Footballers exit early with slump after break
Scoreless spell of 22 minutes put paid to Wexford’s hopes of making progress
FERMANAGH 0-19 WEXFORD 1-11 AN ALARMING second-half slump marred by a staggering 22 minutes without a score proved Wexford’s downfall in Innovate Wexford Park on Saturday as Fermanagh maintained their indian sign over the Slaneysiders in the All-Ireland qualifiers with a third victory since 2006.
The home side had gone toe-totoe with their Ulster rivals throughout an entertaining first-half, going in at the break just one point in arrears (0-10 to 1-6).
And when they reversed roles inside five minutes of the re-start, thanks to points from the team’s best forward, John Tubritt, and Ben Brosnan, hopes were high that last year’s success over Down at the same venue and the same stage would be repeated.
Wexford followers were in for a rude awakening though because they went from a 1-8 to 0-10 lead to a 0-17 to 1-9 deficit before Tubritt finally re-ignited some hope with his third point in the 66th minute.
Substitute Shane Roche then narrowed the gap to three after a onetwo with Ben Brosnan, prompting loud chants of ‘Wexford, Wexford’ from the main stand as the feeling grew that all was not yet lost.
It proved a false dawn though, as Fermanagh closed the game and the victory out quite comfortably in the six added minutes, with the impressive Tomás Corrigan converting a free before superb wing-back Aidan Breen crowned a fine personal display with his second point.
The winners brought an impressive athleticism to bear on proceedings and were going as strong at the end as they were at the beginning. Their imposing physical power gradually wore Wexford down as they sucked the life out of the hosts’ challenge in the middle third of the field.
Barry Mulrone moved from wing-forward to right half-back at an early stage and was a very effective linkman between defence and attack as he was constantly on the go. Meanwhile, big Ryan Jones used his strength to break tackle after tackle from centre-forward, and he was even more effective when he dropped back to midfield after Richard O’Callaghan collected a foolish black card in the 46th minute.
It was a very disappointing exit for Wexford, the first time since 2003 that the county has departed from the championship without winning at least one game.
They lined out with team captain Brian Malone - the only man to play in both previous qualifier losses to Fermanagh in 2006 and 2007 - nominally positioned at full-forward but immediately bringing direct opponent Che Cullen outfield on a tour of the venue which looked in fine fettle for this do-or-die contest.
Malone was back to full health after damaging a shoulder in the loss to Kildare, while the unrelated Rossiters, Jim and Naomhan, were also deemed fit for the fray in the full-back line after recovering from hamstring and hand problems respectively.
Their more experienced colleague in this department, Joey Wadding, was given the task of policing the highly-regarded Seán Quigley on the edge of the square, but on this occasion most of the damage was done by the diminutive Tomás Corrigan who posed plenty of problems for Jim Rossiter and finished with four of his nine points registered from play.
There was a keen tempo to the game from the off and it was lively stuff throughout the first-half. Just 54 seconds had elapsed when Quigley gave Fermanagh the lead via a free from roughly the same amount of metres out at the town end.
Corner-back Mickey Jones collected an early yellow card for clipping Brian Malone as he ran past him, and Donal Shanley duly converted the placed ball to level matters inside three minutes.
A foul by Syl Byrne on the hard-running Ryan Jones gave Tomás Corrigan his first chance and Fermanagh regained the lead, and then it was Quigley’s turn again after Corrigan was impeded by Simon Donohoe.
The first point from play arrived in the ninth minute after Eoghan Nolan lost the ball after a strong challenge from Richard O’Callaghan. Referee Eddie Kinsella seemed to block Daithí Waters’ path as he attempted to get a hand on Rúairí Corrigan, but he allowed the play to continue and Seán Quigley fired over for a well-deserved 0-4 to 0-1 lead.
A throw by Mickey Jones as he went to ground was penalised by Kinsella and Donal Shanley narrowed the gap, before Wexford breathed a huge sigh of relief after the next Fermanagh attack.
It ended with Tomás Corrigan hooking a high kick between the posts, but it could have been a lot worse as Seán Quigley struck the crossbar following a long ball in by Barry Mulrone.
Quigley followed with the game’s first wide, one of just two before the break for Fermanagh from an overall total of six. Wexford’s corresponding figures were five and seven respectively to make twelve in all.
Shanley’s third pointed free was rendered a lot easier after it was brought forward to the 20-metre line following dissent from Ryan Jones. Wexford were hanging in there, although their first two wides from Shanley and Colm Kehoe were then chalked up before a flowing Fermanagh move ended with team captain Eoin Donnelly setting up Aidan Breen for a point (0-6 to 0-3).
A foul by Donnelly on Daithí Waters led to Shanley’s fourth converted free, and the opening Wexford score from play was a neat solo effort by John Tubritt in the 21st minute.
It reduced the gap to the minimum, and it was followed just 60 seconds later by a well-worked goal as the locals hit the front for the first time. Simon Donohoe’s ball into the right corner was misjudged by Marty O’Brien and won by Tubritt in a favourable position behind him.
Donohoe continued his run forward at full tilt and Tubritt timed his handpass to perfection before the right half-back drove a low shot to the net for a 1-5 to 0-6 lead.
Fermanagh may have felt that the scoreline wasn’t an accurate reflection of the proceedings up to that point, and they set about putting the record straight as Seán Quigley kicked a lovely point after exchanging passes with Rúairí Corrigan from a line ball.
A Donohoe wide followed before Tubritt’s crossfield ball from the right was caught by Adrian Flynn and quickly transferred to Kevin O’Grady whose attempt on goal was saved by advancing netminder Chris Snow.
