GAELIC GAMES:FIRST RULE of the championship: don't look beyond your next match. It's just sometimes that rule can be easily broken – particularly when beyond your next match lies a date with Dublin in Croke Park.
What makes it trickier is that Wicklow and Westmeath believe they have an equal chance of beating the other in Tullamore on Sunday. Westmeath are puzzled by a loss of form that saw them relegated from Division One without a win, and although Wicklow didn’t fare a lot better in Division Four, their win over Longford three weeks ago has possibly given them the psychological edge.
For Wicklow forward and captain Leighton Glynn the most important thing is establishing another solid team performance on Sunday – but he admits the prospect of playing Dublin in Croke Park is impossible to ignore. “It certainly hasn’t been talked about as a group,” says Glynn, “but of course you do think about it now and again yourself.”
Last month’s win over Longford was typical of Wicklow, particularly since Mick O’Dwyer took over three years ago. The Kerryman always primes his teams for the championship, and there is a sense Wicklow have nothing to fear in taking on Westmeath.
“It was hugely important that we won that Longford game,” explains Glynn. “Not just to get through to the next round. It was about playing well as a team again. And we did play well, went seven points up, before letting Longford back into it. They levelled up, but then I think we showed a good bit of character the way we got the scores again, at the right time.
“It was just a massive relief to have come through. A one- or two-point victory in those games you’ll always take. Especially when it’s putting you through to a quarter-final. So we’d be quietly confident about Sunday. If we can play as well as we did for that 20-minute spell in the second half against Longford I think we’ll put it up to any team.”
O’Dwyer has named the same starting 15 that eventually got past Longford 2-12 to 1-13, which means Brian McGrath is again kept in reserve, despite his big contribution the last day when introduced for Damien Power. “Damien coming off, after getting a yellow card, was more precautionary,” explains Glynn. “Brian McGrath played well at centre back when he came on, but I think everyone did their job against Longford.”
Glynn is well settled at centre forward, despite first making his name at centre back. He’s a versatile but naturally attacking player, as confirmed by his performances with the Irish team in the International Rules series against Australia last October: “I probably do prefer playing in the forwards, rather than the backs. Like anyone else really, I play where I’m put. The captaincy thing is not really any different though. You still do your own thing. We all know what we have to do. Micko has us well drilled on that front.”
He makes no secret of the fact O’Dwyer’s enthusiasm for football shows no signs of abating, even if there is the suggestion this will be his last year with Wicklow: “He lives five hours away, and he’s the first person at training in Aughrim, every time. And the last person to leave. I don’t think he’ll ever get bored with football, and that still rubs off on everyone here.”
WICKLOW (SF v Westmeath): M Travers; C Hyland, D Power, A Byrne; P McWalter, D Ó hAnnaidh, P Dalton; J Stafford, T Walsh; T Hannon, L Glynn, R Nolan; D Odlum, S Furlong, P Earls.
