Holders too good for limited Fethard
HOLDERS SHELMMALIERS proved too good for a gutsy but limited Fethard side in their opening game in the Senior football championship in Oylegate on Saturday.
Maybe it’s an indication of how far Shelmaliers have come, but there was not one moment in this contest when they looked in any real trouble. There was no occasion when this reporter thought that they might not win this game.
It was a lesson in control for the Hollymount side; control their game, control their emotions. They never allowed the things they couldn’t control, like the referee, to get in their way. It was all about being able to move on and keep going.
They needed that maturity most in the opening quarter. They found themselves level at 0-1 each after the first 15 minutes.
Craig McCabe had knocked over a free that Mark Wallace countered, but there wasn’t much else to smile about.
Shelmaliers had kicked three wides, dropped three balls short into Paul Foley’s hands, and had a goal controversially ruled out.
Let’s put the debate about whether or not Brian Malone’s handpass - which led to Páraic O’Leary punching to the net - was illegal on the back burner.
We can categorically state that referee David Jenkins had a better view than anyone standing on the sideline.
What is truly remarkable is the fact that Malone’s handpass that directly led to the goal was the only one deemed illegal in this entire contest, one out of hundreds of handpasses.
The Wexford District side were able to put that remarkable coincidence behind them and get on top as the half moved into the final ten minutes.
Aidan Cash scored their second point in the 21st minute, while McCabe and Conor Hearne added further scores to make it 0-4 to 0-1.
Garrett Foley knocked over a couple of points before the interval, but McCabe added another free to keep his side 0-5 to 0-3 ahead at the break.
The quick start to the second period came for Shelmaliers and left Fethard with plenty to do.
McCabe brought his tally to five with the first two, Eoghan Nolan added a booming point after missing a few in the first-half, and McCabe slashed over his first from play after a superb crossfield pass by Simon Donohoe.
A six-point lead was cut to four by the end of the third quarter after quick white flags by Jimmy Sutton and Bryan Power, but it was becoming evident that Fethard needed the game’s first goal to give themselves real hope.
That major came in the 48th minute at the other end. Hearne had called Paul Foley into a fine save with his feet ten minutes earlier, but there was nothing the Fethard netminder could do to deny a punched McCabe major from Glen Malone’s pass after a quick Shels free caught his side napping.
When Seán Keane-Carroll drilled home in the 56th minute the game was all but up for Fethard (2-10 to 0-7).
They did get a late consolation major through Graham O’Grady but still fell short and will need a big performance to get the better of St. Anne’s this weekend.
Shelmaliers: James Gordon; Andre O’Brien, James Cash, Graham Staples; Simon Donohoe, Brian Malone, Glen Malone; Aidan Cash (0-1), Eoghan Nolan (capt., 0-2); Ross Banville, Páraic O’Leary, Seán Keane-Carroll (1-0); Kyle Roche, Craig McCabe (1-7, 0-6 frees), Conor Hearne (0-2). Sub. - Craig Parker for O’Brien, black card (41).
Fethard: Paul Foley; Martin Power, Richard Waters, Seán Donohoe; Graham O’Grady (1-0), Daire Barden (capt.), Stephen Barry; Joe Sutton, Rúairí Tubrid; Jimmy Sutton (0-1 free), Garrett Foley (0-2), Darren Foley (0-1); Bryan Power (0-2 frees), Ciarán Dwyer, Mark Wallace (0-1). Subs. - Edmund Power for Dwyer, inj. (7), Adam Swan for Barden, inj. (41), Jean-Luc Tubritt for E. Power (59).
Referee: David Jenkins (Gusserane).