WICKLOW’S LATE FIGHTBACK to secure a draw with Kildare in the Leinster minor semi-final on 8 July, and what followed immediately afterwards, served as a microcosm of their entire season.
The unfancied Garden County were one of two teams to qualify from a tricky Leinster MFC group also containing Meath, Dublin, Louth, Offaly and Westmeath. Their second place finish sent them to Newbridge in a provincial semi-final showdown with Kildare.
The sides couldn’t be separated in normal-time, but Lilywhites hit the net twice in the early stages extra-time through Aaron Kennedy. Kildare looked in control when they led by four points with 90 seconds remaining, but Wicklow, as they had done all year, showed enormous character to upset the applecart.
They levelled the tie at the death after John Ball’s goal and John Keogh’s last minute free to bring the hot favourites to an unlikely replay in Aughrim.
After the final whistle, Wicklow boss Kevin O’Brien encouraged the players to thank the fans who had packed into St Conleth’s Park to support the team.
“When they went to the crowd in Newbridge the place erupted and I think people were speechless at that,” O’Brien tells The42.
“Kildare blitzed us in the first 10 minutes of extra-time and we had a very good last 10 minutes. We got a lucky goal and momentum shifted here and there. It went to a replay and I think that was a very fair result.
“The lads were standing around on the pitch there was a good Wicklow support because a lot of west Wicklow would be right on the border of Kildare. They just went to the supporters and the place erupted.
“There was people down in the shopping centre that could hear the roaring. It was brilliant. They convinced us all what we’d been saying, that there is a crowd of supporters there willing to follow you. They turned up again in their thousands to Aughrim.
“That was a massive, massive thing for these young men going forward.”
For Wicklow great O’Brien, who won an All-Ireland club title with Baltinglass, represented Ireland in International Rules and remains the only All-Star winner from the county, that moment was a personal highlight from an enjoyable first campaign in charge of the U17 side.
Kildare ran out 2-12 to 1-13 winners in the replay in front of a packed Aughrim but Wicklow showed enough quality this season to leave supporters optimistic about the young crop emerging.
“The crowd that turned up to Aughrim the other night was great,” O’Brien continues. “It was a great spectacle for young lads.
“We didn’t get over the line, it’s a fine Kildare team we have to give them a lot of credit too. We battled and battled. We were missing three players in the replay.
“It’s just disappointing not to get to a Leinster final because we would have had a chance in the All-Ireland quarter-final as well. But to say we’re happy to lose semi-finals and to take second best – we’re not.”
Having worked with the county’s U15 side last year, O’Brien took charge of the minors and immediately set out to raise the standards. His motto for the year was ‘trying to make a difference’.
“We’re all sort of moaning or giving out about this and that. There’s only one way (to improve things) – to go in and see if you can help out in anyway possible.
“We knew the talent was there but to get full commitment and honest we had to challenge the guys. A lot of them were involved in other sports and in some cases they were out nearly six nights a week. Medically that wasn’t going to work. We’d asked the guys to commit just for one year because a lot of them it was their last year of minor and fair play to them they did.”
A top class set-up was put in place, but a big a part of O’Brien’s role was planting it in their players’ minds that they could compete with the big boys.
“It was something I had said to the lads that when you play for Wicklow it’s hard to convince people that things can happen here. The management team tried to convince the guys that things can happen if you put in a good honest effort.
“Things are pretty low in Wicklow at the moment. I wanted the guys not to worry about what’s going on in other dressing rooms because that’s outside of our control. The obsession we had was to try and make a difference in our dressing room and to do everything possible that they can to make this a better place and to move their standards and above all to make it really competitive.”
They lost to Offaly in the opening round of the championship and drew with Louth in round 2 despite conceding six goals. But Wicklow closed out the group with wins over Westmeath, Dublin and Meath to seal a shock progression and join the Royals in the provincial semi-finals.
Bill Hill / Twitter
Bill Hill / Twitter / Twitter
The victory over Dublin in Parnell Park drew national headlines and it arrived not long after the John Evans’s seniors went down by 23 points to Jim Gavin’s men in the Leinster SFC.
“The first thing we did in January was to pull the guys together as a group and tell them they’re representing their families and clubs, but above all I wanted the guys to know that when they come into our dressing room they’re representing Wicklow and that means something,” says O’Brien, who was involved as a selector during Mick O’Dwyer’s reign in charge of the seniors.
