Double-header delight
Senior men and women play on same day in Aughrim
FOR the second year in-a-row, Aughrim will play host to a football double-header involving the male and female county sides, when Davy Burke and the Senior men, and Mark Murnaghan and the Senior women, take on Waterford and Longford in their respective national leagues, on February 2.
The arrangement is weather permitting, with an alternative venue for Wicklow versus Longford, in Division Three of the Lidl National Football League, having been agreed upon in the event of the Aughrim pitch being rendered unfit to hold both matches.
That weekend will mark almost a year to the day that both county football panels shared the county ground’s turf for the first time, when James Kelly’s Wicklow panel, buoyed by the free-scoring Laura Hogan, dispatched Down in their first season in Division Three of the Lidl National Football League since being emphatically promoted from Division Four the year before.
That game preceded John Evans and the Senior men defeating Longford to keep up their, ultimately ill-fated, quest for promotion from Division Four of the Allianz National Football League.
February 2 will represent Mark Murnaghan’s first home game in charge of the Wicklow Senior ladies, having succeeded James Kelly – who stepped down from the role, citing personal reasons – at the end of October.
Reacting to the news, Murnaghan – who was recently appointed as the manager of the Leinster Interprovincial PPS side for their competition on January 25 -- said that his side had more than earned the Aughrim billing, while stressing the importance of a strong support on the day.
‘It is brilliant. It puts a bit of a buzz around the county, especially on the day of the match.
‘It is important to promote ladies’ football, as well,’ he told the Wicklow People.
‘In fairness, I think, from what I am seeing from the Wicklow girls, they’re putting in the same work as the men’s team. They deserve a chance. Hopefully, we won’t let anyone down that day, but I trust the girls to do the job.
‘[Support] is very important. The fact that it is a double-header; you don’t have people having to go from one ground, to another. As a manager, I know what the players are putting in, and it would be great to get the support from everyone around the county. The support will feed onto the pitch.’
February 2 is the latest in a long line of double-headers that have been announced for the 2020 season, including the Cork Senior ladies’ historic, first-time ever home tie in Park Uí Chaoimh on January 25.
Elsewhere, the Wicklow Camogie Board have confirmed to the Wicklow People that they have written to the county board, asking about the possibility of running home double-headers with the Senior footballers (9/2) and/or
Senior hurlers (15/3).
The camogie team are fixed for home matches against Tyrone and Cavan on those respective dates, while Davy Burke’s men take on Sligo on February 9, and Eamonn Scallan’s hurlers welcome Antrim in Division 2A of the National Hurling League on March 15.