Leinster SFC quarter-final: Wicklow 2-14 (2-3-8) Dublin 2-16 (2-3-10)
An afternoon of rising tension in Aughrim ended with Wicklow on the verge of a seismic result that would have reverberated far beyond the surrounding mountains. Leinster championship history will have to wait for another time or place.
Because Dublin were unquestionably for the taking here, right up until the final hooter, which will be sounding in the sleep of the Wicklow players for many nights to come. That Dublin held on by two points was arguably down to the points Wicklow left behind, and they don’t often get chances like that in the Garden County.
Not once but twice, Wicklow also rallied from what appeared to be game-changing situations – late in the first half, and with 10 minutes to play in the second. In the last frantic minutes, Dublin reduced to 14 men, Wicklow were still chasing a possible equaliser, before their chances eventually ran out.
Somehow Dublin survived – the county with 63 Leinster titles to Wicklow’s none – and with that extending to 33-0 their unbeaten record over their neighbours. No wonder there was a curious mix of emotions among the respective managers afterwards, Oisín McConville praising the near heroics of his Wicklow team, while Dean Rock, deputising for Ger Brennan, tried to find some comfort in Dublin’s lucky escape.
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“It definitely feels as if we’ve left a really good chance behind us,” said McConville. “We’ll get chances again, but today felt like a real opportunity. We looked so good, for so long. We’d a lot of chances to see them off, it just never materialised.
“It was a savage performance, we just left it behind. That’s hard to take, that’s football. There will be better days, these boys will bounce back. So definitely a bit more soul searching. I’m sick of searching my soul at this stage, I’m sure those boys are the same.
“But nothing to be down about it. It hasn’t gone for us, but when the door doesn’t open, you’ve just got to bang a bit harder.”
Indeed there’s no faulting Wicklow’s effort, captain Dean Healy once again lording things at midfield and Eoin Darcy finishing with 2-2. McConville certainly wasn’t going to fault his goalkeeper Mark Jackson, but he missed six frees from outside the two-point arc, also dropping another one short. Jackson’s been firing those sorts of kicks over the bar for fun all season, only on this occasion he just couldn’t make them stick.
“Look, I was a free-taker, you have those days,” said McConville. “But a lot of those frees were 60 yards out, not tap overs. We’d 15 shots in the second half, we had the opportunities, we just didn’t convert enough. Sometimes those opportunities just pass you by.”
After trailing for most of the opening 35 minutes, Darcy’s penalty strike after 10 minutes sending Wicklow on their way, Paddy Small started to turn Dublin’s fortunes around with a couple of two-pointers, plus two from play. When Dublin finished the half with 1-2 inside 60 seconds, Charlie McMorrow finishing the goal, it looked like Wicklow had a steep hill to climb to get themselves back into a winning position, trailing by four.
Then 10 minutes into the second – moments after the PA announced Meath had lost to Westmeath – Wicklow raised fresh spirits. Oisín McGraynor’s long ball was punched into the net by Darcy, and when Healy followed that with a magnificent two-pointer, they were back in front by one.
Dublin, in fairness, never panicked. Rock was stepping in on sideline duties for Brennan, who is serving a 12-week sideline ban, and they responded again with patience through Seán Bugler, Colm Basquel and Niall Scully. When Small, their best player by a distance, walked in their second goal on 58 minutes, Dublin looked safe at 2-16 to 2-11.
Only they didn’t score again. McGraynor added another two-pointer for Wicklow, then a free, and when Dublin lost replacement Liam Smith to a straight red card on 67 minutes, for a dangerously high tackle on Jonathan Carlin, Wicklow rallied one more time.
Suddenly they had Dublin in the corner, pinned to the ropes, trying desperately to land a winning punch. They just couldn’t score again, John Paul Nolan adding to their total of 12 wides, Cathal Baker also over-running an attack in the last passages of play.
“It was exactly what I expected from Wicklow,” said Rock, appearing not at all shaken by Dublin’s close call. “Wicklow were superb, put us under a huge amount of pressure. And ultimately there were a number of missed opportunities from Wicklow which helped get us over the line.
“We’d quite a few debutants too, and they should be better for that experience in two weeks’ time. We’ve huge belief in our team, over the four quarters, there’s huge swings in the new game. There was no panic, no. Dealing with a man down, that will stand to us, and they guys found a way, ultimately.”
On Smith’s red card in the 67th minute, Rock said he’s “not a dirty player by any stretch”, but he has other things to worry about before facing Louth in fortnight. A clearly off-form Con O’Callaghan came off at half-time nursing an injury, Eoin Murchan and Colm Basquel also subbed off early.
On further reflection, McConville pointed to Wicklow’s 70 per cent first-half scoring efficiency, which fell to 30 per cent after the restart.
“That’s what comes back to haunt you,” he said. “We had all the momentum, the opportunities. We showed everything needed to win, expect for that last little bit.”
One of these years, their time will come.
WICKLOW: M Jackson; T Moran, C Ó Gallchobhair, G Fogarty; C Deering (0-0-1), M Nolan, J Carlin; D Healy (0-2-1), J Kirwan; J Hardy, P O’Toole (0-0-1), C O’Brien (0-0-1); O McGraynor (0-1-2, 1tpf), M Kenny, E Darcy (2-0-2, 1-0 pen). Subs: JP Nolan for Kenny (49 mins), J Prendergast for O’Brien (57), K Quinn FOR Hardy (59), C Baker for Deering (66).
DUBLIN: E Comerford; E Murchan, N Doran, D Byrne; G McEneaney, C McMorrow (1-0-0), E Kennedy; B Howard, T Lahiff; S Bugler (0-0-5), N Scully (0-0-1), P White; P Small (1-2-2), K McGinnis (0-1-0), C O’Callaghan (0-0-1f). Subs: C Costello for O’Callaghan (inj), S McMahon for McEneaney (both h-t), P Ó Cofaigh Byrne for Lahiff (42 mins), C Basquel (0-0-1) for White (53), L Smith for Murchan, E Dunne for Basquel (both 58).
Referee: C Dourneen (Cavan).
