Preview: Leinster SFC - Meath v Wicklow
25 May 2012
Key players Wicklow's Seanie Furlong and Meath's Graham Reilly
After a promising start to the Allianz League, Meath slumped to five successive defeats which culminated in relegation to Division 3 and a botched attempt to remove Seamus McEnaney as manager. All the while, Harry Murphy was masterminding Wicklow's promotion from Division 4 - something his predecessor Mick O'Dwyer had failed to achieve during his high-profile reign. The Garden County's impressive showing against Fermanagh in the Division 4 final suggests they are in fine fettle coming into this game.
Meath supporters have every reason to be worried after a disastrous league campaign. It has been one bad performance after another for Banty's men since Kildare broke their early-season momentum with a last-gasp win in Navan at the beginning of March. But this is a new campaign and Meath will be hoping that the return of star forward Joe Sheridan from Boston, coupled with the additions of John Evans and Trevor Giles to the management team, will lead to a significant upturn in fortunes.
While Wicklow will feel more at home in Dr Cullen Park and are brimming with confidence after their Allianz League success, Meath are always a dangerous proposition in the championship, and if their backs can hold Tony Hannon, Seanie Furlong and Leighton Glynn, they should go some way towards answer their critics with a long overdue win.
Verdict: Meath.
Meath - D Gallagher, M Burke, K Reilly, S McAnarney, D Tobin, B Menton, S Kenny, C Gillespie, B Meade, A Forde, M Collins, G Reilly, B Farrell, J Sheridan, C Ward.
Wicklow - John Flynn, Ciaran Hyland, Anthony McLoughlin, Alan Byrne, Dean Healy, Michael McLoughlin, Stephen Kelly, James Stafford, Rory Finn, Leighton Glynn, Daragh O'Sullivan, Darren Hayden, Tony Hannon, Seanie Furlong, John McGrath.
Odds: Meath 4/11, Draw 8/1, Wicklow 3/1
Match Details: Dr Cullen Park, Sunday 27 May, 3.30pm
http://www.hoganstand.com/Meath/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=169736
Murphy names his Wicklow team
25 May 2012
Wicklow manager Harry Murphy
Dean Healy is the only championship newcomer.
Stephen Kelly is named at wing back despite the fact that he will also line out with the county's hurlers in the Christy Ring Cup semi-final, which is also against Meath, on Saturday afternoon.
Wicklow (SFC v Meath ) - John Flynn, Ciaran Hyland, Anthony McLoughlin, Alan Byrne, Dean Healy, Michael McLoughlin, Stephen Kelly, James Stafford, Rory Finn, Leighton Glynn, Daragh O'Sullivan, Darren Hayden, Tony Hannon, Seanie Furlong, John McGrath.
http://www.hoganstand.com/Wicklow/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=169723
Coyle confident Royals can pull through
26 May 2012After a turbulent spring that saw them demoted to Division 3 of the Allianz League and a failed attempt to oust Seamus McEnaney as manager, many believe the Royals are in a vulnerable state and there has even been comparisons drawn with 1996 when Carlow were tipped to beat them following their 10-point drubbing by Dublin in the previous year's Leinster final.
But, as history shows, a new-look Meath side which included Coyle (who was by then a veteran) hammered the Barrowsiders in Croke Park before going on to lift the Sam Maguire in sensational fashion.
"The team from the 1980s had really broken up at that stage," former manager Coyle recalled in today's Irish Independent.
"Myself and Marty (O'Connell) stayed on because someone had to! But we had a lot of lads that were unproven. No one really gave us much hope and it was expected it would be a couple of years before we got back going again.
"There was a good atmosphere in our group. Sean (Boylan) changed the whole preparation for us that year and we did some sports psychology work, which wasn't that widespread at the time. Instead of banging tables before we went out, which a lot of teams were doing, Sean would have us lying down just getting our breathing right."
Coyle reckons Meath will do just enough to get past the Garden County challenge.
"Meath have brought in a couple of new coaches since then too in John Evans and Trevor Giles and with that amount of people over a team the message is bound to get diluted.
"And Wicklow have a smattering of really good players, so it wouldn't be a major surprise if they won. But I'd still expect Meath to come through."
http://www.hoganstand.com/Meath/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=169833
The Friday Interview: Leighton Glynn
25 May 2012
Wicklow's Leighton Glynn stays one step ahead of Ross Donovan (Sligo) during the All-Ireland SFC Qualifier game at Aughrim ©INPHO/Lorraine O'Sullivan
That victory is extremely significant in that it means the current crop of Garden County footballers can look forward to playing outside the basement grade for the first time in their careers. Wicklow's star is in the ascendant and their new manager Harry Murphy has made quite an impression already in 2012.
There are more pressing matters looming, however, for Leighton Glynn and his team-mates. On Sunday, they travel to Dr Cullen Park to cross swords with once-mighty Meath in the first round of the Leinster SFC. The stage is set for a fascinating contest. Whereas in the past Wicklow would normally go in against the Royal County as virtual no-hopers, this year is different…
Whilst the Garden men were making history during the Spring, Meath in contrast endured a league of discontent, crashing from Division Two into the third tier (while attaining Division Three status is seen as a major achievement for Wicklow, it is nigh on embarrassing for Sunday's opposition) before the knives came out for manager Seamus McEnaney. The Monaghan man survived the subsequent vote of no-confidence but the fact of the matter is this: Wicklow go into this weekend's game on a high; Meath on a low.
