Rathnew Survive Late Rally to take Six-in-a-Row

A piece of sporting history was almost left behind by Rathnew when they stood up to a late rally by An Tochar to take their sixth Wicklow senior football championship title in a row by 1-8 to 1-5 in Aughrim on Sunday.

In this drab game, Rathnew were on top from the start and even the loss of centre-back Dan Flynn through injury, a tackling incident that saw An Tochar's Shay Nolan get a red card, did not slow them down.

Rathnew played a cute game by letting the Roundwood side do the running. Trevor Doyle and Tommy Gill were in top form and picked off some marvellous points that contributed to making real champions, leaving the winners ahead by 0-6 to 0-1 at half-time.

The winners continued to stay on top for the first fifteen minutes of the second half but Roundwood were starting to show a revival. The introduction of Kerry star Mike Hassett and a new found form by John Paul Davis produced signs of a revival and it came with just minutes remaining.

Trailing only by 0-8 to 0-5, An Tochar went on the attack and when Donal McGillicuddy found the net with only two minutes remaining, a draw at least seemed on the cards. However, `Man of the Match', Trevor Doyle moved from a defensive position to punch the ball to the net in the 59th minute to give Rathnew a three point lead and by that stage the game was effectively over.

There were huge celebrations in the village last Sunday night and these continued throughout the week before the champions start training again for the club championship.

Scorers for Rathnew were - Trevor Doyle (1-1), Ronan Coffey (0-3), Tommy Gill (0-3), Richard Dignam (0-1). An Tochar - Donal McGillicuddy (1-0), Conan Daye (0-3), JP Davis and Ken Power (0-1 each).

Rathnew: T. Murphy, L. Glynn, M. Coffey, D. Power, E. Franey, D. Flynn, B. Mernagh, D. Coffey, D. Byrne, R. Dignam, T. Doyle (capt), A. Mernagh, T. Gill, R. Coffey, S. Byrne. Subs. M. Doyle for Flynn.

An Tochar: L. Cullen, C. Davis, B. Brady, T. Fee, E. Byrne, P. McGillicuddy, S. Nolan, D. Wolohan, M. Davis, JP Davis, D. McGillicuddy, K. Power, C. Daye (capt), A. Byrne, E. Davis. Subs. M. Hassett for A Byrne and G. McGillicuddy for E. Davis.

Referee - E. O'Brien (Aughrim).