Sherlock cracks case
Clinical sub gets the Dubs out of jail with goal
IMAGINE A crowd of 82,072 watching the Wexford Senior footballers.
It seems hard to envisage nowadays, but that was the incredible attendance in Croke Park on June 19, 2005, when the team came agonisingly close to lowering the colours of the Dubs in a pulsating Leinster championship semi-final.
The dreams of a first appearance in the provincial decider since 1956 were shattered in gut-wrenching fashion, with a 60th-minute goal from super-sub Jason Sherlock getting the boys in blue out of jail after a major battle on a 1-17 to 2-10 scoreline.
Brilliantly-worked and finished goals from the outstanding Redmond Barry and P.J. Banville had helped the underdogs into a 2-8 to 0-11 lead with 17 minutes to play.
The Dubs looked rattled at that stage, and all it probably needed was for Wexford to pick off another point or two to feed into the growing panic amongst the opposition.
Sadly, the old failings of over-elaborating and not making the optimum use of scoring opportunities came back to haunt Pat Roe’s team as Dublin levelled proceedings with a trio of unanswered points.
And then came a moment of magic from Sherlock just nine minutes after his arrival, eleven years after his goalscoring exploits had also decided the outcome of the Leinster Minor final between the counties.
This was the Paul Caffrey era for the Dubs, and it was often a case of all show and little substance as his charges struggled to back up their fighting talk with the necessary action on the field.
And they were mediocre at best on this particular afternoon, giving Wexford a realistic chance of beating them in championship fare for the first time since 1956.
Indeed, the Dubs were outscored by 2-6 to 0-4 between the 23rd and 53rd minutes, but crucially Wexford lost the concluding stages thereafter by 1-6 to a miserly two points.
However, it was in a tense scoreless period between the 43rd and 53rd minutes, with Roe’s men leading by 2-7 to 0-11, when the game was really there for the taking.
Numerous chances weren’t finished, with those misses clinically punished in the final quarter when Dublin began to dominate, timing their determined dart for the line to perfection.
And even though midfielder Ciarán Whelan was red-carded, leaving them with 14 men for the last ten minutes, they counter-attacked swiftly and pounced for a succession of game-winning points after that game-altering goal from Sherlock.
Wexford had led by the minimum (1-6 to 0-8) at half-time, with Redmond Barry displaying nerves of steel by firing the goal into the Hill 16 end net after Diarmuid Kinsella earned a penalty in the 34th minute.
Just as he prepared to take the spot-kick, a flare went off within close proximity. And although Stephen Cluxton saved his first effort, the St. Anne’s man held his nerve and slid the rebound to the net with his left foot.
Barely a minute had elapsed on the re-start when P.J. Banville put Wexford four points clear with an excellent finish.
David Fogarty dispossessed Shane Ryan and off-loaded to Shane Cullen who lofted the ball into space inside, with Banville winning the race for possession with Peadar Andrews before applying a clinical low finish through Cluxton’s legs.
Dublin responded with three points, only for substitute John Hudson and Redmond Barry to leave Wexford with that 2-8 to 0-11 advantage in the 53rd minute.
History was within their grasp, but it all went wrong in the last quarter as another lost game was added to the ‘what might have been’ chapter of Wexford football.
Wexford: John Cooper; Colm Morris, Philip Wallace, Niall Murphy; Páraic Curtis, Kieran Kennedy (0-2), David Murphy; Nicky Lambert, David Fogarty (0-1); Redmond Barry (1-1), Shane Cullen, Diarmuid Kinsella; P.J. Banville (1-2), Paddy Colfer, Matty Forde (capt., 0-3, 2 frees). Subs. - John Hudson (0-1) for Colfer, Darren Foran for Banville, Darragh Breen for Curtis, Jim D’Arcy for Lambert.
Dublin: Stephen Cluxton; Paul Griffin, Paddy Christie (capt.), Stephen O’Shaughnessy; Coman Goggins, Barry Cahill, Paul Casey; Ciarán Whelan (0-1), Shane Ryan; Colin Moran (0-2), Alan Brogan (0-1), Bryan Cullen (0-2); Mark Vaughan, Conal Keaney (0-1), Tomás Quinn (0-10, 7 frees, 1 ’45). Subs. - Peadar Andrews for O’Shaughnessy, inj., Senan Connell for Vaughan, Jason Sherlock (1-0) for Moran, Darren Homan for Ryan.
Referee: Brian Crowe (Cavan).