By Séamus Leonard
A dismal second half performance saw Wicklow slump to a seven-point defeat to Kildare in this Leinster SFC preliminary round clash at O’Moore Park in Portlaoise.
Kildare led by just one point at the interval, but they dominated thereafter with Wicklow’s only second-half score coming courtesy of an injury-time free from Leighton Glynn.
There were many rumours about Kildare’s selection before the game, and many of them were confirmed when manager Kieran McGeeney released his team sheet.
John Doyle moved from corner-forward to midfield in place of the injured Daryl Flynn, while Tomás O’Connor came in to fill Doyle’s boots in attack.
There was one other change with Alan Smith coming in for James Kavanagh in the other corner-forward slot.
Kildare flew out of the blocks and had three good chances as Wicklow began nervously. Veteran John Doyle looked fresh as he notched Kildare’s opening two points.
Wicklow got on the board courtesy of a Furlong point, but Kildare struck back and almost landed a goal when Wicklow goalkeeper Mervyn Travers failed to deal with a high ball in from Emmet Bolton.
O’Connor almost made the Garden County pay for the mistake but full-back Alan Byrne got back to clear off the line. The Lilywhites were not to be denied, however, as wing-back Gary White stroked over the resulting ’45.
Furlong popped over a point three minutes later to cut the deficit to the minimum – 0-03 to 0-02.
Furlong’s point brought into focus the contrasting styles of play. Kildare were sticking with their traditional running game, while Mick O’Dwyer’s Wicklow were employing a more direct approach.
Furlong was crucial to the tactic as the Kiltegan clubman was more often than not the primary target.
Wicklow were growing in stature and they levelled matters when former Mayo forward O’Malley put the finishing touch to a flowing move that involved Furlong and dual-star Glynn.
McGeeney was clearly unimpressed by what he was witnessing and made two changes around the half-hour mark, with James Kavanagh and Eamonn Callaghan replacing Eoin O’Flaherty and Brian Flanagan respectively.
The move saw Morgan O’Flaherty move back to centre-back where he was soon successfully acting as a sweeper in front of Furlong.
It allowed Kildare to gain control again and a fine angled point from Smith and an over from midfielder Hugh Lynch saw them hit the front again. Wicklow were clinging on, however, and an injury-time point from O’Malley left the Garden men trailing by just a point – o-o5 to 0-04.
The Lilywhites stated the second period brightly and O’Connor extended their lead two minutes in as he punched over a point after his initial effort bounced back off the crossbar.
Doyle was putting in another superlative performance, and he made a couple of impeccably-timed interventions in defence to go along with his natural attacking skills.
Referee Martin Duffy came a-cropper in the 56th minute as an apparent pulled muscle brought his day to an end. He was replaced by linesman Syl Doyle.
Doyle had only one big decision to make and he got the call right as in the 63rd minute O’Malley inexplicably threw his elbow back into the face of Andriú MacLochlainn.
The Kildare defender received a yellow card for his part in the incident, but there was no defence for O’Malley’s actions.
Glynn’s dead-ball conversion saved Wicklow from the indignity of a scoreless second half, but there was precious little else positive they could take from the game.
Kildare created a host of chances and so a return of 0-12 will be of some concern. They will need to be far more convincing when they face Meath in the Leinster quarter-final at Croke Park on 5 June.
Kildare: S Connolly; A MacLochlainn, M Foley, H McGrillen; G White (0-01, ‘45), B Flanagan, E Bolton (0-01); J Doyle (0-04, 3f), H Lynch (0-01); M O'Flaherty, E O'Flaherty, P O'Neill; T O’Connor (0-01), R Sweeney, A Smith (0-03).
Subs: J Kavanagh for E O’Flaherty, E Callaghan for B Flanagan, P Fogarty (0-01) for R Sweeney, F Dowling for T O’Connor.
Wicklow: M Travers; C Hyland, A Byrne, S Kelly; M McLoughlin , B McGrath, D Hayden; J Stafford, R Finn; T Hannon, P Dalton, P Earls; A O’Malley (0-02), S Furlong (0-0, 1f), L Glynn (0-01, f).
Subs: C McGraynor for T Hannon, M Mernagh for P Dalton, JP Dalton for R Finn.
Referee: Martin Duffy (Sligo).
