Wicklow manager Oisin McConville hailed his players’ “outstanding” second-half performance against Down in today’s Tailteann Cup final at Croke Park.

A nightmare first-half saw the Garden County trailing by 2-10 to 0-4 before Shane Annett’s point put 13 between the sides early in the restart. The next 15 minutes or so would see the trailers outscoring their Ulster opponents by 0-10 to 0-1 though and a goal by captain Dean Healy was followed up by late points from Eoin Darcy and Kevin Quinn to seal the remarkable 1-21 to 2-16 win.

Speaking to BBC Sport NI after his team’s thrilling comeback victory, which promotes them to the Sam Maguire Cup for 2027, McConville credited his group for the “heart and desire” they demonstrated to get over the line.

"We just didn't turn up, too nervous and the occasion definitely got to us in the first-half," said the Armagh man.

"I suppose, we didn't want to be 13 points down, but we knew we would probably be chasing the game and when we were chasing the game, we had the elements and all the momentum and more importantly, players that could finish.

"I know people will say we had a big comeback, scraped over the line and had great heart but we had enough chances to win two games there. The heart and desire of the boys is unbelievable but they have some ability too."

He added: "When you're in that situation all that shouting and roaring isn't going to do much, we had to fix things and we did, we got on top of their kickouts, put them under pressure and there's no one like us when we put teams under pressure.

"It's unbelievable, a day we never thought we would see and definitely not 35 minutes ago, just outstanding second-half; ability, desire, heart, you name, it we had it."

Tweet

Most Read Stories