“I also told them the supporters were looking for a team to latch to and I think what happened in Aughrim, Newbridge and especially in Parnell Park, the supporters did get behind the team. I said to them last Saturday, ‘They’re out there, let’s put on a performance.’
“That was the most important thing - we wanted to perform. We were competitive right up to the end and that was the ultimate aim to get them super competitive and if the results came along it was great but every time we went out it was always about our performance and see if we could get to the pitch of our performance.
“To play for Wicklow is a hard sell because traditionally we’re not getting places. To see so many kids there in Aughrim the other night, there was no trophies handed out but it was great for those young people and the footballers themselves to be signing autographs and taking selfies and little things like that.
“It’s all confidence building going forward for these young men. They’ll be better for it. When they look in the mirror they can say they gave it their best shot. There is satisfaction in doing things right and giving it your best shot.”
A big part of the Wicklow success story was the duty of care shown towards the players and how their parents were made feel welcome in the camp. When the players were dropped to training sessions during the season, their parents were encouraged to head into the Wicklow GAA’s Centre of Excellence for tea and coffee.
“I’ve enjoyed my managing, I try to make it a happy dressing room,” he explains.
Wicklow’s initial 51-man panel was eventually whittled down to 32 players, but no youngster was fully discarded from the set-up. O’Brien made phone calls to each player’s parent and their club manager to inform them of why they were dropped from the squad and what improvements were needed to make them better footballers.
“It’s not that nice to say to a parent their son is not good enough. I wanted to do it myself so if there was any mistakes then I’d no-one to blame. I decided I’d ring the parents and discuss it: ‘Your son is on the standby panel, he’s going back to his club to get further games.’
“I’d also be in touch with the club manager to tell him where we feel the guy needs to improve on. And at any stage he could be brought back in because his club matches were being monitored.
“Some lads were brought back in and some weren’t. It’s not an easy thing to do but I just wanted to be honest with the parents and there was no point of guys being around if they could get club games.
“And then there were times when we were trying to test guys to see how much they wanted it. I have to say they were all extremely disappointed. We brought some guys back in for internal games and they were thrilled to come back in and some were kept around, while others went back to their clubs. We always wanted to deal with it with a degree of dignity and respect for the parents.
“We put a path for him to improve, whether he needs to improve on his left foot, left hand or the skills we thought he needed to improve. He was always in our mind and always on the standby panel if and when we required him. Fair play to them, they came back in when we needed them.”
He paid tribute to his selectors Garrett Doyle (the Wicklow GDA), and Eoin Phibbs who’ve been with this group since U13, S&C coach Adrian Ryan and kit man Jim Molloy.
After the strides the county made this season, O’Brien feels it’s vital the youngsters are looked after and kept within the Wicklow system.
“We need to move this on and it’s up to the people that’s over this, the supporters and the sponsors to keep these standards up now. Not just go through a lull. These players we’ve brought through are in a very important time in their life.
“I rang a few of them yesterday just to wish them the best of luck and thank them and to ask them to continue keeping their standards up and not drop off now you’re back to club football and things are at a lower pace: ‘You continue to keep your standards up and improve.’
“Semi-finals are for winning but if they keep giving everything their best shot be it exams, their football career or work career, they’ll do fine in life.
“Hopefully through sport they can be helped through college but to always try their best and give everything your best. It’s a difficult couple of years because a lot of these guys won’t be playing U20s for a year or so. It’s a bit of a gap for them but they have other things like their Leaving Cert which are very important.
“I was just listening to Banty (Seamus McEnaney) the manager of the Monaghan minors. He said there was a lot of money put in that team. Wicklow were able to beat Monaghan last year and Monaghan won an Ulster title this year in a very competitive championship, so you’re up there with the big boys.
“That’s where we should be setting our standards but it doesn’t come without hard work and honesty. No-one has the magic wand and people just need to work hard on the grass with these lads and look after them.
“We had a very good set-up and got full support from the county board and academy. This was only a group of people getting together and being honest and committed. That’s all it is. It was very enjoyable. It never felt like work.”
For the people of Wicklow, the hope is that this is only the beginning.
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