Wayne O'Gorman works wonders for Wicklow

NHL Division 2A

Wicklow carved out a memorable first victory over a fancied Laois outfit at Arklow on Sunday.

Laois came to this match as the hot favourites to collect their second brace of league points, but they came up against a home side that was on fire from the word go. Wicklow played with the same passion and commitment that saw off Meath in their opening league match and their led their opponents for much of the match.

And it was goal poacher and corner-forward Wayne O'Gorman who drove the vital nails in Laois's coffin, rattling the visitors net in each half for the killer scores.

Glenealy clubman O'Gorman, getting his first start with Wicklow this year, banged home his first goal after 23 minutes of the first half, following good work by Leighton Glynn and Seánie Furlong, and this set the home side up for 1-8 to 0-6 lead at half-time after playing into the wind.

Laois had their best spell after the restart when substitute Seamus Dwyer whipped over two points. Wing-back Conor Dunne and centre-back James Young (65) added two more to reduce the deficit to a single point (1-8 to 0-10).

However, Laois were not able to shake off the spirited Wicklow men who kept coming back at them. Laois ended up substituting four of their six forwards, an indication of the vice-like grip in which the Wicklow backs held their opponents.

Joe Murphy was majestic at centre half-back, Jeffrey Bermingham and Anthony Furlong completed an impregnable half back-line while the inside backs, Eoin O'Neill, MA O'Neill and Willie Collins were equally impressive.

Knocked off their stroke and out of their stride, Laois shot an alarming 17 wides in total, and twice they were thwarted for goals by Tom Finn with super saves at the expense of '65s which James Young converted to points.

Yet after 25 minutes of the second half, full-forward Tommy Fitzgerald, with a goal, put Laois in front (1-12 to 1-11) for the first time since the early minutes of the game.

Joe Murphy levelled the scores with a point from an 80-yard free and then in the 27th minute of the second half, O'Gorman finished to the net for his second goal after good work by Jonathan O'Neill with a great catch and delivery. O'Neill was another of Wicklow's many heroes, finishing the game with 0-7.

SCORERS - Wicklow: J O'Neill 0-7; W O'Gorman 2-0; D Hyland 0-2; L Glynn, S Furlong, J Murphy (f) 0-1 each. Laois: T Fitzgerald 1-1; J Young, N Costello 0-2, S Dwyer 0-2 each; S Dollard, C Dunne, D Carter, J Fitzpatrick, W Hyland 0-1 each.

WICKLOW - T Finn; E O'Neill, MA O'Neill, W Collins; J Bermingham, J Murphy, A Furlong; D Moran, L Glynn; J O'Neill, E Kearns, A Tiernan; D Hyland, S Furlong, W O'Gorman. Subs: T Doyle for E Kearns, G Doran for D Moran, R Keddy for A Tiernan.

LAOIS - P Mulanney; B Champion, B Ferns, M Whelan; C Dunne, J Young, J Walsh; J Fitzpatrick, Joe Phelan; W Hyland, S Dollard, J Brophy; Jason Phelan, T Fitzgerald, N Costello. Subs: P Russell for Jason Phelan, JJ McHugh for S Dollard, Seamus Dwyer for J Brophy, D Carter for N Costello.

REF - D Murphy (Wexford).