Rearguard action held for 45 minutes in Longford

LONGFORD TOWN 3 WEXFORD F.C. 0

LIFE AFTER the departure of Damian Locke as Wexford F.C. manager started on a low note in City Calling Stadium when locals Longford Town recorded their second 3-0 win against their south-east rivals at the venue this season.

It had initially been flagged that coach Carl Grehan would take over the day-to-day running of the team in a temporary capacity until a replacement was selected.

However, the utter farce surrounding this campaign continued when it later transpired that Grehan was due to leave one way or the other to pursue new opportunities in August.

And, after he opted to bring his departure date forward, preparation of the team was left hastily with the trio of club Under-17 manager Billy Molloy, his Under-19 counterpart James Quinn, and the acting Chairman, Seánie O’Shea, who were on a hiding to nothing for this tie.

And, with August 19 set as the closing date for applications for the managerial position, it’s sadly apparent that there’s no urgency on the part of the club committee to fill the vacancy.

Wexford opted for a very defensive approach in the hope of soaking up as much pressure as possible, and then punishing the midlanders on the break.

And the ploy worked to an extent up to half-time given that Longford were held scoreless, but the problem was that Wexford rarely threatened at the other end.

The breakthrough the home side needed arrived a mere 52 seconds after the interval when the ever-dangerous Dylan McGlade made another probing run down the left, and his effort took a deflection to beat netminder Corey Chambers.

Longford’s Daniel O’Reilly hit the post before Dean Dillon had an effort blocked and then fired wide, but they made sure of success on the 60-minute mark, and again McGlade was centrally involved.

His free-kick led to a scramble in the goalmouth, and eventually Daniel O’Reilly got the vital connection to fire the ball to the net and leave his team in a comfortable position.

The third followed quickly in the 69th minute, with McGlade adding his second after a super delivery by Shane Elworthy left him with a relatively straightforward chance.

Dean George forced Michael Kelly into a decent save in the 88th minute after a fine run by Adham Massood as Wexford sought a consolation, but in general terms they were a clear second best.

Aaron O’Connor had shot wide after a corner 24 minutes earlier, but their inability to create chances on a regular basis continues to haunt them.

Their best opportunity, in hindsight, had probably arrived in the sixth minute of the first-half when Dean George had a shot saved.

Emmet Nugent also darted into the Longford box and picked up a knock in the course of trying his luck, while the lively Adham Masood tested Michael Kelly with a long-range effort in the 31st minute.

It was a first start for Nugent who shook things up after coming off the bench in the win against Cabinteely.

There was also a club debut for new arrival Paddy Cahill at centre-half, while the promising Seán Smithers was called up from the Under-17 squad and was thrown in at the deep end for the last half-hour.

The teenager was just one of four substitutes on the bench, including captain Ross Kenny who has been named repeatedly on recent teamlists even though his injury has prevented him from featuring on the field.

Wexford F.C.: Corey Chambers; Liam McCartan, Seán Kelly, Paddy Cahill, John Morgan; Mikey Byrne (capt.), Conor Sutton; Aaron O’Connor, Adham Masood, Dean George; Emmet Nugent. Subs. - Seán Smithers for O’Connor (60), Craig O’Reilly for S. Kelly (76), also Colum Feeney, Ross Kenny.

Longford Town: Michael Kelly; Shane Elworthy, Tristan Noack-Hofmann, Daniel O’Reilly (capt.), Dean Dillon, Sam Verdon, Mick McDonnell, Aodh Dervin, Jamie Hollywood, Karl Chambers, Dylan McGlade. Subs. - Jamie Doyle for Dillon (64), Jackson Ryan for Chambers (70), also Ben Kelly, Dean Zambra, Darren Meenan, Warren Mitchell, Evan O’Connor.

Referee: David Keeler (Cork).