Evans delighted after victory over the Déise
O’Connor takes charge of opener
WICKLOW 1-7 WATERFORD 0-9
THE roar from the Wicklow supporters in the stand at Fraher Field on a bitterly cold Saturday evening when the final whistle sounded to herald a precious and rare victory for the Garden County was a fair reward for the effort and attitude which they had witnessed from the players on the field below.
The names of Patrick O’Connor, Gearoid Murphy and Mark Jackson will dominate conversations and spilled freely from the mouths of those who made the journey south on Saturday evening but, truthfully, this was a total team effort where the work ethic and the commitment of every single player brought them through a first half where they could only manage a single point to a second half where they bagged a stunning 1-6 to break Déise hearts at the death.
Since that black night in Newtownforbes in Longford in December in their opening O’Byrne Cup game, Patrick ‘Wacker’ O’Connor has promised so much in the Wicklow jersey. His showing for and winning of the ball has impressed hugely, it was scores or lack of that was keeping his name out of the headlines.
That all changed in the second half on Saturday night. It was 11 minutes into the second half with John Evans’ men trailing by 0-7 to 0-3 when ‘Wacker’ announced himself to the world. A long ball to Anto McLoughlin seen the Blessington man cleverly shield the ball from his man, gather possession and flick it across to the onrushing O’Connor who slotted home superbly beneath Aaron Beresford in the Waterford goal.
That uplifting major pulled Wicklow back to within a point of the home side and there was a palpable surge of belief and confidence among the players and supporters that this would not be yet another disappointing defeat, that all the promise this young team had shown in patches in the O’Byrne Cup would be realised on the competitive stage and that this year Wicklow football supporters would have something to cheer about, and something to look forward to.
Of the three names mentioned above as having captured the attention of the supporters in Fraher Field, none summon intense feelings of satisfaction and pride as that of Gearoid Murphy who curled over one of the finest points you’ll witness at any level in the second half to put Wicklow ahead for the first time in the game.
Scoring a sublime point is one thing but doing it 12 months after you’ve missed what one reporter called a ‘gimme’ at the time against the same opposition for a score that would have won Wicklow a pair of precious league points takes as John Evans said after the game in Fraher Field, ‘real, real courage’.
Murphy is a talent who is capable of moments of wicked magic such as his delicious goal against Longford and his outrageous point against Laois in last year’s Leinster under-20 football championship to name but a few. It’s a marvelous thing as a GAA supporter to ponder what delights await us in 2019 from the boots of the Annacurra man.
And then there’s Mark Jackson. At times the dragging of the Baltin- glass man all the way up the field for a free that Anto McLoughlin could easily take is maddeningly frustrating. However, Jackson is a class act and when the chips are down there’s no better man to pull it out of the fire for you.
The goalkeeper pushed Wicklow ahead after 29 minutes of the second half with a superbly struck kick and then split the posts with a level of comfort that suggested he was outside in the back garden as a 10-year-old for the match-winning score to make it 1-7 to 0-9.
There’s much to be positive about in this Wicklow team. The confidence of youth is abundant. Kiltegan’s Padraig O’Toole is a pure athlete, born to run and can play football. Oisin Manning, Ross O’Brien and Jamie Snell were all in fine form on Saturday evening in tough conditions, Manning bringing a toughness and intelligence to the full-back line.
Shane Mooney is laying claim to that number six jersey in a big way. A capable reader of the game, he seems naturally prone to being in the right place at the right time. Davy Devereux is a major find and Darragh Fitzgerald oozes class from start to finish.
A major aspect of this team is workrate. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Dean Healy, Mark Kenny, Theo Smyth, Darren Hayden and Anto McLoughlin. If they were getting mileage for their on-field exploits, they’d be laughing all the way to the bank. Mark Kenny was immense, covered acre upon acre like a worried sheep farmer looking for a lost ewe. Darren Hayden looks reborn after his nuptials with his beloved Lorna Fusciardi while Theo Smyth looks destined for a healthy career in the county jersey.
The 0-7 to 0-1 deficit at the break was concerning but not hopeless by any means. Wicklow had kicked close to double figures in wides and had created the chances which was keeping the hopelessness from the door in the stand.
Waterford’s purple patch landed in the 29th minute and when the half-time whistle blew 10 minutes later (injury) they led by those six points but looked there for the taking at the same time given that they had enjoyed the benefit of the wind at their backs and the shooting into the ‘scoring’ goals for that opening 35.
Wicklow needed a bright start and Patrick O’Connor duly obliged with a wicked score in heavy traffic. Anto McLoughlin followed with a converted free and then turned provider for O’Connor as he lashed home that beautiful goal that had the decent Wicklow support dancing in the stand.
O’Connor wasn’t finished. He leveled a few moments later after a trundling run from Padraig O’Toole from midfield and then we led after Murphy’s magical point from the far sideline under the scoreboard that sizzled over the crossbar.
Waterford were still having plenty to say in this game but with Ross O’Brien, Snell, Manning, Devereux, Mooney, Fitzgerald and the roaming Mark Kenny all making complete nuisances of themselves they were not profiting on the scoreboard.
Tommy Prendergast put a stop
to that with a bomb after 24 but full-forward and impressively tall Shane Ahearne squandered a chance after 26 to go back in front.
Things were getting tight now. Jackson pushed Wicklow ahead. Anto McLoughlin went on a yellow followed by a black, Conor Healy came in for Smyth and then Jason Curry slotted a free and we were all square.
Wicklow attack and win a free. John Evans and the entire Wicklow support look to Mark Jackson and the Baltinglass man starts his casual amble forward.
He places the ball, steps back and drills it straight between the posts. What a score! 1-7 to 0-9.
We’ll most certainly have one more play. Here come Waterford, surging through the middle. There’s Dean Healy, hands like shovels, body like a brand-new JCB, and he blocks Waterford not once, but twice.
Still they come, Darren Hayden gathers a dirty ball and breaks up field and finally the final whistle sounds. Victory is Wicklow’s. It’s only January, first game of the league, early days, but it’s a victory nonetheless, and that will do nicely!
Scorers - Wicklow: Patrick O’Connor 1-2, Mark Jackson 0-2 (2f), Darren Hayden, Gearoid Murphy (f), Anto McLoughlin (f) 0-1 each.
Waterford: Jason Curry 0-4 (3f), Sean Whelan-Barrett 0-2, Conor Murray, Aidan Trihy, Tommy Prendergast 0-1 each.
WICKLOW: Mark Jackson; Oisin Manning, Ross O’Brien, Jamie Snell; Davy Devereaux, Shane Mooney, Darragh Fitzgerald; Padraig O’Toole, Dean Healy; Darren Hayden, Anto McLoughlin, Theo Smyth; Mark Kenny, Conor McGraynor, Patrick O’Connor. Subs: Gearoid Murphy for McGraynor (25), Conor Healy for Smyth (65), Mark Doyle for O’Connor (70).
WATERFORD: Aaron Beresford; Aidan
‘The second half showed our resilience and we kept at it and at it, and we still missed some easy chances. Great goal by ‘Wacker’, really well set up by Anto. Our backs, right throughout, were superb. They were superb. Our midfield, the defensive role we are working on is really working well. You’d have to say Gearoid Murphy’s free, last year he was in front of goals and he missed a free, and my God, to step out three yards from the sideline, that’s courage, that’s real courage, and he’s waited 12 months for that’.