The Wicklow team will this Sunday attempt to do something they haven't managed since 1989 – win back-to-back Leinster championship games in the same season.
In that run 35 years ago, the Garden County defeated Carlow in the preliminary round before nine points from Pat Baker saw off Kildare. In the semi-final, their hopes of a first final appearance in 102 years were ended by Dublin who had half a dozen points to spare, mainly thanks to Barney Rock.
It’s Kildare again in the quarter-final this weekend, and fresh off last Sunday’s surprise win over Westmeath, the Garden County granted RTÉ Sport a peek behind the curtain with access to their training session on the Tuesday night ahead of the game in Portlaoise.
3.30pm
The initial meeting point, Castletown just outside Dundalk town centre.
The highly affable Des Jennings, Wicklow’s performance coach, parks up after driving south from Belfast. His relationship with manager Oisín McConville goes back decades at this stage with the pair having worked so closely together in Armagh’s 2002 All-Ireland success.
Twenty-two years later they are in tandem again, heading onto the motorway towards Dublin with an extra passenger in tow for driver McConville and front-seat passenger Jennings as RTÉ Sport got to go along for the ride.
Last Sunday’s surprise win over Westmeath had led to an upbeat - but far from jovial - mood as McConville drives towards his adopted county.
Football talk is prominent. A challenge game against Kildare pre-league and the mistakes from that are spelled out before the Westmeath game is dissected now that everyone has had time to watch the video back.
Referee Paddy Neilan, the pair feel, did OK and they agree that he could have easily played an extra 30 seconds as Westmeath chased a leveller.
The impact of McConville’s suspension for verbal abuse of a referee during their Division 3 campaign comes up for debate too. "The fact is, we played our worst stuff when you weren’t on the sideline," Jennings opines of a campaign that ended in relegation back to the bottom tier of the Allianz Football League but has since taken a significant upward turn.
4.30pm
The first pit stop is to the City North Hotel to pick up Mark Doran, who has been brought on board this season.
The Longstone man was part of the Down squad that reached the 2010 All-Ireland final and he has since emerged as one of the most respected coaches in Ulster.
He was fondly thought of by the Clare players having worked with them under Colm Collins last year. By his reckoning, nearly 25 of the Banner players texted him to congratulate Wicklow on their win over Westmeath.
Doran is also Slaughtneil manager up in Derry, so between that and Clare last year, he has been clocking up the miles. Throw in some early starts as a gym owner in Kilkeel and it’s a hectic schedule, but he’s the sort of lad who just lives for football and his enthusiasm and drive is a piece of the puzzle McConville felt they were sorely missing in Year One.
Doran barely has the door closed when McConville says "wait till you hear this" and plays him an interview from logistics man Eugene Dooley, a real character in Wicklow GAA circles, with East Coast FM after Sunday’s win. "He was told no media," McConville jokes.
6.22pm
After a quick Subway stop at the Cullenmore Applegreen, the coaching team pulls up at the Ballinakill Centre of Excellence, an impressive six-pitch facility and home of this evening’s session.
Some players have already arrived, Dooley is there too and is greeted by his interview being played at full blast by McConville with the windows down. Head physio John Coyle is over like a shot to the car, whisking the manager away for an update on some players and their likelihood of being available for Sunday’s clash with Kildare.
6.30pm
As the management team squirrel away to finalise tonight’s session structure, the players start to arrive in the upstairs gym for a bit of stretching.
It had previously been two separate rooms but McConville wanted the dividing wall removed to create one big space and it’s well equipped and bedecked with the inspirational quotes you’d expect to find in any club or county gym across the country
First in the door is Dean Healy, the veteran of the team. Healy made his debut back in March 2011 in a Division 4 game against Kilkenny when Tony Hannon scored a hat-trick. Fast-forward 13 years and he is absolutely integral to McConville’s plans and was one of the GAA’s Player of the Week nominees for his performance against Westmeath alongside Cavan’s Paddy Lynch and Waterford’s Tom O’Connell.
As the gym fills, the decibel level rises with that unmistakable sound of a team on a high after a big win.
7pm
The official group session – players and management – begins and the squad is divided into five groups of seven or eight players and asked to assess the Westmeath performance and come up with two things that went well and two things that they could improve on.
That’s quickly led by a statistical breakdown of the game and an impressive video analysis package by Gary Duffy.
This, for the management team, is one of the most important parts of the evening and Duffy’s input has proved particularly invaluable this year as they try and get their players thinking more to sharpen their in-game decision-making.
What the management team like, and players appreciate, is that the clips are concise and to the point. No information overload, just a few nuggets for the panel to carry into next assignment regarding shape, positioning and passing. The message is clear too – why go backwards when there is a pass forwards on offer?
The players are quiet though, Doran and McConville trying to prod them into a bit of a discussion. Even Healy, usually vocal at this point, doesn’t say much. When asked was it due to a media presence in the room (Malachy Clerkin of the Irish Times is also there), McConville says absolutely not – it’s much more to do with the fact that this is a young panel made up mostly by players in their early 20s.
