Emmet O’Sullivan happy with where Wicklow U20s are ahead of All-Ireland ‘B’ semi-final against Down

The Garden return to Darver to face the Mourne men this Sunday in a rematch of last year’s round one encounter, which Wicklow lost.

They rectified that early elimination by hammering Tyrone on March 30, and will now be out for redemption when they return to Louth to face Down.

Reflecting on the win over the Red Hands, O’Sullivan said: “The lads just brought their game, in fairness to them. We asked a few things of them for the first half and they delivered.

“To be fair, just before half-time, we were four points up and Tyrone had a really good goal chance, and our lads thwarted it out and we got down the other end and got a point.”

O’Sullivan gave his charges the week off after their victory over the Red Hands, allowing them to return to their clubs.

They commenced preparations two weeks ago, while a number of the players also represented Jonathan O’Neill’s senior side – an element of the process that has an upside and downside.

He added: “I suppose it has a plus and minus for us because we have six or seven lads involved with the seniors and the seniors have been out the last couple of weeks which kind of restricts us a little bit.

“On the plus side, it gives us the chance to get work done under our belts and we are working closely with the senior management. They've been good to us.”

Standing in their way on Sunday will be Down, who come into the game off the back of a 7-19 to 0-7 hammering of Armagh on the same day that O’Sullivan’s men beat Tyrone.

Of the side that faced Down last year, Billy Molloy, Ruairi O’Brien, Michael Óg O’Neill, James Byrne, Rian Waters, Cormac Byrne, Sean Kenny, Dan Redmond, and James Ffrench featured against Tyrone.

And it is because of the player turnover that it is difficult to gauge where the team stands compared to 2023 – while he is nonetheless happy with the progress made.

“We have nine lads in from minor on our panel of 24, so they have brought a lot of fresh blood to the set-up. Down were All-Ireland champions when we played them last year. They had nine from the year before which would have given them a big chance to go on and win it.

“Down near enough always set the standard in this competition at under-20. They have always been very strong. They would always be well prepared, but we are very happy with where we are.

“We are under no illusions what's in front of us on Sunday, but I have to say I would be happy with where our lads are.”