Wicklow SFC final: Baltinglass 1-20 vs Carnew 0-15
Baltinglass secured their first Miley Cup since 2020 after a rip-roaring contest with Carnew Emmets at Augrim.
A ten-minute delay to the intended throw-in of 2 o'clock due to traffic and the shoulder-to-shoulder appearance in the stand suggested this was one of the biggest final attendances in recent years.
Baltinglass started the contest the better of the two sides and enjoyed early dominance in the middle third. This meant that after Adam McHugh landed the first point of the game three successive scores followed, with Tommy Keogh setting up his brother Johnny for his first before assisting John McGrath seconds later as well.
A Mark Jackson converted free would also follow before Jack Doyle kicked Carnew into life with a fabulous two-pointer, quickly followed by a first for his team mate Richard Green.
Up the other end, Tommy Keogh once again found a pocket of space and landed a sweet snap shot before Jackson cut through the breeze which favoured Carnew, while converting a 45.
Carnew would find themselves out of luck minutes later when advantage played by Darragh Byrne had just run out before Eoin Kavanagh could collect a long ball and fire to the net.
Wexford footballer Ben Brosnan landed a consolation prize with a two-point free. Jack Doyle then kicked another Carnew point before Baltinglass plunged for a goal.
Karl Furlong raced forward from corner back and got in and around the Carnew cover and flicked a pass across the square to McGrath, who used all his experience to finish to the left corner.
To close the half, shooting from Jackson allowed Baltinglass to ease ahead for a lead of 1-13 to 0-09 at the break, despite an audacious Brosnan two-pointer for Carnew.
Christopher Heslip and Adam McHugh pushed their side further in front to restart the second half.
Both sides then cancelled each other out until an off-the-ball incident between Brosnan and Christopher Heaslip resulted in a black card for the former and a red for the latter.
Conall McCrea landed a point immediately after, but four Baltinglass points on the spin, two from frees as Carnew were penalised for failing to have three in their own half, wrestled the game away.
To their credit, Carnew managed to eat into the Baltinglass lead with a Sean Murphy 45 and two-pointer before Brosnan came back on to kick a final free.
Wides proved costly for Carnew Emmetts in the closing stages as they kicked into a difficult breeze, which left Baltinglass convincing winners on the day.
Carnew will now look for a quick turnaround to the Wicklow Senior Hurling final next week against Bray Emmetts, while Baltinglass will represent Wicklow in Leinster.
Baltinglass: M Jackson (0-06, 2f, 1 45); C Doody, A Danne, K Furlong; J Flemming, S Doody, Pat Burke; P Whelan, J Kirwan (0-01); T Burke (0-01), J Keogh, C Heslip (0-01); J McGrath (1-02), T Keogh (0-06,3f), A McHugh (0-02).
Subs J Kennedy for A McHugh (39), S Heaslip for J McGrath (51), P Kirwan for S Doody (54), J Stead for T Keogh (58), J Bookle for K furlong (58).
Carnew: C Doyle; M Rock, J Howes, C Redmond; K Cullen, T Collins, D Redmond; J Doyle, P Doran (0-01); R Greene (0-01), B Brosnan (0-05,1f, 1 tpf), J Doyle (0-03, tp); E Kavanagh, C McCrea (0-02), S Murphy (0-03, 1tpf, 1 45);
Subs: P McGing for C. Redmond temp 28 (reversed at half time) Owen Young for D Redmond (37), F Darcy for E Kavanagh (44), P McGing for K Cullen (51), C Behan for R Greene (59), J Doyle for C McCrea (59).
Referee: Darragh Byrne
