Wexford crash to ugly defeat
Camogie Seniors thrashed
WEXFORD CRASHED to an ugly defeat against All-Ireland runners-up Cork in their latest outing in Division 1 of the Littlewoods National Camogie League in C.I.T. on Sunday.
The good news, the return of the Leacy sisters to the Senior squad, was more than a little overshadowed by the sheer flood of scores that the hosts picked off at will, condemning Wexford to their second defeat on the bounce.
The victory over Kilkenny in their second outing seems a long time ago now, with confidence sure to plummet after being completely overawed and outplayed by the Rebelettes.
Wexford have concentrated on being defensively solid in the opening stages of the league, and the design of this line-up was no different. However, their dynamism in attack has suffered and a four-point return for 60 minutes of camogie is very un-Wexford like.
Niamh McCarthy took less than two minutes to open the scoring for the hosts, a score that was followed by an effort from Julia White. Cork made it 0-3 to nil when Amy O’Connor hit the target with just four minutes on the clock.
Chloe Foxe returned to the starting line-up and made a quick impact, bursting through to register her side’s first score. It was a heinous 41 minutes before Wexford added their second score.
The ageless Gemma O’Connor added a long-range point to leave the Leesiders 0-4 to 0-1 ahead at the end of the first quarter. After Katriona Mackey raised a white flag, Síona Nolan prevented a Cork goal with a solid block.
A handpassed point from youngster Niamh McCarthy made it 0-6 to 0-1 to Cork in the 24th minute. Orla Cronin opened her account and Mackey picked off her second dead-ball to move the home side seven points clear at the interval.
The flood continued early in the second-half. McCarthy scored her third point and Gemma O’Connor registered too. Only a fine save from Mags D’Arcy, from Mackey’s goalbound shot, stopped the rout from getting even worse.
Two Mackey points and a Cronin point from Amy O’Connor’s clever feed made it a shambolic 0-13 to 0-1 at the end of the third quarter. Wexford loaded on the substitutions as the final quarter began.
On came Mary Leacy, a key figure if Wexford are to make any impact in the summer. Una Leacy also made her return and her goalscoring ability is vital to team which has failed to find the net in the last two games, scoring just four points from play in the process.
Linda Bolger’s 47th-minute free finally ended the Cork run of ten consecutive points. Mackey added another for Cork but Una Leacy showed her quality with a long-range minor.
Off the bench mere seconds, Eimear O’Sullivan made it 0-15 to 0-3. Mackey ended her afternoon with her sixth point before Linda Bolger notched the final score of a truly forgettable afternoon for Wexford.
In the form they are in, the side managed by John Kelly and Matty Flynn-O’Connor will be up against it to beat Dublin in their final league game on Sunday week. Should they take the points, they must rely on results elsewhere to go their way to advance to the last four.
Wexford: Mags D’Arcy; Ciara Storey, Síona Nolan, Karen Atkinson; Sarah O’Connor, Aine Lacey, Shauna Sinnott; Amy Cardiff, Shelley Kehoe; Nicole Fortune, Chloe Foxe (0-1), Louise O’Leary; Bríd Gordon (capt.), Linda Bolger (0-2 frees), Stacey Kehoe. Subs. - Emma Walsh for Lacey, temp., Walsh for Foxe, Katie O’Connor for Lacey, Una Sinnott for Cardiff, Leah Walsh for Stacey Kehoe, Mary Leacy for Sinnott, Una Leacy (0-1) for Shelley Kehoe, Aoife Cousins for O’Leary, Joanne Dillon for Gordon, also Niamh Potter, Ciara Donohoe.
Cork: Aoife Murray; Leanne O’Sullivan, Laura Treacy, Libby Coppinger; Pamela Mackey, Gemma O’Connor (0-2), Rena Buckley (capt.); Aisling Thompson, Jennifer Barry; Amy O’Connor (0-1), Orla Cronin (0-2), Julia White (0-1); Katriona Mackey (0-6, 5 frees), Niamh McCarthy (0-3), Linda Collins. Subs. - Eimear O’Sullivan (0-1), Rachel O’Shea, Amy Lee, Finola Neville, Chloe Sigerson, Hannah Looney, Rachel O’Shea, Lauren Homan, Róisín Killeen, Orla Cotter.
Referee: Ray Kelly (Kildare).