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Lor12, I agree, I believe that the current group of players and the new management will do their utmost best to stay in Division 3. The reason that all the papers have Wicklow down for relegation is based upon our recent league and championship result which are very poor on paper. If we are being honest, last year's league was condensed due to the pandemic and we only managed to win one of our four games in Division 3. Of course the team put in a magnificent performance to beat the reigning Ulster champions Cavan in a playoff to remain in Division 3. That won't be enough this year. As I pointed out on another post, we have four home and three away games. I can't see us getting too many points away from against Westmeath, Longford and Antrim. Which means that we will need to win three from four at home to be almost guaranteed to stay in Division 3. This is two games more to win than we managed in the entirety of 2021 which is a big ask. I hope that they can do it as it imperative that we stay in Division 3 with young players coming through.
wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 1913 - 19/01/2022 09:12:16 2395525 Link 0 |
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I have never seen the Wicklow GAA thread as quiet as it is currently. Where have all the posters gone. I know its been dwindling over the last number of months but now it seems to be complete deserted. Are people completely disillusioned about the county teams? Hurling in the county seems to be at an all time low without any obvious solutions being put forward. Football is at a cross roads. Underage teams had some decent performances in recent years especially the minor team that beat Dublin and drew with a strong Kildare side a few years ago. That under20s team ultimately disappointed in last year's Leinster championship but the seniors stayed in Division 3. Unfortunately underage performances and results at minor level have returned to the bad old days and the club teams didn't fare well in the recent provincial championship. The up coming Division 3 campaign is crucial for the players and management but also for football in the county in general. Staying out of Division 4 is imperative as returning to that Division would be a regressive step all round. It will be struggle to stay in the Division but hopefully it can be achieved. I think Westmeath will be promoted back to Division 2 so having them first up and away is a difficult assignment to begin with. wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 1913 - 24/01/2022 13:26:14 2396209 Link 0 |
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I don't think it's a reflection of how people are viewing Wicklow GAA, the hoganstand site is just dead after getting rid of the county forums.
Victorious87 (Wicklow) - Posts: 597 - 24/01/2022 14:21:59 2396223 Link 0 |
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Agree entirely. The format is not user friendly to say the least. Very interesting to see how Wicklow get on. They played well in recent challenge games. Agree its a tough division and I fancy Westmeath, Laois or Louth to get promoted.
roseyinthegarden (Wicklow) - Posts: 109 - 24/01/2022 15:22:20 2396242 Link 0 |
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Agree. I think the removal of the individual county forums has had a dramatic effect on how many people use it. The Kildare forum which use to be used quite extensively barely has any threads on it these days. Anyway, hope Wicklow can be competitive in the NFL, defy what some people are predicting and stay up plus that we see some new faces on the team who will surprise me by how well they perform.
wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 1913 - 24/01/2022 16:38:42 2396265 Link 0 |
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Hate to be too positive but I think there are three games that we can win which will give us a good chance at staying up. I think Feemanagh at home, Antrim away and Louth at home are all winnable. Westmeath will win the group and probably Laois will be promoted followed by Limerick and Longford. Bit of a dog fight between ourselves, Louth and Anrtim for relegation. stringfellohawk (Wicklow) - Posts: 124 - 24/01/2022 19:16:41 2396285 Link 1 |
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In my opinion, we need six points to stay up. We have four home games against Fermanagh, Limerick, Laois and Louth. Out of these four, we need to beat Fermanagh, Limerick and Louth. If we fail to win one of those games then I agree, the game away to Antrim is our next most winnable game. I think Westmeath and Laois who were relegated from Division 2 are favourites for promotion. I would settle for this table at the end of the league campaign - heart over head. I think Louth might be dark horses and stronger than I predict so I do think that this will be a tricky home game for us to win. Westmeath Laois Longford Limerick Fermanagh Wicklow Louth Antrim wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 1913 - 25/01/2022 13:06:05 2396361 Link 0 |
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Any word on a team for Sunday? Who do people think should be starting? stringfellohawk (Wicklow) - Posts: 124 - 25/01/2022 19:20:41 2396467 Link 0 |
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No word that I can find. But, if you are interested in the other teams in Div 3, this weeks Wicklow People strangely has team sheets from various matches they were involved in recently. So, you may not know your own county players but you can familiarise yourselves with the opposition. I too am looking at this upcoming campaign more with apprehension than confidence. Seanie Furlong has retired as well which is a hammer blow. I have said all along that we would do very well to survive and nothing has changed that. It would be undoubtedly a disaster but we are where we are. Hopefully I will be proved totally wrong and there will be nobody happier if I am.
