HURLERS TO FACE CLARE IN ALL-IRELAND QUARTER FINAL
Wexford didn’t fire on all cylinders en route to success
SATURDAY’S TRIP to sun-baked TEG Cusack Park in Mullingar was simply about getting the job done.
And in that regard it was a successful mission for the Wexford Senior hurlers as they came through this All-Ireland championship preliminary quarter-final clash against Westmeath without producing anything close to their best form.
The visitors didn’t need to be firing on all cylinders to eventually overcome the gutsy challenge from the rank outsiders by an eleven-point margin.
And while everyone involved will accept that a similar performance won’t suffice to see off Clare, it was one of those typical games where over-analysing the display is a wasted exercise.
Westmeath, coming off the back of a very disappointing Joe McDonagh Cup final loss to Carlow, signed off on manager Michael Ryan’s four years at the helm with a determined showing.
And it is to their credit that they remained competitive for the best part of 45 minutes before Wexford asserted their superiority and cruised towards the finishing line.
Indeed, Westmeath’s brightest spell - when they hit three points without reply early in the second-half and looked like building momentum - was followed by the killer blow when influential substitute Liam Og McGovern combined with Conor McDonald for the latter to rifle the ball to the net and completely deflate the midlanders (2-13 to 0-11).
If anything of a constructive nature can be taken from the game, certainly the sharpness of the St. Anne’s man after his long injury lay-off suggested that he may well have a big role to play in the clash with Clare.
He set up 1-1 from play as well as winning a converted free on an evening when two of his fellow substitutes, Harry Kehoe and Shane Tomkins, contributed late scores as the game opened up.
Damien Reck was the only one of the three Under-21s used after their heroic efforts just three nights earlier, with Conor Firman and Rory O’Connor replaced by Simon Donohoe and Jack O’Connor respectively.
And with the rock-hard surface yielding plenty of surprises in relation to the flight of the ball, it was never going to be a game to satisfy the purists.
With Westmeath midfielder Aonghus Clarke sitting deep to shore up his defence, similar to Shaun Murphy at the other end, a lot of clearances from both sides were returned with interest.
The home side were bolstered by two quick pointed frees by Allan Devine after fouls by Murphy and Liam Ryan respectively on big full-forward Niall Mitchell.
Conor McDonald, who started at centre-forward with David Dunne and Paul Morris forming the two-man inside line, opened Wexford’s account in the third minute, before Lee Chin earned and converted the equalising freee.
A Matthew O’Hanlon delivery was sent over the bar by Morris in the seventh minute, but Westmeath were eager to impress and levelled when Derek McNicholas intercepted a Chin handpass and landed one from long range (0-3 each).
Chin’s second placed ball restored the lead after a foul on Aidan Nolan who exerted a big influence at midfield in the opening half.
The first of 14 wides (double the tally of Westmeath) followed from Kevin Foley before Simon Donohoe and Jack O’Connor combined to set up one of Nolan’s four points in the 13th minute.
Allan Devine pulled a score back after Damien Reck fouled Niall O’Brien, but a run of five points on the trot between the 16th and 25th minutes saw Wexford finally establish their expected dominance, with Nolan starting the run from a Shaun Murphy clearance.
The next two came from Chin after fouls on Nolan and McDonald respectively, while he missed a ’65 in between after David Dunne had caught a McDonald centre and forced Westmeath netminder Paddy Carroll into a good save.
Dunne made it 0-9 to 0-4 from another McDonald assist before the home side created their one big goal chance.
Niall Mitchell popped a handpass to his left for Niall O’Brien - a nephew of Aidan of Good Counsel fame - but his drive was stopped superbly by Mark Fanning who got down low to make the save.
A long-range Aidan Nolan point, from a short Simon Donohoe pass, stretched the lead to 0-10 to 0-4, with Eoin Price ending eleven scoreless minutes for Westmeath before Wexford goaled in the 27th minute.
Conor McDonald made a fine catch under pressure on the left flank and released Nolan who hared towards goal before committing the last defender and handpassing to his right.
