'I thought it was directed at me'

April 13, 2026

Wicklow manager Oisin McConville. ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne.

Wicklow boss Oisín McConville admitted that comments made by his Carlow counterpart Joe Murphy about outside managers made his side’s Leinster SFC Round 1 victory all the more satisfying.

The Armagh man told reporters after the 2-15 to 1-7 victory at Netwatch Cullen Park that he was ‘taken aback’ by Murphy’s assertion after Carlow’s recent Allianz Football League Division 4 triumph that it meant more because it was achieved with a home-grown management team.

“Maybe I took it personally,” he commented.

“Maybe I thought it was directed at me. Maybe I’m paranoid at this stage and coming off the [League] defeat the last day to Longford, I suppose you pick on everything [for motivation]. But no, I wouldn’t be happy with that [opinion]. We all have to go and find our opportunities in other places.”

Wicklow can now look forward to hosting Dublin in the provincial quarter-final in Aughrim next Sunday for the second year in-a-row.

“I think they’ll be coming down angry this time actually because obviously they’ve been relegated [in the League], written off, people are saying they are not the team they were,” McConville added.


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