Jacko strikes late to give give Dubs the blues
Thirteen-man Wexford rewarded for persistence persistence in game ruined by free count
THE CONSTANT tooting of referee Johnny Murphy’s whistle was still ringing in the ears long after Wexford produced a late smash and grab raid to pluck the two Allianz League Division 1 points from under Dublin’s noses in this stop-start Group B affair in Croke Park on Saturday.
A game almost completely devoid of any flow or continuity looked to be veering away from the visitors when they trailed by two points in the second of the five added minutes announced.
However, that was the cue for strong-running substitute Jack O’Connor to latch on to a ball that was directed towards fellow replacement Cathal Dunbar on the Cusack Stand side.
And with the ground opening up in front of him, and the nearest Dublin defender backing off rather than attempting to stop him in his tracks, it was too good an invitation for the St. Martin’s man to turn down as he surged closer to the Hill 16 end posts before drilling a low shot across the body of Seán Brennan and into the far corner of the net.
While the crowd on the night eventually swelled to 26,153, the Dubs fans who had drifted in already prior to their football clash with Dublin were left stunned and silenced as their side now trailed by 2-12 to 0-17.
Just for good measure, 45 seconds later a Kevin Foley clearance found Diarmuid O’Keeffe, and he in turn played the ball into the right corner for Paul Morris.
The Ferns man moved outfield to make a better angle for himself before splitting the posts, giving his side a precious twopoint cushion although the hard work was far from over.
Indeed, Dublin almost snatched victory as the game moved into the fourth added minute, with substitute Cian Boland’s first-time pull flying over the bar after Mark Fanning batted away a shot by Paul Ryan (2-13 to 0-18).
Wexford had been reduced to 13 men after the dismissals of Conor McDonald (straight red) and Shaun Murphy (second yellow), while Dublin had lost Eoghan O’Donnell to a double booking and also ended with 13 fit players as Chris Crummey sustained an injury after they had used their five substitutes.
Ronan Hayes squandered a chance for the home side to equalise, but only because Kevin Foley got in a crucial hook, and a similar piece of sheer hard work at the other end ultimately led to the insurance point.
A block by Jack O’Connor created an opening for Cathal Dunbar and, although his effort on goal was smothered at the expense of a ’65, Paul Morris took his time over the strike before nailing his seventh point and giving Wexford their third win from four league outings.
It leaves them in a qualifying slot, most likely for the quarter-finals, although a direct route to the semis is still a possibility, but only if they can make it three wins on the trot at home to Carlow, and Clare lose.
This game was unfortunately dominated, from first whistle to last, by the constant interventions of referee Johnny Murphy whose unwillingness to utilise the advantage rule, and obsession with halting play for the minimum of contact in what is a physical game, left supporters of both sides longing, in vain, for a game of hurling to break out at some stage.
It was incredibly frustrating to watch, and that view must have been shared by the players who were constantly called back for a free to be taken even after they had broken through a tackle and were making ground.
By game’s end, 13 yellow cards plus three reds had been flashed, while I had a final free count of 24 apiece along with the first-half penalty awarded to Wexford. Others reckoned it had tipped over the 50 mark, and without recourse to watching a recording of the game afterwards, that may well have been the case.
It wasn’t easy to keep tabs on the man in green’s every decision, because it was even difficult to remain composed in the press box as we watched it unfold, but suffice to say that I hope this particular official doesn’t feature in charge of another Wexford match any time soon.
The mentors decided to start the returning trio of Diarmuid O’Keeffe, Lee Chin and Matthew O’Hanlon, with the latter having the honour of playing his one-hundredth Senior game for the county on the hallowed turf of Croke Park.
Indeed, all five of the substitutes utilised versus Kilkenny – the above-named trio plus Rory O’Connor and Mikie Dwyer – were on the first 15 along with corner-back Conor Firman, with Simon Donohoe, Pádraig Foley, Liam Óg McGovern, Jack O’Connor, Cathal Dunbar and Conor McDonald all reverting to the bench.
With O’Hanlon withdrawn at half-time, followed by Chin in the 47th minute, it’s clear that the joint captains need plenty of hurling to get back up to their usual levels, although a strong impact from the bench was powered once again by Pádraig Foley and Jack O’Connor in particular as Wexford launched their late burst.
Rory O’Connor was selected as the Allianz man of the match, and it was thoroughly deserved after he produced some mesmerising play in the second-half in particular after revelling in the open spaces and giving the Dublin defence a torrid time.
Chin’s sole score arrived from a free after 54 seconds following a foul on Kevin Foley, who moved back from right half-forward to sweep as per normal. That led to Aidan Nolan drifting over from the left wing to the right, with Rory O’Connor moving out to the flank from the corner as James Madden tried to follow his every move.
Likewise, Paddy Smyth was assigned man-marking duties on Nolan, with Cian O’Callaghan policing Paul Morris in the corner.
The game was punctuated by free after free from the off, although it was surprising that referee Murphy didn’t punish Chris Crummey and Danny Sutcliffe respectively for off-the-ball hits on Joe O’Connor and Shaun Murphy that were quite clear from the press box.
Dublin’s two opening points arrived from placed balls struck by Oisín O’Rorke – an early injury casualty – and Ronan Hayes, before Paul Morris hit the first from play after an Aidan Nolan handpass in the 15th minute.
Crummey restored the Dublin lead after Conor Firman stumbled over a Joe O’Connor line ball, and substitute Paul Ryan then made it 0-4 to 0-2 from another placed ball in the 25th minute.
It was very poor fare, although Wexford followed with a bright spell as Cian O’Callaghan was dispossesed and Aidan Rochford fed clubmate Diarmuid O’Keeffe for a point.
