By Michael McMullan

OISÍN McConville never raised his voice at half-time in last weekend’s Tailteann Cup final triumph against Down.

The minutes in the Wicklow dressing room were too precious to waste by roaring and shouting in search of a reaction.

Besides, they’d been here before. The Garden County had been in enough tight corners this year and their manager knew that communication would be difficult would be like in the second half as Croke Park began to fill up ahead of the All-Ireland semi-final between Dublin and Kerry.

“I never raised my voice at half-time,” McConville revealed.

“There is too much stuff to sort out, so you pick out what you can and the boys are able to fix things as they go along.

“I’m used to being in Aughrim, Leitrim, Carlow or wherever.

“If I need to shout out a message, the boys will hear me, but today [Saturday] they couldn’t hear anything.”

Croke Park was a cauldron. Whatever direction that was coming needed to come at half-time.

Aside from any substitution switches, players have to work it out themselves.

“As I said last day, players win games,” McConville said, referring also to their semi-final win over Offaly.

“When teams lose, managers look stupid and when they win, they look like geniuses. I’m telling you now, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.”

This was McConville’s fourth year at the helm. Speaking after the game, a decision on whether he stays on is something he needs to discuss with family time in consideration.

He joked how one is his sons asked him who they should support of Wicklow draw Armagh next season. Oisín suggested it would be an excellent case for getting a half and half jersey made up.

Speaking on the Gaelic Lives podcast ahead of the final, McConville highlighted how much Wicklow painted the picture of a want to improve as a county when he accepted the manager post in late 2022.

“There was a desire to put things in place in order to improve,” he added after their historic Tailteann Cup win.

“That’s happened and it’s not going to end. It doesn’t begin with me or one of those or two of those boys in there. It has to be the whole county.

“That’s a lift for them and that’s an opportunity now to get everybody that we want in the changing room, at every level, and start growing and start building.”