Trevor Doyle flopped down on the bench and breathed hard, waiting for the crack of studs as his team-mates filed into the dressing room. He had thought things were going swimmingly. Next thing shouts down the corridor, jostling and angry recriminations.

"I was the very first one into the dressing-rooms that day so I really didn't see a thing. The thing about that game was there wasn't a stray blow struck by either ourselves or Westmeath in the first half of the match. It was nearly notable, the lack of nastiness."

Wicklow's season turned over the next half hour. They made for home with a heavy feeling and looked on in amazement as the images and fallout from "the tunnel incident" seemed to create a media monster. It was a laugh. Here was Wicklow, headline act in the same pages that usually afforded their footballing efforts no more than 50 words.

"I think we were giving an awful lash by all sections of the media. Afterwards, we tried to say nothing, get on with things, but the coverage seemed to be more intense each day. And I know it was something that probably drew on public curiosity, but some of the lads found it really hard to take. After all, we were amateur athletes not used to this exposure. It was very strange," says Doyle.

The subsequent suspension of Mick Byrne for six months winded the whole squad. "Thought it was ridiculous, so unfair. And of course then Keith (Byrne's brother) left the squad in sympathy and it disturbed what had been a nice pattern. But it was devastating for both the lads and really, our drive for promotion was just gone," says Doyle.

And so they finished out their programme against Kerry in a match which sort of symbolised their season. Doyle and Keith Byrne were is dashing form along the wings, Kevin O'Brien whipped some nice points, and Wicklow were in contention for a long time before finally fading. Elevation to the top flight eluded them for the second consecutive year.

"It was disappointing. We had looked at the championship draw and figured that getting to a league quarter-final and to Division One was worth going for. Could have happened again. So much was riding on that Westmeath game. But, I mean, it's in the past now and we have been focused solely on Meath for the past eight weeks."

Deep down, he knows there is but a slim chance of a protracted run for Wicklow this year.

"Look, Meath have already been tipped as championship contenders. They are so strong physically and with fine individual players like Darren Fay and John McDermott. We acknowledge they are a fine team, but no one here is daunted at the thought of playing them. It's all on the day and no one expects anything from us."

He insists the optimism has returned to the squad. Even O'Brien, the mercurial forward who opted for retirement at the conclusion of the league, has been coaxed back to training.

"Kevin is hugely important to us. Everyone knows what a fine player he is. We are hopeful again and we can learn from this game no matter what. Billy Morgan has been training us and that's going really well, there's still a lot of belief and pride in this squad. Hopefully the Byrnes will be with us again next year and we've some good lads coming through. We'll be back."

And they're not even gone yet.