Morris equalised after a foul on Damien Reck, but Ryan responded twice before the first Wexford goal arrived in the 32nd minute.
Mikie Dwyer found Shaun Murphy whose long handpass picked out Aidan Rochford, and after he was taken down
by Jake Malone, Mark Fanning made the journey to the Canal End and buried the penalty in the net (1-4 to 0-6).
Morris added a point from play, but the pattern of the two previous games continued as Wexford’s exford’s form dipped again in the lead-up to half-time.
On this occasion, four unanswered points from Rían McBride, Donal Burke, McBride again and a Ryan free left Dublin with a 0-10 to 1-5 advantage, and the gap might have been larger because the latter also registered a couple of misses.
In addition, Rory O’Connor got back to deliver a fine shoulder on Seán Moran after Matthew O’Hanlon lost the ball from a short Mark Fanning puck-out.
The centre-back was replaced by Pádraig Foley for the second-half, while Liam Óg McGovern took over from Aidan Rochford at midfield, and it was no sur- prise that the first three scores arrived from frees – a brace from Ryan before Morris hit back to make it 0-12 to 1-6.
McGovern and Lee Chin (free) fired wides in that spell, before a crossfield Chris Crummey pass picked out defender James Madden for a well-taken point from midfield in the 43rd minute.
Rory O’Connor responded after intercepting a Dublin line ball, but Ryan chalked up another pointed free prior to Jack O’Connor coming on to replace Chin.
Conor McDonald also slotted in for the hard-working Mikie Dwyer, but Wexford were struggling to gain a foothold for any sustained period, even though Pádraig Foley did strike a super point from close to the left touchline under the Hogan Stand in the 49th minute (0-14 to 1-8).
McDonald only lasted six minutes, getting a straight red card for a slap across the chest of Dublin defender Paddy Smyth. He was the third Wexford player to attempt a tackle in quick succession and, while clumsy in its execution, it scarcely merited
the ultimate sanction.
Dublin’s two sole second-half wides arrived from Ryan frees on either side of the dismissal, with the boys in blue unable to hammer any nails in the Wexford coffin at a time when their rivals looked particularly vulnerable.
A fine Mark Fanning puck-out after that second miss found Rory O’Connor, who was really coming into his own, and after he was fouled it gave Paul Morris the chance to make it 0-14 to 1-9.
However, a brilliant catch from lively substitute Eamonn ‘Trollier’ Dillon led to one of the frees that nobody could argue with, and Ryan duly produced the score before Dillon himself registered a sublime point from tight to the sideline.
Jack O’Connor over-hit a crossfield pass to little brother Rory, but he still managed to gain possession before firing over a beauty.
That arrived in the 63rd minute, and he quickly added another following a onetwo with Shaun Murphy that required the intervention of Hawk-Eye before it was awarded (0-16 to 1-11).
Unfortunately, the Oulart-The Ballagh man and Tomás Connolly were booked for something that occurred off the ball, and it was a second yellow for the Wexford defender which left the team down to 13 with four minutes of normal time left.
Two wides followed, the first via Jack O’Connor after another Hawk-Eye call, and the second from Mark Fanning.
O’Connor had been pushed towards the pitch hoarding in front of Hill 16 by Eoghan O’Donnell as the latter strike drifted off target, and the referee deemed that sufficient to show a harsh second yellow to the Dublin defender.
Rory O’Connor then earned and converted a free on the left to make it a onepoint game, going on to hit the last of Wexford’s eight wides (Dublin had seven) before a poor Joe O’Connor clearance was returned over the bar with interest by Ronan Hayes (0-17 to 1-12).
The determination to keep going until the bitter end is one of the most admirable traits of this Wexford squad, and it brought rich rewards once again as they outscored the opposition by 1-2 to 0-1 before the action concluded after five minutes and 50 seconds of added time.
The group stage will conclude at home to Carlow this Sunday at 2 p.m., and after that all eyes will be on the other results to determine the opponents for a knockout game for Wexford that will be ideal preparation for the round-robin Leinster championship.
Wexford: Mark Fanning (1-0 pen.); Joe O’Connor, Liam Ryan, Conor Firman; Damien Reck, Matthew O’Hanlon (joint capt.), Shaun Murphy; Aidan Rochford, Diarmuid O’Keeffe (0-1); Kevin Foley, Lee Chin (0-1 free), Aidan Nolan; Paul Morris (0-7, 3 frees, 1 ’65), Mikie Dwyer, Rory O’Connor (0-4, 1 free). Subs. - Pádraig Foley for K. Foley, temp. (31-HT), Pádraig Foley (0-1) for O’Hanlon (HT), Liam Óg McGovern for Rochford (HT), Jack O’Connor (1-0) for Chin (47), Conor McDonald for Dwyer (48), Cathal Dunbar for Nolan (69), also James Lawlor, Shane Reck, Simon Donohoe, Harry Kehoe, Gary Molloy, Connal Flood.
Dublin: Seán Brennan; James Madden (0-1), Eoghan O’Donnell, Cian O’Callaghan; Jake Malone, Daire Gray, Paddy Smyth; Seán Moran, Rían McBride (0-2); Danny Sutcliffe, Chris Crummey (0-1), Donal Burke (0-1); David Keogh, Ronan Hayes (0-2, 1 free), Oisín O’Rorke (0-1 free). Subs. - Paul Ryan (0-8 frees) for O’Rorke, inj. (14), Cian Boland (0-1) for Sutcliffe (43), Eamonn Dillon (0-1) for Keogh (53), Andrew Dunphy for O’Callaghan (57), Tomás Connolly for Madden (62).
Referee: Johnny Murphy (Limerick).