Criticism of referee took the focus off main football issue
WELL, it’s not fully what we hoped for, but at least Innovate Wexford Park will be buzzing once rather than twice over the coming twelve days. Our Senior county teams experienced contrasting fortunes in their opening championship engagements, with the hurlers faring considerably better than the footballers.
And given that Sunday’s win in Portlaoise was pretty straightforward and went along expected lines, I’m actually still more exercised by the events down the road in Carlow one week earlier.
I wasn’t working but my busman’s holiday brought me to Netwatch Cullen Park where my worst fears were confirmed.
From what I could see, we learned absolutely nothing from our defeat at the same venue towards the end of the league, and the folly of fielding those weakened teams has now been fully exposed.
Wexford football sides by their nature are swimming against the tide, so they need to avail of every little advantage they can muster.
And we had a considerable one in the form a five-game unbeaten run, only to throw it all away. Indeed, if we don’t win the qualifier now we will be left with a 5:5 record which would be a poor reflection on the achievements in February and March.
Manager Seamus McEnaney is a wily old fox and was entitled to be critical of referee Fergal Kelly whose decision-making left a lot to be desired.
However, by concentrating on the display of the man in black, it also took the spotlight off the main topic that should have been discussed, namely the bizarre tactics deployed by the losers.
I watched the game from the stand, and I assume the management also had somebody offering advice from that vantage point given that it’s so easy to miss things at ground level.
Therefore, how was Carlow midfielder Brendan Murphy left with so much space to work with from their second-half kick-outs, with only the untested Niall Hughes for company and a vast area of the field completely devoid of Wexford back-up?
I accept that the loss of both starting midfielders would have upset the best-laid plans, although I assume the mentors were on high alert with regard to Colm Kehoe beforehand given his hamstring problems earlier in the year.
Still, Murphy was always going to prosper in a one-on-one battle in the air, while his midfield partner, the speedy Seán, prospered more than once from our lack of a steely presence down the centre of the defence.
His blinding runs had caused havoc during that league match, so they shouldn’t have come as any surprise on this occasion.
As for Daithí Waters’ black card, I was looking at Brendan Murphy from where I was sitting and he clearly knew what he was doing.
If he stooped on that ball he would have won a free but would have been very sore after it. Being a big man too, he was fully aware that Daithí was moving at such pace that our captain wasn’t capable of avoiding a collision.
And by tapping the ball ahead of him, he ‘invited the contact’ to rob some soccer parlance in order to explain what happened.
It was then down to referee Kelly and linesman Brendan Cawley to determine if this was deliberate on Waters’ part. How they arrived at their decision is something I will never fathom.
As for the black card in general, I cannot understand why the rules makers didn’t bring the head-high tackle under its remit.
This is punishable by yellow card only, so players know it’s the best way to stop a player in his tracks while avoiding a black. The challenge on P.J. Banville in the early stages was the perfect example.
Of course, if a referee deemed it a clothes line job he could flash a red, but there’s a reluctance to apply that measure and the game is all the poorer for it.
Indeed, about the only official I can recall having the gumption to send a player off in that circumstance was Anthony Tobin in a county Intermediate final in Taghmon a couple of years ago.
When all is said and done though, we need to look at our own shortcomings if we want to learn from that loss. It’s just a shame that the Dubs won’t be rolling into town to beat us next Saturday as it would have been a tremendous occasion.