Late points seal it for Wicklow

Wicklow 1-21 DIT 3-13

Black cards were issued to Wicklow’s Dean Healy and DIT’s Kevin O’Brien late in the second half.

Wicklow raced into an early 0-6 to 0-1 lead, but corner-forward Bernard Allen pumped over five DIT points before wing-back Colin Doyle found the net to bring the sides level at 1-5 to 0-8.

And after Wicklow had reasserted themselves to go back in front, Allen popped up again to hammer home goal number two for DIT, sending the sides in deadlocked at 0-13 to 2-7.

DIT looked to be on their way at the start of the second half but Wicklow fought their way back to parity thanks to a goal by substitute Brendan Kennedy.

Then, in a tight finish, Gaffney and Lambert nailed victory for Wicklow.

Scorers for Wicklow: P McWalter 0-4, K Murphy, D Healy, N Gaffney 0-3 each, C Murphy, T Smith 0-2 each, D Odlum, A Merriman, R Lambert, S Furlong 0-1 each.

Scorers for DIT: B Allen 1-8, C Doyle 1-0, C Reddin 1-1, D Reilly0-0-3, P Achenson 0-1.

WICKLOW: R Lambert; C Hyland, M O’Brien, M Staines; K Murphy, P McLoughlin, D Healy; R Finn, N Gaffney; A Merriman, C Murphy, D Odlum; P McWalter, S Furlong, P Cunningham.

DIT: C Daly; G O’Hare, B Menton, K O’Brien; M O’Hehir, N Devereux, S Cooney; T O’Connor, S O’Connor; C Redding, P Acheson, D O’Reilly; B Allen, C Grimes, N Scully.

Referee: Gary McCormack, Dublin.