This article is from page 100 of the 2010-02-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 100 JPG
this week, it seems as though Wicklow could be in for some winter time blues as they build towards the main business of championship.
“Our supporters will have great expectations for the league, but it’s tried and trusted that Micko is more a championship man than a league man. He seems to turn into a differ- ent man altogether once the champi- onship comes,” said O’Brien.
‘“We’ve blooded a few players in the O’Byrne Cup and will be blooding a few more on Sunday and will be hav- ing areal go to collect a few points, but at the moment we’re aiming at the championship. Having said that it would be nice to get a run in the league.
“We’ll take it as it comes. You nev- er send out any team to lose, that’s for certain. Micko always says that the championship is the main goal, but if we were to make progress in the league and get a settled team wed be happy — at the end of the
day the league is the league because come a winter’s day you can’t match the championship to the league, even though we’ll be going down and trying to get those two points,” he added.
Former All-Star and All-Ireland Club winner with Baltinglass in 1990, O’Brien is in his fourth year as a selector under Mick O’Dwyer, yet still marvels at his boss’ enthusiasm for football that has raised the coun- ty’s football stock to its highest ever
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‘““Micko wants to improve Wicklow right across the board, whether that’s the seniors, under 21s or minors. Even after we gathered on Sunday, Micko was heading off to talk to the Wicklow Vocational Schools team that beat Dublin in the Leinster sem1- final to reach the final.
“He puts the work in with all teams at all ages in the county and with Micko it doesn’t feel like work go- ing out training and he’s full of en-
thusiasm. It’s his fourth year but with Micko every year 1s a new year — where he gets the enthusiasm from, I don’t know, but he’s infectious, loves the game and loves being part of it and it rubs off on everyone.”
And, even allowing for O’Dwyer’s indifference to league _ football, O’Brien is hopeful of making the long journey home to Baltinglass with two league points.
“Both teams are relatively close — conditions in the game two years ago
in Cusack Park were extreme and it was lucky that the game went ahead. Clare were that bit stronger than us on the day.
“With the way the weather has been we wouldn’t be as prepared for the first match as we would have been last year, but the lads we have have been on the panel for the last few years so we hope things work out on the day. We know it will be tough. Clare have new management and they will be hoping to get off to a winning start.”