LEINSTER SFC FIRST ROUND Wicklow 3-13 Carlow 0-12:THEY MAY not have set the furze bushes alight around the Wicklow mountains after this, but they'll have celebrated nonetheless.
Whatever the so-called Mick O’Dwyer factor is in Gaelic football, there’s no evidence of it wearing off, and on this performance Wicklow actually look capable of stepping up another gear from their impressive championship drive of last summer.
In the end, it was a convincing passage into the Leinster quarter-final against Westmeath in three weeks, even if they inflicted most of the damage on Carlow within the last 15 minutes.
The main talking point afterwards, however, was the 16 yellow cards and three red cards dished out by Galway referee Gearóid Ó Conamha, which must have seemed incomprehensible to those in the 5,225-attendance given there was hardly a dirty strike in the entire game – although there may have been some dirty words.
O’Dwyer, in fact, described it as “an exceptionally clean game of football”, with nothing but good tackling, and reckoned the 16 yellow cards was crazy stuff.
“In my time, there wouldn’t even be half a card given let alone a full one,” he added. Wicklow played the entire second half with 14 men after losing forward Nicky Mernagh on a second yellow card, while Carlow finished up without both their midfielders, losing Thomas Walsh on a second yellow card, and Brendan Murphy on a straight red – the latter apparently for dissent to the referee.
Carlow manager Luke Dempsey agreed there was something very wrong with the number of cards shown, but didn’t use that as the reason why his team lost.
Dempsey was actually quite critical of his own team, particularly their finishing, and wasn’t holding back either on Wicklow, describing their tactics as “incessant fouling” with “very little punishment for it”.
Truth is, Wicklow gradually proved a far superior team, with a forward line that more decisive in its decision making, and clinical in its finishing. Captain Leighton Glynn put in a man-of-the-match performance and garnered 1-4, and also set up a first-half goal for Paul Earls.
Tony Hannon had an excellent game and contributed six points, while JP Dalton – who was replaced at the start by Don Jackman – came in quite early on and finished up with the third Wicklow goal just before the end.
Carlow were slow to start, hit 13 wides in total, and although there were only three points down at half-time, they never once looked truly capable of winning.
Walsh’s return to his native county after three years with Wicklow didn’t have the desired effect and having missed the entire league he certainly lacked match fitness; Murphy did deliver a big performance on his first championship start since a period in the AFL, scoring three points, although lack of discipline was his undoing, as he was red-carded for dissent 10 minutes from the end.
By then, Carlow were already well beaten, not helped by their own limitations. Simon Rea did miss one great goal chance early in the second half when they were still only three points down, and Murphy had his powerful shot at goal blocked midway through that half. But still it would have taken a fair collapse from Wicklow to have altered the result, particularly as Carlow’s wide count continued to mount.
Instead, Wicklow piled on the pressure and the style as the game wore on. Earls’ goal on 33 minutes gave them the first decisive advantage and, defensively, they were well able to handle Carlow as well.
Patrick McWalter was having a fantastic game at wing back before badly injuring his knee in a collision on 53 minutes. The early diagnosis is a dislocated kneecap that will probably rule him out of the rest of the championship, and that’s a loss Wicklow can probably ill-afford.
The most rewarding thing for O’Dwyer would have been the way Wicklow finished. Glynn produced come scintillating play throughout, with two snappy points in quick succession early in the second half, before finishing his goal with superb skill some 10 minutes from time, having been set up by Seán Furlong.
James Stafford also took a hold at midfield, and eventually there was nothing Carlow could do to halt Wicklow’s progress.
WICKLOW: 1 M Travers; 2 S Kelly, 3 D o hAnnaigh, 4 A Byrne; 5 P McWalter (0-1), 6 B McGrath, 7 D Hayden; 8 J Stafford, 20 D Jackman; 10 L Glynn (1-4), 11 T Hannon (0-6, three frees), 12 N Mernagh; 13 D Odlum, 14 S Furlong (0-2, one free); 15 P Earls (1-0). Subs: 9 JP Dalton (1-0)for Jackman (22 mins), 17 S Canavan for McWalter (53 mins, inj), 19 P Dalton for Odlum (58 mins). Yellow cards: S Kelly (12 mins) N Mernagh (18 mins, 38 mins), J Stafford (26 mins), M Travers (36 mins), P McWalter (53 mins), B McGrath (60 mins), T Hannon (66 mins), L Glynn (70 mins). Red cards: N Mernagh (38 mins)
CARLOW: 1 J Clarke; 2 P Murphy, 3 L Murphy; 4 B Kavanagh; 5 A Curran (0-3), 6 J Hayden, 7 P McElligot; 8 B Murphy (0-3), 9 T Walsh; 10 S Gannon, 11 D Foley, 12 M Carpenter; 13 S Rea (0-3, all frees), 14 J Murphy, 15 Kavanagh (0-1, a free). Subs: 18 S Redmond for L Murphy (30 mins), 20 JJ Smith for Foley (33 mins), 21 D St Ledger (0-1)for Murphy (45 mins), 19 P Cashin (0-1)for Hayden (60 mins). Yellow cards: M Carpenter (10 mins), P Murphy (12 mins), J Hayden (23 mins), T Walsh (28 mins, 69 mins), A Curran (50 mins), B Murphy (57 mins). Red cards: B Murphy 62 mins, T Walsh 69 mins
Referee: Gearóid Ó Conamha(Galway)
