Farrell on fire in local derby
Hat-trick downs Waterford
LAST SEASON Evan Farrell played against Waterford twice. In both of those games his Wexford F.C. side went down by two goals to their south-east rivals.
For added pressure, Farrell missed a penalty in the first of these while the second had been on a Wednesday night, in Ferrycarrig Park.
Last Wednesday night in Ferrycarrig, Farrell turned the tables in this SSE Airtricity Under-15 Southern Elite Division fixture.
His hat-trick, one of which was scored from the penalty spot, fired Wexford to a 3-1 win which lifted them up four league positions and ahead of their Waterford opponents.
Waterford will believe it could have been so different though, had they converted their own penalty kick.
The travelling side were awarded a penalty after just three minutes when Charlie Binions was fouled, but Dean Larkin smashed the crossbar as Wexford were given a major let-off.
After a period of Waterford pressure which spanned the opening ten minutes, Wexford spent the majority of the remaining 30 firsthalf minutes inside Waterford territory.
While the Blues began to look dangerous on the counter, Wexford drew first blood as Farrell went low and sent James Donnelly the wrong way after a Cormac Doyle handball.
As the end of the first period drew near, Liam Doyle kept Donnelly’s hands warm with a routine save before Farrell curled a spectacular effort from 25 yards past the ‘keeper but onto the underside of the bar.
Wexford’s possession decreased significantly after the break as they now looked to be the counter-attacking side.
It worked far better for the Ferrycarrig boys than it did for their opponents.
Just three minutes into the half, Farrell had doubled his side’s lead. His scuffed shot spun by Donnelly at close range after Michael Quinlan had done well to find him in the area.
Mzee Isaac Boston whistled one over the bar on the hour mark for Waterford but the hosts still looked dangerous.
Seán Redmond somehow missed the target from Farrell’s free-kick but it wouldn’t be long until the Wexford captain secured his third.
Fed by Liam Doyle, Farrell’s control was excellent as he dug the ball out from underneath his body and fired it into the left side of the net, finishing the game off as a contest with ten minutes remaining on the clock.
Waterford did get a consolation for the trip home, as Sam Morrissey whipped into the right top corner from the edge of the box with three minutes of normal time remaining, but it was Wexford who went into the mid-season break with the points.
Wexford F.C.: Luke Murphy; Darragh McGuire, Seán Redmond, Dylan Casey; Rian Fitzpatrick, Dylan McEvoy, Patryk Remiasz, Michael Quinlan, Evan Connolly; Evan Farrell (capt.), Liam Doyle. Subs. (rolling) - Harry Curtis, Seán Adam Gourlay, Paddy Redmond, Conor Carew, Aaron Phelan.
Waterford F.C.: James Donnelly; Lekan Oki, Sam Morrissey (capt.), Cormac Doyle, Abel Alabi; Scott Delahunty, Dean Larkin, Jack Deegan, Jamie Lee, Charlie Binions; Salim Ahmed. Subs. (rolling) - Eoin O’Brien, Mzee Isaac Boston, Cormac Rooney, Jake Doyle, Liam Kervick, Paul Kiely.
Referee: Brendan Holohan (Wexford).