Proud Micko vows to battle on despite painful defeat

AFTER all their heroics, Wicklow were finally consigned to the Tommy Murphy Cup yesterday but can take solace in Mick O’Dwyer’s commitment that he would be there to see them through it.

Doubts may persist over his protege’s intentions in Clare but O’Dwyer aims to build on the encouraging foundations he has put in place this year.

Vowed the Kerry man: “I will be staying with Wicklow for another year. I gave a commitment for two years and I don’t run away from anything. Louth beat us up in Drogheda when I was with Kildare a few years ago and we came back. That’s part of the game. We have a lot of work to do.”

The final scoreline did little justice to his side’s efforts over the past three weeks. With less than 20 minutes to go, there was still only a single score between the sides.

Prior to JP Rooney’s goal after 51 minutes, the largest lead either team had enjoyed this past three weeks was four points. The final chapter might deflate Wicklow but everything that preceded it should give them hope.

“We just didn’t play well,” said O’Dwyer.

“We died completely in the second half. They were just the better team. The conditions didn’t suit us either. We didn’t play well on days like that in the league either. We’re not a great winter team.”

He added: “Wicklow people can be very proud of this team. They have given them three great games and they must go on. It’s a learning process. There is a lot of work to be done. It’s a pity we won’t have qualifiers. The Tommy Murphy Cup will be a help because it will take time. You can’t just press buttons. Things don’t happen overnight.”

For Louth, yesterday’s performance was a case of better late than never. Aside from Wicklow’s purple patch between the seventh and 12th minute, Eamon McEneaney’s men held the whip hand and the win was just recompense for their efforts.

They will know too that victory alters the landscape. Their struggles this past few weeks may have raised some uncomfortable questions but they have at least had three games to work flaws out of their system.

Wexford, on the other hand, will have sat idle for 10 weeks by the time the two meet on June 17th. Louth’s travails with Wicklow will stand to them when they turn their attention to Paul Bealin’s troops.

We’ve got the hangover from the National League out of our system now. A lot of people asked a lot of questions about the quality in the team and we’ve shown that we still have the quality. It was just a matter of time before it came out. Hopefully we can produce more of that the next day.”

Some creases still need ironing out. They kicked 15 wides yesterday and, though some came with the contest long wound down, that is hardly a statistic that will suffice if they are to make their long-awaited breakthrough in Leinster.

“In the second half we played good football and moved the ball like we had been promising from certain parts of the league. I knew the boys had a performance like that in them but we hadn’t produced it the last couple of Sundays. There was a lot of doubters and we answered some today.”