Freethinker (Wicklow) - Posts: 1003 - 27/01/2022 13:59:15 2396715 Link 0 |
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On this note and Seanie's retirement - what an absolute servant to the county and one of the best footballers that has ever donned the wicklow jersey in my opinion, probably only behind Kevin and Leighton. He has been a joy to watch playing for wicklow the last 13 years and hopefully for many more to come after the display he gave against Baltinglass in last years championship. One thing I must say that I am extremely disappointed about is the lack of acknowledgement or thanks from Wicklow GAA across their social media channels - not alone to Seanie - but in recent years Chester, Darren Hayden, Rory Finn and others - all completed 10+ years of service and in the modern era of social media and how easy a gesture is I fined it borderline insulting that our county servants aren't getting a mention. Especially when we look at other counties, Kildare, Wexford goes on and on, always put out a small piece thanking the individual for the time and effort that they have put in for their respective counties. Its not much, but is a nice touch...but alas it seems we cant even get that right in our county. footballlover (Wicklow) - Posts: 98 - 27/01/2022 14:49:02 2396733 Link 1 |
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The county board socials are worse than useless in every respect though. Stick up a photo for a fixture and job done. FrankieJoe (Wicklow) - Posts: 71 - 28/01/2022 19:57:34 2396905 Link 0 |
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I hadn't heard the Seanie Furlong had retired. Seanie was under rated, he was a reliable finisher who had a great ability to score goals. An excellent footballer and great servant. If memory serves me correctly he got two goals in last year's playoff against Cavan: without that we would be starting in Division 4 tomorrow. I agree wholeheartedly about players retirements not being acknowledged by the county board. It is a disgrace and sends out the wrong signal at a time when players can choose other sports. The county is losing the battle badly for the minds of players and supporters alike. A bit of respect and courtsey doesn't cost of money and it is a simple acknowledgment of outstanding service given by these players.
wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 1913 - 29/01/2022 11:49:51 2396944 Link 0 |
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Does anyone know what happened to the lads doing the Garden County Sport page. They were absolutely brilliant and managed to have somebody covering games every weekend. I'm sure it was a massive commitment for the three or four of them that were involved but I thought it was great for keeping people updated and interested in GAA in the county. Bill Hill obviously does a lot of work too. I thought it would have been great if the county board had maybe gotten those lads on board and even offered to pay expenses to them for the work they were doing. Victorious87 (Wicklow) - Posts: 597 - 30/01/2022 13:12:48 2397157 Link 0 |
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The same commentators ended up doing the official streamed club games during the lockdowns but I don't know what happened to the rest of them or if they're still involved. I used to really enjoy the GCS podcast.
FrankieJoe (Wicklow) - Posts: 71 - 30/01/2022 14:04:59 2397167 Link 0 |
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Disappointing result today after such a brillant start to the game. Playing the second half with fourteen players made the job very difficult. Hopefully the players will learn the lesson that you are not going to win at this level with one man less. If the team can producecthese type of performance in the rest of the matches in this campaign, learn to close out games then they can stay in division three. wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 1913 - 30/01/2022 15:55:19 2397188 Link 1 |
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While losing the game from the position we got ourselves into in the first half there are plenty of positives to take from today's game Quinn and Darcy are serious talents. I think everyone knows Westmeath are a divison 2 standard so if we play like we did in the first half I think we have a decent chance of staying up stringfellohawk (Wicklow) - Posts: 124 - 30/01/2022 16:43:14 2397211 Link 0 |
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I agree with you that westmeath are division 2 standard and the lads proved that they could compete with them when they had 15 players on the field. If they can keep their full compliment of players on the field for the whole game and put in performances like the first half yesterday then this team can stay in division 3. Fermanagh at home at the weekend we need 2 points.
wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 1913 - 31/01/2022 10:14:10 2397379 Link 0 |
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Westmeath man here. Yes a very good performance yesterday - 14 men against the awful elements in the second half was too big a demand.
jfd (Westmeath) - Posts: 240 - 31/01/2022 12:12:18 2397430 Link 0 |
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Disappointing result after getting such a good start. Playing most of the game with 14 players after the black card and double yellow finally caught up with us as players began to tire. However the performance was encouraging considering that this is a relatively young team lacking in experience playing against a seasoned outfit used to playing in division 2 and unlucky to be relegated last year. Optimisticobserver (Wicklow) - Posts: 125 - 01/02/2022 14:50:34 2397733 Link 0 |
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Important games for the footballers on Saturday against Fermanagh. Two points is vital towards staying in Division 3. After the first series of games, wicklow will probably be slight favourites which worries me as we don't carry the tag well - doesn't happen very often. The team performed well on Sunday before fading which was probably down to playing half the match with 14 players. It isessential to finish with a full complement on Saturday and to play close to what they did against westmeath for the full 70 minutes. Good luck to all. wicklowsupport (Wicklow) - Posts: 1913 - 03/02/2022 17:08:31 2398187 Link 0 |