By William O’Toole
Wicklow kept their promotion hopes alive on Sunday when they eased past neighbours Carlow in Dr. Cullen Park.
A final scoreline of 1-25 to 1-11 told the story as Harry Murphy’s men completely outclassed their opposition from the start. Wicklow welcomed back Leighton Glynn to the fold, but it was the firepower of Conor McGraynor and Seanie Furlong that helped Wicklow bounce back following last week’s defeat to Leitrim.
The home side opened the scoring thanks to Paul Broderick but after that Wicklow dominated. McGraynor got the ball rolling when he pointed an easy free and that was quickly followed by a point from the returning Glynn.
Wicklow were much the sharper and looked a lot hungrier in the opening period and could have had a few goals but for the heroics of Andy O’Brien in the Carlow goal which sent the teams in at half time 0-12 to 0-5.
Carlow started the second half with the wind at their back and they hit back in the best possible fashion with a goal from marksman Broderick.
However, that was as good as it got for the home side. Points from McGraynor, Stafford, Earls and Furlong put Wicklow well on the way to victory.
Wicklow’s only goal of the game came courtesy of Furlong who was a thorn in the side of the home team all day. He received a high ball from Darren Hayden on the left, he sliced the ball in high and it dipped under a stunned O’ Brien in the Carlow goal.
Conor McGraynor added another two points to seal a good 14-point victory to Wicklow. The win gives Wicklow a slight chance of gaining promotion and they will be full of confidence when they welcome Waterford to fortress Aughrim on March 30th.
Wicklow scorers: Conor McGraynor 0-9, Seanie Furlong 1-4, Rory Finn 0-2, James Stafford 0-2, Paul Earls 0-2, Patrick McWalter 0-1, Leighton Glynn 0-1, Niall Gaffney 0-1, Darren Hayden 0-1, Dean Healy 0-1, Kevin Murphy 0-1.
