WICKLOW 1-20 LONDON 0-9
AFTER two heavy losses to Division Four heavyweights Antrim and Wicklow, London manager Noel Dunning will welcome the chance to pick up points against National League whipping boys Kilkenny on Easter Sunday.
Last weekend in Aughrim Mick O’Dwyer’s men strolled to a 14-point win which keeps their chances of promotion alive and shows that the gap between top and bottom in this division is vast.
The large winning margin on Sunday has enabled Wicklow to leapfrog Sligo in score difference but they are still two points behind the Westerners and at this stage their clash on April 18 is a mustwin game for the Garden County.
A first-half onslaught against the wind sealed London’s fate in this, their fifth league defeat of the year but this was never going to be a winnable game for the Exiles, especially considering Wicklow’s dire need for points to keep the dream of promotion alive.
In truth the scoreline flattered the home side and was harsh on the men in green.
Nine of Wicklow’s winning points were totted up in the first-half but the hosts lost their way on the change over, struggling for most of the latter 35 minutes to hold on to their halftime lead.
Slack marking by Wicklow all over the field allowed London to control much of the second-half exchanges and it took a late goal by top scorer and full-forward Seanie Furlong to put a little extra savings in their points account.
Although London’s full-forward Fergus McMahon opened for the Exiles with a point inside 30 seconds, it was Wicklow who were calling most of the shots as they raced into a 0-7 to 0-1 lead in the first quarter.
Wicklow’s Don Jackman and Tony Hannon were controlling midfield in the early stages and Compromise Rules star Leighton Glynn won a lot of possession though didn’t always make the best use of it as London harassed and chased everything.
London did not have their second point until the 19th minute but Wicklow responded to that immediately with a string of points from Ciaran Walsh and Tony Hannon and a fine brace of rapid fire points from Glynn himself. After 28 minutes Wicklow had stretched their lead to 0-11 to 0-2.
Twice in the closing seven minutes of the half Dean Odlum and Seanie Furlong increased Wicklow’s lead to 10 points, but they were unable to nail it down. Still they could look back on a productive and fruitful first-half against the wind as they retired 0-13 to 0-4 ahead.
A stiff half-time team talk seemed to work for London as the second 35 minutes was far more competitive.
Backed by the wind, Wicklow were expected to push on to give themselves an unassailable score difference; instead they struggled to even hold the line on the nine-point advantage they had.
London seemed to have free players all over the field and they took the battle to a Wicklow team whose second-half display seemed to leave a lot to be desired.
Players who were showing strongly for Wicklow in the opening half became largely invisible in the second. Players seemed to run out of steam and the Exiles were allowed to control the tie.
Now London’s big number eight Paul Geraghty was dominating at midfield and Kieran McBreen was causing huge problems for the Wicklow defence when he came on.
Armagh man Padraig Duffy opened the second-half scoring for London with a point in the first minute and by the end of the third quarter, despite playing against the wind, they had prevented Wicklow from increasing their lead.
The score then stood at 0-16 to 0-7 in favour of the home side.
Wicklow felt it necessary to call on last year’s regular midfielder James Stafford even though he was just back from Australia and had attended only one training session.
It was not until full-forward Seanie Furlong drilled home his late, late goal that Wicklow succeeded in increasing their margin of victory to 14 points.