Hibernation over, Wicklow re-emerged onto the landscape with all the vigour of spring lambs and cavorted all over the Drogheda pitch yesterday. It was all too much for the leaden-legged Louthmen and, indeed, the only wonder was that Wicklow took so long to finish the job and further their quest for promotion.
"We were second to the ball, basically," conceded Louth manager, Paddy Clarke. And, yet, Wicklow, despite enjoying the lion's share of possession, didn't secure victory until an unanswered sequence of five points in the final 11 minutes of the match took them from a point in arrears to the sort of winning margin that their industry and discipline unquestionably deserved.
It was a game typical of early February. It yielded 56 frees - 39 of them to Wicklow - in the hour and referee Brendan Gorman was kept busy scribbling names, rather than scores, into his little book. By the end, five Louthmen, and not one Wicklow player, had been branded with the yellow card.
However, the lop-sided nature of the offences was probably due to the fact that Wicklow were sharper, mentally and physically, than their opponents and consequently many Louth tackles were remindful of men carrying out salvage exercises.
Before the match, Wickow lost Kevin O'Brien and Brendan O hAnnaidh, both victims of flu, but they showed real character by rejigging yet keeping to the gameplan. They had the two best players on the field by some distance. Ronan Coffey's manoeuvrings at full-forward were quite exceptional and, at the other end, full back Hugh Kenny's rectitude was a source of some inspiration to his fellow-defenders.
If there was an Achilles heel for Wicklow, it was in free-taking: Trevor Doyle missed more than he accomplished, and even a change in responsibility to Damian McMahon was unsuccessful.
And the early indications were that free-taking would play an important role. The match was only five minutes old when Ken Reilly was booked (to be followed later in the game by team-mates Arron Hoey, Stefan White, John Donaldson and Stephen Melia) and it was locked at 0-2 apiece after 15 minutes before Cathal O'Hanlon scored the first point from play to put Louth a point ahead.
But Louth weren't to score again for the rest of the half, and Wicklow's first point from play didn't arrive until the 28th minute when frustrated defender Robert Doyle went forward to show his forwards how it should be done.
That opening period was also noteworthy for a splendid save by Wicklow goalkeeper Tommy Murphy who blocked a shot from Aidan O'Neill (he was to deny the same player again in the second-half) but, generally, it was a scrappy affair and the game only opened up after the break as Wicklow went in search of what they felt was their due reward.
Ironically, it needed a point from a 45 from Hoey to bring on Wicklow's wrath. Louth, somewhat against the run of play, went into a 0-5 to 0-4 lead with that Hoey point which had come a minute after Wicklow's Stephen Byrne saw his shot rebound off the crossbar and, then, McMahon's punch was saved on the line by Breen Phillips.
However, Wicklow saved their most decisive actions until the important closing stages. After Trevor Doyle rediscovered his free-taking knack to kick the equalising point, Wicklow moved up a gear for the final few minutes and two fisted points from McMahon, a quite superb point from Ronan Coffey under pressure from Gareth O'Neill, and a Mick Murtagh free combined to give Wicklow breathing space.
Wicklow: T Murphy; M Coffey, H Kenny, B Brady; R Doyle (0-1), B O'Donovan, B Whelan; D Coffey, F Daly; T Doyle (0-3, frees), S Byrne, M Murtagh (0-1, free); D McMahon (0-2), R Coffey (0-1), C Daye (0-1). Sub: T McGivern for McMahon (59 mins).
Louth: C O Nallaigh; B Philips, B Keenan, G O'Neill; S Melia, J Donaldson, J Clerkin; A O'Neill, K Reilly; A Hoey (0-3, one 45), S O'Hanlon, O McDonnell; S White, C O'Hanlon (0-1), A Doherty (0-1, free). Subs: V Gargan for Doherty (21 mins); A Rooney for Keenan (Half-time); S O'Neill for Reilly (55 mins).
Referee: B Gorman (Armagh).
