Sport

"We're delighted to have him here..." Armagh legend Oisin McConville making mark in Wicklow

Wicklow manager Oisin McConville with Sligo's Tony McEntee after the Division Four final
Wicklow manager Oisin McConville with Sligo's Tony McEntee after the Division Four final Wicklow manager Oisin McConville with Sligo's Tony McEntee after the Division Four final

ANYONE sitting on the fence in Wicklow quickly got off it once Oisin McConville was appointed as manager of the Garden County footballers.

County captain Padraig O’Toole said that the arrival of the Armagh and Crossmaglen legend quickly made the minds’ of uncertain players up for them and gave the panel the sense of purpose that propelled Wicklow to promotion from Division Four this year after just one defeat from their seven League fixtures.

“There was a huge uptake when we heard Oisin was coming,” said O’Toole.

“There was just a general feeling that everyone was ready to get stuck in and, for anyone who had been sitting on the fence or was having second thoughts about committing or giving it another year, as soon as Oisin was mentioned everybody was ready to get the head down and get to work.  

“We’re just delighted to have him and we want to keep trying to progress. We got promoted this year and next year we’ll be pushing to get up to Division Two.”

Before that Wicklow will be determined to give a good account of themselves in the Tailteann Cup. They are in Group Three alongside Longford, Limerick and Carlow and begin their campaign against Carlow in Aughrim on Saturday.

They’ve already played the Barrowsiders twice this season. Their League meeting ended in a draw but McConville’s men won the Leinster Championship preliminary round clash by eight points.

Kildare were their opponents at the quarter-final stage and the Lilywhites ran out 10-points winners and went on to push Dublin to the pins of their collar in a nail-biting semi-final which the Dubs won by two points.

Carlow will be determined to settle the score in the third meeting of the Leinster rivals on Saturday.

“We have to try and focus on ourselves as much as we can,” said O’Toole.

“There are aspects of our game that we want to improve on so we need to look at our game and try and impose it on them as well.”