3,000 Turn Up in Aughrim for Mick O'Dwyer's First Match

For a good spell the game - televised live and attended by a battery of journalists normally dispatched to Aughrim only for the most momentous occasions - struggled to shoulder all of the preceding hype. Worse still, Carlow looked set to win, mainly through the sorcery of Derek Hayden, scorer of two fine goals.

But God is good and Micko has not gone through 70 years without making some useful connections. The growing tension cleared in a madcap finish as substitute Paul Phibbs brought some unexpected glory to himself and his junior club Lacken by poking home the winning goal in injury time.

The match managed to live with the attention, which was a noble feat; what would normally be a down-at-heel affair watched only by the hardiest followers attracted the attention of the country at large.

Through O'Dwyer's intervention, Wicklow have started to believe that they can make meaningful strides, having won just one league match in Division 2 last season, over Waterford, and infamously being one of only two counties to never win a provincial senior title.

After the match, which they claimed 1-12 to 2-6, O'Dwyer was asked about the importance of a winning start and noted that already he had emulated Wicklow's performance in 2006. He declared himself well pleased with their fighting spirit but he's been around long enough to realise that much more is expected. This morning they are back training and next weekend they play Wexford in the second round of the O'Byrne Cup.

"We had been told over the years that Wicklow were bad finishers and what have you," he said defiantly when the match was over. "We had two goals scored against us at vital stages and most teams would have caved in but we kept plugging away."

And they had to battle hard. Carlow arrived at a time of apparent crisis, new manager Andy Shorthall finding it difficult to attract good numbers to training. With O'Dwyer's first training session last October cancelled because 121 players turned up, the difference between both camps in terms of morale could hardly have been starker.

As Shorthall said ruefully about his squad: "There has been something of a clear-out."

Wicklow also had plenty to motivate them. In the championship last year, Carlow put goals past them for fun, winning 4-9 to 0-12, a result which persuaded Hugh Kenny to stand down as manager. They beat them again in the Tommy Murphy Cup. In the betting, Wicklow were warm favourites to alter the trend yesterday.

All the attention seemed to hamper them in the first half though. While routinely stretching half an hour before the game, the Wicklow players experienced the celebrity thrill of getting hosed (paparazzi jargon), as an uncommonly large pack of photographers shot their every move. The new Wicklow supporters' jersey was declared officially available by the PA announcer. Nobody seemed mildly interested in what Carlow brought to the table.

But once the preliminaries were dispensed with, and the pageantry stripped away, Wicklow found the visitors in an uncompromising mood. In no way were they flattered to head into the half-time interval on level terms, 0-4 a piece, despite a scare near the break when Paul Earls almost had a goal. O'Dwyer is said to be good in the dressing room when a team needs motivational assistance and within five minutes of the restart Wicklow had moved in front by three points.

Two of their scores came from wing back Leighton Glynn, who along with Stevie Cushe, stood out on the day.

As they moved the ball upfield, however, they seemed less comfortable on the ball and Hayden's two second half goals, his last effort clinically drilled home, put Carlow two points up with just four minutes left.

Up stepped Tommy Gill. First he knocked over a free, then picked off a fine score with his left boot, to match a similarly audacious score with his right in the opening half, to level the teams once more.

With a minute of injury time played Earls' high free dropped beyond a crowd of players to Phibbs who stroked the ball past James Clarke, apparently the only married man on the field. Just so you're aware.