Flynn then kicked a wide before Eoin Donnelly picked out a completely unmarked Barry Mulrone for an easy equalising point in the 28th minute. The Erne county duly restored their lead when Tomás Corrigan finished off a counter-attack after Donal Shanley fumbled a pass at the other end, but a solo score by Ben Brosnan quickly restored parity.
However, Fermanagh went in at
the break one up (0-10 to 1-6) as a fine individual point by Eoin Donnelly was followed by an Adrian Flynn attempt which ended up wide off the fingertips of Kevin O’Grady.
And the leaders almost grabbed a goal within seconds of the re-start as Ryan Jones burst forward and was only stopped in the end when Anthony Masterson smothered his shot, with Tomás Corrigan unable to find the room to do anything of note with the rebound.
Ben Brosnan posted a wide before a fisted point-scoring attempt by Seán Quigley came back off the post and was cleared. John Tubritt then kicked the equaliser from an Adrian Flynn pass after getting to the ball before Cian McManus who had replaced Mickey Jones at half-time.
And although Daithí Waters was off target on the next attack, he atoned by accepting a Flynn pass and picking out Brosnan who made it 1-8 to 0-10 in the 40th minute.
That was the high point of Wexford’s evening unfortunately, and things started to go wrong as the third quarter unfolded. Simon Donohoe registered the next Wexford wide before Barry Mulrone played in Ryan Jones who rattled a stinging drive off the crossbar.
The play was called back for a free and, although Tomás Corrigan’s effort was rewarded with a white flag, it seemed a dubious call by the umpire from our vantage point in the stand, an opinion shared by a lot of Wexford followers in the same location.
There was nothing dodgy about his follow-up fisted lead point though, but that was quickly cancelled out when Adrian Flynn was bottled up by three opponents near the sideline, with the ball squirming loose for Kevin O’Grady to kick the leveller (1-9 to 0-12).
That score arrived in the 44th minute, with the next of just two more from Wexford coming in the 66th minute. In that same period Fermanagh kicked five decisive points without reply, and therein was the winning and losing of the game.
The surge to the line by Pete McGrath’s men actually came after they lost Richard O’Callaghan to a black card as he tripped Brian Malone when colleague Ryan Jones had the ball in a good position. Malone took up a permanent defensive role at this stage too when P.J. Banville entered the fray at the expense of centre-back Syl Byrne.
Fermanagh hit the front again from a Tomás Corrigan free after Jim Rossiter collected a yellow card. And when Anthony Masterson directed his kick-out over the sideline, Corrigan played a quick one-two with black card replacement Ciarán Flaherty before returning it over the bar with interest (0-14 to 1-9).
Banville shot a wide and sent another effort short into goalie Chris Snow’s arms, with Rúairí Corrigan arrowing over a point in between after Aidan Breen made his third clean catch of the half from a Fermanagh kick-out above the head of Kevin O’Grady. Given that all three occurred right under the noses of the Wexford management, it seemed odd that it took them so long to react to that clear mis-match, at a stage when it was too late.
Fermanagh’s first wide of the second-half at the end of the third quarter also saw Anthony Masterson pick up an injury to his left ankle. Reserve Philip Murphy was ready to enter the fray when the number one signalled to the line that he was alright, but ten minutes later the move had to be made and Murphy duly lost his Junior status after winning a Leinster medal four nights earlier.
It was a slight twist on last year when Masterson had to come into the fray to replace the injured Shane Roche against Down just 48 hours after captaining the second string to provincial honours.
Wexford were unravelling fast at this stage, with John Tubritt posting a wide before a Fermanagh free was made simpler after a bout of dissent and Tomás Corrigan pointed for a 0-16 to 1-9 lead.
A swift counter-attack ended with Ryan Jones getting the rewards for his tireless work with a point, with Wexford pinning their hopes on a two-man inside forward line of P.J. Banville and Shane Roche, survivors from the losses of 2006 and 2007 respectively.
And even though that lengthy barren spell was finally ended courtesy of Tubritt and Roche, Wexford struggled to lay a hand on the ball in added time as Fermanagh kept it most effectively and safeguarded their passage into round 2B. It hasn’t been a year to remember for the losers by any means, and there will be no chance to atone now until it starts all over again with the O’Byrne Cup next January.
Wexford: Anthony Masterson; Jim Rossiter, Joey Wadding, Naomhan Rossiter; Simon Donohoe (1-0), Syl Byrne, Eoghan Nolan; Colm Kehoe, Daithí Waters; Kevin O’Grady (0-1), Adrian Flynn, Ben Brosnan (0-2); John Tubritt (0-3), Brian Malone (capt.), Donal Shanley (0-4 frees). Subs. - P.J. Banville for Byrne (47), Kieran Butler for Flynn (51), Shane Roche (0-1) for Shanley (59), Rob Tierney for O’Grady (62), Philip Murphy for Masterson, inj. (62).
Fermanagh: Chris Snow; Mickey Jones, Che Cullen, Marty O’Brien; Declan McCusker, James McMahon, Aidan Breen (0-2); Eoin Donnelly (capt., 0-1), Richard O’Callaghan; Barry Mulrone (0-1), Ryan Jones (0-1), Paul McCusker; Rúairí Corrigan (0-1), Seán Quigley (0-4, 2 frees), Tomás Corrigan (0-9, 5 frees). Subs. - Cian McManus for M. Jones (HT), Ciarán Flaherty for O’Callaghan, black card (46), James Duffy for P. McCusker (59), Damian Kelly for D. McCusker (70+3).
Referee: Eddie Kinsella (Laois).