There is a bit of life when a clip is shown of midfielder Craig Maguire making a hash of a simple catch leading to Westmeath’s goal, turning down the easy possession in a failed attempt to punch clear from danger. The Blessington man takes the slagging in good grace; you can laugh at these things when you win.
7.12pm
Mark Jackson comes into the room, sits down and shakes hands with Maguire.
The goalkeeper’s tardiness had been expected. Still chasing an NFL contract, Jackson had been at a kicking session in Dublin but headed straight to Wicklow afterwards.
On his recent return from America, McConville and Jackson had a good chat about what he could bring to the group as he sits between two sporting stools. Shane Doyle was in nets at the weekend, Cathal Fitzgerald wore 16 – but Jackson brings a real enthusiasm to training on Tuesday even if he knows he’s third in line currently. Something that pleases the coaching team.
7.28pm
The stats analysis comes to an end and McConville addresses the group, signing off with "when the game was in the melting pot, who won the last ball? We f**king did" in reference to last week’s 2-09 to 1-11 success.
7.30pm
Chris Coburn is another new addition to the coaching ticket this year, replacing the outgoing Eimear Kelly as strength and conditioning coach.
Given he worked with the likes of Kilkenny under Brian Cody as well as at a high level in soccer and rugby, he ticks a lot of boxes.
With the dance beats blaring, the players are put through a quick session with box jumps and ball slams mixed in with vertical leaps the order of the day.
A short, sharp session to get the players activated for their outdoor work.
8.10pm
Onto the astro turf half-sized pitch, Coburn again takes a brief session focused on quick, sharp movements over hurdles mostly.
McConville practices a few penalties while they do this. Before the Westmeath game, they had split into teams to practice spot kicks and the results were not good – only five out of 10 penalties were scored, but the fact that only one was saved says enough.
McConville, one of three Armagh players to miss penalties in All-Ireland finals alongside Bill McCorry in ’53 and Paddy Moriarty in ’77, will expect better when they practice them again on Friday.
8.20pm
The main field is spongy after recent downpours, but the players find a firm area of it as Doran takes centre stage.
The tempo is raised considerably as the Down man runs through a few drills, including a high octane, energy-sapping finisher.
One player really stands out, and that’s 20-year-old Adam Arslan. His name had popped up in the car on the way down, the management team impressed by his dedication and improvement in recent times.
The first ball he gets in the small-sided drill, he races clear and plants a beautiful shot into the top corner. As the full-time whistle nears and players are starting to flail, Arslan continues to motor up and down the pitch looking full of energy.
"This is my first year playing senior football, the physical aspect is mad," he tells RTÉ Sport.
"I’d agree that pace would be my strongest asset, it’s improved from the strength and conditioning. All that work allows you the confidence and provides you with the attributes to go the extra yard."
Arslan’s first taste of inter-county football didn’t come until Under-20 level when he was called in by Alan Costello, and the current senior set up has only opened his eyes further.
"It’s chalk and cheese to what I had been used to at club, you get the best trainers in, the best results.
"It sounds like I’m sucking up but I only have good things to say. Mark is the most intense coach I’ve ever had. He doesn’t let you take the easy way out. He’ll call you out on it, doesn’t matter who you are or what you are. I love it."
The Avoca man featured pre-season but was on the fringes since. In recent weeks he has bolted though and having made the matchday 26 last week, his aim is obvious.
"Breaking into that team," he said of his ambition.
"I think back a lot to when I started to play U20s. I had come in and a few boys were playing senior and there was so much competition, I was almost losing hope.
"My second year I was in college, I rang Alan and told him I didn’t want to be half committed, half in, half out. I didn’t want to drag the team down.
"He spoke to me though and I stayed there and started against Dublin in the first game of the championship. Getting called up to seniors now, I’m here now because I kept working and pushing and I’m going to keep doing that."
8.50pm
After a split session in a number of areas in the facility, the players and management make one last stop at the canteen for post-training food and recovery shakes.
An integral part of the session, the players get to sit around together for half an hour and have a bit of craic. Some get up and play table tennis.
Westmeath is on the minds tonight still, but by last night’s session it would be all about Kildare.
9.15pm
McConville’s car pulls out the gate and the near two-hour journey back to Dundalk begins.
Arsenal fan Jennings nervously tracks their Champions League clash with Bayern Munich before the GAA chat begins again.
Favourite player to play with? Best player to play with? Names like Marsden, Blaney and McGrane are thrown into the mix. No M50 traffic and no Dublin pit stop required, it’s quiet roads the whole way home.
11.10pm
The group journey comes to an end in Dundalk. McConville has 15 minutes left to get to Crossmaglen with Jennings and Doran facing another hour to Belfast and Kilkeel respectively.
Some eight hours after the journey began, a good night’s work is signed off.
Watch Dublin v Meath in the Leinster Football Championship quarter-finals on Sunday from 4pm, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to updates on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch the Very Camogie League finals, Derry v Westmeath and Galway v Tipperary, on Sunday from 12.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
Follow the RTÉ Sport WhatsApp channel for the best news, interviews, analysis and features, as well as details of our sports coverage across all RTÉ platforms.