David Dunne was on hand with plenty of space and time, and he made no mistake (1-10 to 0-5).
And the green flag should have been waved again on the next Wexford attack when Paul Morris put Kevin Foley in the clear, but his head-high shot from point- blank range was somehow turned around the post in acrobatic fashion by Westmeath netminder Paddy Carroll, a native of Laois.
The ’65 was knocked over by Lee Chin, but the locals rallied well as the half drew near to an end with points from free-taker Devine, Aonghus Clarke and Cormac Boyle.
Kevin Foley had made a defence-splitting run in the 32nd minute before handpassing to Matthew O’Hanlon whose shot was saved by Carroll, and the rebound was fluffed by Foley as he pulled tamely to the right and wide.
A Jack O’Connor point left Wexford seven clear at the break (1-12 to 0-8), and Chin widened the margin on the re-start after a foul on Paul Morris who picked up an injury to his knee and was replaced by Liam Og McGovern six minutes later.
Westmeath responded with another three-point burst, from Ciarán Doyle, Allan Devine (free) and Aonghus Clarke, but the goal that ruined their progress arrived in the 46th minute.
Shaun Murphy sent a long ball to the left wing for Conor McDonald who passed short to McGovern and ran on for the return before beating Paddy Carroll with his shot to leave Wexford 2-13 to 0-11 clear.
Westmeath certainly didn’t lie down thereafter, but they were never going to bridge the gap either as the next eight points were shared.
McGovern set up clubmate Diarmuid O’Keeffe for a point before winning a free for Lee Chin to convert. Aidan Nolan brought his tally to four and Shaun Murphy split the posts from long range, while Devine (three, two frees) and Eoin Price responded for Westmeath.
Aonghus Clarke made it 2-17 to 0-16 in the 63rd minute, but Wexford were dominant in the closing stages as four late unanswered points embellished their winning margin.
While Pádraig Foley, Harry Kehoe and Conor McDonald all missed frees after Chin’s departure, Kehoe scored twice from play.
A low free by Allan Devine, and a follow-up attempt from Niall Mitchell, were kept out before fullback Liam Ryan ambled forward for a point, and the end margin of eleven was ensured when Shane Tomkins converted a Conor McDonald pass at the death.
This game will have been parked very quickly, as the acid test awaits.
Davy Fitzgerald was in the opposing camp in 2014 when Liam Dunne’s charges ended Clare’s All-Ireland reign, and now he has the task of trying to beat his own folk as Wexford seek to qualify for a semi-final for the first time since the much-maligned John Meyler, the current successful Cork boss, led his native county to the last four in 2007.
Wexford: Mark Fanning; Simon Donohoe, Liam Ryan (0-1), Damien Reck; Shaun Murphy (0-1); Pádraig Foley, Matthew O’Hanlon (joint capt.), Diarmuid O’Keeffe (0-1); Kevin Foley, Aidan Nolan (0-4); Jack O’Connor (0-1), Conor McDonald (1-1), Lee Chin (joint capt., 0-7, 6 frees, 1 ’65); David Dunne (1-1), Paul Morris (0-1). Subs. - Liam Og McGovern for Morris, inj. (43), Willie Devereux for O’Keeffe (54), Shane Tomkins (0-1) for Chin (61), Harry Kehoe (0-2) for O’Connor (61), Eanna Martin for Reck (69).
Westmeath: Paddy Carroll; Conor Shaw, Tommy Doyle (capt.), John Gilligan; Shane Clavin, Paul Greville, Derek McNicholas (0-1); Eoin Price (0-2), Aonghus Clarke (0-2); Niall O’Brien, Cormac Boyle (0-1), Robbie Greville; Allan Devine (0-8, 7 frees), Niall Mitchell, Ciarán Doyle (0-1). Subs. - Joey Boyle (0-1) for McNicholas (44), Liam Varley for C. Boyle (55), Darragh Clinton for C. Doyle (58), Aaron Craig for Shaw (68).
Referee: Diarmuid Kirwan (Cork).