So how do the traditional underdogs approach this game? Is it important to look forward rather than back? Must they consign the league success to the past? "That's exactly it - we have to leave the league behind now," says attacking talisman Leighton Glynn. "That's done and dusted and, while it was great to get promotion, we have to concentrate on Meath in the championship now. It's going to be a big ask but we have been preparing for this match for a long time now, in fairness. We decided to move on as soon as we beat Fermanagh at Croke Park and we've been looking at this match ever since."
Time to come back down to earth, perhaps? Time to get out of celebration mode? Glynn says that isn't going to be an issue: "Getting out of Division Four was a big monkey off our backs but there was no major celebration anyway because we clinched promotion against Clare and then hadn't time to celebrate as we were playing the final in Croke Park the following weekend and you obviously want to go up and get the silverware. We played the league final on the Saturday and then we were back in training on the Monday night, looking to the championship. So we didn't really have time to dwell on it."
Glynn's fellow Rathnew clubman Harry Murphy has made an instant impression as Wicklow manager. Mick O'Dwyer may be a tough act to follow but Murphy has so far been taking it all in his stride… "Harry has done brilliantly. He's only been in the job six or seven months and he has really freshened things up and he has got us playing good football. The players have rowed in behind him 100%. He's put together a very good squad, with lads who are hungry for county football, and the players have responded."
Can the role of the manager be overstated sometimes, though? Granted, the manager has a role to play but at the end of the day it's the players who have to produce the goods. "Harry has done a fantastic job. I would have played under him all through at club level and I'm familiar with what he brings to the table. The sign of a good manager is getting the best out of the players at his disposal and he is brilliant at that. It can be overstated, at times, I suppose, but the job Harry has done has been great.
"He has great inside knowledge of everything that's going on in the county, having been involved with Rathnew for the last 20 years," the team captain continues. "He would know every footballer in Wicklow and all the players would have tremendous respect for him. They'd know all about his record of winning senior championships. Harry took over the Wicklow team and he just gelled it all together straight away."
Is this the best football Wicklow have played since Leighton joined the county set-up? "It's hard to say. We have to remember that what we've done so far this year has only been in the league and it's the championship that really matters. This year has definitely been the best we've played in the league but we realise we have to transform that into the championship because that's what we'll be judged on at the end of the year.
"We would be looking to kick on again. But we face a huge task against Meath, who are a proven championship side."
One thing that hasn't gone unnoticed in the national media is that Meath V Wicklow is now an all-Division Three clash. Has the playing field levelled our somewhat? "Well, if you look at it we are after playing in Division Four and they were in Division Two this year. So, even though they were relegated, they were playing at a much higher level and they will have benefited from six or seven tough games against very good opposition. We won't have played against the same quality. No disrespect to the teams we played but Division Four is well below Division Two."
Have the Garden County got a genuine chance of springing an upset, though? "I definitely think we have. We have that extra bit of confidence coming from the league and we have been playing good football, so we're not going to be overawed. I think it will be a good contest.
"But we know it's going to be a big ask against Meath. It's only two years since they won the Leinster championship and, even though the final was controversial, everyone forgets how well they played up until that. I have always said that Meath are an excellent championship team and, after the league they have endured and the criticism they've received, they will be very keen to shut a few people up. I'd expect a backlash from them, but we'll be ready for that. So it should be a cracking game of football."
Last Sunday, Longford were in a similar situation to the one Wicklow find themselves in this weekend. Having secured silverware during the league, they went into the Leinster SFC against Laois - who operated two divisions above them and were relegated - but maintained their momentum to clinch a famous win. Does that precedent offer Leighton and his team-mates some added encouragement?
"Longford are making great progress and the challenge is to bring that league form forward into the championship, which is played at a higher intensity. They showed that it can be done and they fought back well. Hopefully we can produce something similar."
Wicklow also benefited from playing a competitive game in Croke Park while Meath were sitting around feeling sorry for themselves at the end of a miserable league campaign… "It was nice for us to be the ones to get the extra game for a change," Glynn admits. "We're usually the once kicking our heels. That extra game kept us ticking over and the confidence that comes with the win is also important. For once, we're going into the championship with a bit of momentum."
Looking beyond the summer to next season's league, can Wicklow set their sights on back-to-back promotions and perhaps playing Division Two football? "Roscommon and Longford have done it and Antrim and Sligo also went straight from Division Four to Division Two, so we'll be looking at that.
"It's very hard to get out of Division Four. I think getting out is possibly the hardest part, although we have no experience of anything else so I'm not speaking from experience. Put it this way: to get into Division Three you have to finish in the top two but to stay there you only have to get into the top six. So we definitely fancy our chances of at least staying in Division Three."
http://www.hoganstand.com/Wicklow/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=169750
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