Wicklow relieved to edge past luckless students

Wicklow secured victory over Carlow thanks to two gifted own goals in this O’Byrne Cup game at Blessington yesterday.

Carlow scored the opening point by corner-forward Tom Sheil but Wicklow led 0-3 to 0-2 after 12 minutes. The students regained the initiative in the 29th minute when Barry McHugh converted a penalty for the first of his two goals.

However Wicklow led (1-8 to 1-6) at the break after Carlow’s full-back Conor Lawlor punched the ball into his own net as he attempted to deflect a shot by Daniel Woods. It took another fortuitous goal on 60 minutes to seal the win, this time a Ross O’Brien shot looped to the net, again off the hands of Lawlor.

Scorers for Wicklow: J McGrath 0-6 (5f), T Kelly 0-2, D Healy 0-2, D Woods 0-1, P McLoughlin 0-1, D Odlum 0-1, C Lawlor 2-0 (own goals).

Scorers for Carlow IT: B McHugh 2-4, T Sheil 0-3 (2f), W Young 0-1, B Murphy 0-1.

WICKLOW: R Lambert, A Byrne, P Cunningham, M Staines, D Healy, R O’Brien, C Murphy, A McLoughlin, P. McLoughlin, C Foley, S Kelly, D Woods, D Odlum, J. McGrath, T Kelly. Subs: C McCrea for C Foley, J Snell for M Staines.

CARLOW IT: S Murphy, T O’Connell, C Lawlor, D Smith, C Ward, A Forde, E Lynch, B Murphy, T Nolan, K Ryan, W Young, T Dever, T Sheil, R O’Brien, B McHugh. Subs: C Healy for R O’Brien, I. Ilunga for T Dever, G Harmon for D Smith, J Hendy for K Ryan.

Referee: David Moore, Laois.