Tullow back in relegation places after late penalty earns Wicklow a draw
Tullow players show their frustration at the final whistle after their draw with Wicklow in the Leinster League Division 1A match in Tullow Photo: © Michael O'Rourke Photography 2026
A late penalty denied Tullow a huge victory in the battle to avoid reletagation from the Leinster League Division 1A as they drew with rivals for the drop Wicklow, a result that dropped the Slaneysiders back into the relegation play-off spot after Athy beat Seapoint at home on Saturday afternoon.
With five minutes to go, Tullow were in the ascendancy, leading by three points, but the penalty in the last minute saw Wicklow pull back a draw and left Maurice Logue’s side rueing their error. They now travel to third placed Suttonians next week before hosting last place Wexford and travelling to league leaders Boyne on the final day. However, Athy and Wicklow have to play each other in Wicklow next week whilst Athy still have to host bottom side Wexford. However, both Tullow and Wicklow have a game in hand on the Kildare side with just four points separating the three sides.
Speaking afterwards, manager Maurice Logue admitted they needed to win the game but chose to remain positive.
“Obviously we wanted to win and we were in a position where we probably could have. And then we just made a few silly errors and it cost us a penalty. And like I said to the lads, in the last two games we've eight points, so that's the equivalent of having two wins,” Logue admitted to The Nationalist.
“We were disappointed we didn't win, but we take that as two wins, and it keeps us in the fight. We really needed to win because obviously we needed to deprive them of those two points that they got for the draw.,” he added.
Tullow won’t be giving up though and will travel to Suttonians next week trying to get a result “Wicklow are above us, and they stay three points ahead of us now. Athy had a big win today, so I think we drop back into the bottom two now again. So, look, it's one of those topsy-turvy seasons, and we have to go to the Suttonians and try and get something up there and stay fighting.”
