It wasn’t to be for the Garden County in Aughrim, as Dublin escaped with a two-point win in the Leinster Football Quarter-Final, ending 2-14 to 2-16.
Two goals from Eoin Darcy and five points from captain Dean Healy weren’t enough to push Wicklow over the line in what was their greatest ever opportunity to get one over Dublin.
The seasoned veterans of Dublin helped the capital avoid embarrassment, with Paddy Small tallying 1-6 and fellow forward Seán Búgler kicking 0-5 from play.
With Ger Brennan’s touchline ban upheld, selector Dean Rock took charge of the 63-time winners against a vengeful Wicklow side, who lost out on promotion from Division 4.
Dublin were hoping for an easier start to the Championship after an abysmal league campaign, ending with a narrow loss to Galway and relegation to Division 2.
On the other hand, Wicklow’s double-digit win against Carlow boosted McConville’s side after losing to Longford in the final minutes of the league, and getting painfully close to a Croke Park finale.
Numbers one to seven remained unchanged for Wicklow after their preliminary round, with Jack Hardy pushed into the half-forwards to allow Jack Kirwan to start in midfield, and Mark Kenny went into full-forward to replace Kevin Quinn, after scoring 2-16 in the league.
Evan Comerford came in for Dublin to replace Hugh O’Sullivan, adding to Dublin’s All-Ireland winners on the pitch, including Con O’Callaghan, Paddy Small, Niall Scully, and Seán Búgler.
It felt like the ball hadn’t even been thrown in before the white flag was first raised for Dublin, as Búgler took the ball from the throw-in and popped one over the black spot.
Playing into the wind in the first half, Wicklow were patient in their build-up, leading to a penalty won by Pádraig O’Toole when Championship debutant Páidi White bundled him over in front of O’Sullivan’s goal.
Darcy confidently stepped up and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner, and with that, Wicklow were in command of the Quarter-Final.
Scores were traded back and forth between the teams until the dying moments of the first half, when Paddy Small and Killian McGuinness scored back-to-back two-pointers, and Charlie McMorrow buried the ball into Mark Jackson’s net, sending Dublin into a 4-point lead at the break.
Jackson’s kicking has been Wicklow’s reliable weapon in 2026, scoring twelve two-pointers in the league; however, the shot-stopper couldn’t find his form against Dublin missing six from six free kicks.
Healy drove his team on in the second half, opening the scoring with a two-pointer before forcing an excellent save from Comerford to keep the Dub’s ahead.
Not long after this, Oisín McGraynor sent a high ball into Eoin Darcy around the goal, who leapt higher than Eoin Murchan to first the ball into the net for his second goal of the game.
A yellow card for Seán McMahon shifted the momentum in Wicklow’s direction, but scores from Colm Basquel and Niall Scully kept the away side in the match.
After winning the ball on the halfway line, Dublin put four slick handpasses together before landing in Paddy Small’s hands, who side-footed the ball into the back of the Wicklow net.
Oisín McGraynor did his best to bring the sides back level, scoring a two-pointer and a close-range free kick in ten minutes.
The game looked dead and buried, but a red card for Dubliner Liam Smith for a high tackle on Jonathan Carlin gave Wicklow one last hope of sending the game to extra time.
Dublin kept possession well in the ultimate minutes, and the hooter sounded for full-time in Aughrim, ending in a two-point win for the 63-time Leinster Champions.
Wicklow will feel like they left it behind after coming agonisingly close to toppling the giants, after missing important chances to take the lead at crucial points of the game.
Positively, Wicklow will have a minimum of four weeks before the Tailteann Cup begins, and they can hold their heads up high to say they pressured Dublin right to the end.
