our goalkeeper. They’re crucial decisions. Instead of us going in six or seven points up, it’s a two-point game, and it breathes life into the opposition.

“Look, we’re not going to stand here and make excuses, we need to get our own house in order for us to perform, I just think we were a little bit off it today, but to me it’s a massive positive that we were a little bit off and we showed great character to go on and win it,” he added.

Derek Byrne is delighted with the work ethic of this group of players, and confident that breaks tend to even themselves out over the course of a season.

“There’s a great work ethic in this group, they’re willing to work. They’re coming from all over Wicklow and all over Dublin to go training, and we’re getting 26 or 27 at training every night, hail, rain or snow.

“I’m a firm believer that if we keep working the breaks will come for you. We haven’t been getting them up to now, but over a season they tend to even themselves out,” he said.

Aoife Gorman will grab the headlines and the plaudits for her match-winning score, but Derek Byrne says she brings so much to the county side.

“She’s unbelievable. We fought tooth-andnail to get her off that sending off against Leitrim, for her personally, because the work she puts in is savage.

“She’s coming from Dublin, a full-time job, finishing at 6pm, getting in a car, driving from Dublin, for every training session. People don’t see that.

“And the work she does, and ok, maybe she overcarried once or twice, but so what.

“At least she worked to get herself into that position.

“When we sit down and watch the videos, we see the work that Aoife puts in, the work that SJ (Sarah Jane Winders) puts in, all of them, the work that they do that’s unsung.

“People will only see Aoife putting over that winning score, and it’s great for her because she’ll get the accolades, but the work she did, chasing down in the second half, she ran 50 yards there with a Derry girl who was attacking and got a hand in and flicked the ball away. This is the unsung stuff, but they’re the things that win matches,” he said.