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2023 Allianz Football League Division 4 – Wicklow 2-8 Waterford 0-8

March 26, 2023 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Wicklow defeated Waterford by 2-8 to 0-8 in the Allianz Football League Division 4 on Sunday March 26th at Fraher Field Dungarvan.

Oisín McConville’s Wicklow promoted to Division 3 after nervy wait

AFL Division 4

Wicklow 2-8 Waterford 0-8

Report by Tomas McCarthy for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Wicklow had an anxious wait when the full-time whistle went in Dungarvan before they could celebrate promotion.

The roars from the travelling fans in the stand eventually told the players that Sligo had beaten Leitrim and that they were heading back to Division 3. Second-half goals from Dean Healy and Cillian McDonald gave the Garden County a hard earned win over Waterford.

Manager Oisín McConville paced the sideline throughout the second half. “It’s torture every weekend!” he said. “I wish some week that we would just do the thing simply.

“I don’t think they like to do it simple! Look, it’s not about me, it’s about those individuals who go out onto the pitch. All we can do is set them up as well as we can and condition them as well as we can. This thing is still in its infancy and a lot of these are very young players learning on the job.”

Healy’s blast to the bottom corner on 55 minutes was the turning point. “It was huge because it settled us. We just calmed down and we played great football after that. The two goals we created were top class. Everybody was on edge coming down here today. As much as you say, ‘put your phones away’ and ‘we don’t want to know about other results’, it’s just human nature. Human nature is that you want to look at other results.”

The sides were level four times in the first half. Déise captain Dermot Ryan kicked two from play off his left boot. Cian O’Sullivan slotted four dead balls and goalkeeper Mark Jackson nailed two long range frees as Wicklow went in 7-5 ahead at the break. Waterford netminder Paudie Hunt tipped away a shot from Andy Maher before the home side lost Michael Kiely to a black card in injury time.

Both teams missed chances in a nervy third quarter. On 55 minutes, Dean Healy exchanged passes with Darragh Fitzgerald and buried the ball to the bottom corner of the Waterford net (1-8 to 0-6). The Déise could only manage three second half points with the breeze via Murray, Brian Lynch and Curry. With four minutes remaining, the hosts lost the ball deep in their own defence and Eoin Darcy played the ball across the face of goal for Cillian McDonald to fist to the net.

Scorers for Waterford: J Curry 0-3 (3fs), C Murray, D Ryan 0-2 each, B Lynch 0-1.

Scorers for Wicklow: D Healy 1-1, C O’Sullivan 0-4 (3fs, 1 mark), C McDonald 1-0, M Jackson 0-2 (2fs), P O’Toole 0-1.

Waterford: P Hunt; C Ó Cuirrín, D O Cathasaigh, L Fennell; D Ryan, B Looby, J O’Sullivan; M Curry, B Lynch; C Murray, D Corcoran, J Curry; E McGrath Butler, S Whelan Barrett, M Kiely.
Subs: B Hynes for Whelan Barrett (52), D Fitzgerald for Kiely (65), D Reidy for Corcoran (71), J Keane for Lynch (74), D Boland for Ó Cuirrín (74).

Wicklow: M Jackson; M Stone, E Murtagh, J McCall; C McDonald, P O’Kane, A Maher; D Healy, JP Hurley; E Darcy, S Murphy, A Murphy; C O’Sullivan, P O’Toole, M Kenny.
Subs: D Fitzgerald for S Murphy (41), C Maguire for A Murphy (48), J Keogh for O’Sullivan (56), J Gilligan for Maher (67), A McHugh for Healy (71).

Referee: F Pierce (Offaly)

Team News

Details

Date:
March 26, 2023
Time:
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Venue

Fraher Field Dungarvan

GAA Units

Clare GAA
Cork GAA
Kerry GAA
Limerick GAA
Tipperary GAA
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