Wicklow boss McConville praises defender on man marking job on Keith Beirne

Oisin McConville praised his Wicklow team for standing up to the challenge posed by Leitrim last Sunday and pushing on for a vital Allianz NFL Division 4 victory that keeps their promotion hopes alive.

Speaking to Darren Mulvey after Sunday’s 0-15 to 1-9 victory over Leitrim, the former Armagh great highlighted Wicklow’s resilience under pressure: “It just felt as if our boys really stood up in the second half. I thought at halftime that we were unlucky maybe to be going in one point down, Leitrim maybe edged it in the first half. 

“We challenged them a few weeks ago that our second half performances weren’t good enough. Last week was a little bit better and today was a little bit better again. That’s what we’d be focusing on what we’re doing in the second half.”

Disappointed Moran refuses to make excuses after damaging Leitrim defeat in Wicklow

Much of Wicklow’s improvement came down to attitude: “A lot of things went wrong for us, considering we had a black card, Leitrim got a goal against the run of play and we’re playing against a fairly stiff breeze and still we were able to dig it out. I thought the longer the game went on, the stronger we looked.

“But to be honest, even when the goal went in, there was no major panic and the reason why there was no major panic, I felt that we had enough possession to win the game and it looked as if we were on top in most areas. 

“We were holding Keith Beirne quite well  and the quality he has and how he has been, I suppose that was the big thing for us that we kept pushing and pressing regardless of what happened.”

McConville hailed the job Malachy Stone did in restricting Keith Beirne, noting the Mohill man’s ability: “I think that says a lot about Keith Beirne that we kept him to 1-4, on another occasion you wouldn’t be happy with that but I thought Malachy picked up him and did really, really well. 

“Malachy is tenacious and did his job to the letter of the law. He got caught over the top for the goal but I couldn’t have blamed him because he did so well up to then. When you’re marking Keith Beirne or David Clifford or somebody, you have to be accepting that they're going to get the odd ball and they’re going to make something special happen.

“We talked about that during the week that he might get in for a goal or he might get a couple of scores in a row but we’ve got to keep pressing on and doing what we want to do but I thought Malachy was really good.”

Leitrim's promotion hopes suffer heavy blow as Wicklow hit five late points to claim victory

WICKLOW 0-15 LEITRIM 1-9

The Wicklow boss also highlighted the performances of Eoin Darcy and Dean Healy in driving the home side to victory: “The two boys have been in form all year - Eoin would probably say he didn’t start the year as well as he wanted to start it but since then, he’s been exceptional. 

“Dean Healy is like fine wine, he just keeps getting better. The more you see of him, the more you appreciate him, that strength and the way he keeps driving you forward. He is just able to carry it through the tackles and there are not many players able to do that any more.”

Despite the victory, McConville felt that Wicklow are only approaching the way he wants his side to play: “We still look back on the Carlow game as a game we should have won, we were really poor in the second half against Sligo, we played well for 40 minutes believe it or not and we still use the way we played against Sligo for those 40 minutes and we think that is where we want to be but we can’t drop off for half an hour. 

“That was a big part of it and we’re just going to keep trying to ramp it up, to improve physically and mentally. I think last week was a big win for us, no point in saying otherwise because our backs were to the wall, the same thing here today. To be honest, we’ve been poor in the games we’ve played here. 

Check out the Leitrim fans cheering on the Green & Gold in Aughrim - GALLERY

It was a mixed day for Leitrim fans in Echelon Aughrim Park on Sunday as the Ladies team booked their place in the Lidl LGFA NFL Division 4 Semi-Finals while the Men's team saw their Allianz NFL Division 4 promotion hopes suffer a massive blow in a 0-15 to 1-9 loss. Observer photographer Willie Donnellan was a busy man with his camera at both games, snapping shots of fans enjoying a rare Leitrim double header ..... see who you can spot!

“We played London here and we were poor and we just wanted to put on a performance at home because when you’re at home, you have to make the most of those opportunities. They’re important, you look at the Leagues and the home teams have such an advantage and I think today “