Roche’s reign starts on high
Footballers in promotion frame after big win in Limerick
WEXFORD 1-13 LIMERICK 1-10
SHANE ROCHE’S reign as Wexford Senior football manager started on a very welcome note in Mick Neville Park, Rathkeale, on Sunday as his strong-starting charges saw off a second-half recovery from Limerick to set themselves up for a promotion showdown with neighbours Wicklow this coming weekend.
The new boss put his own stamp on the team for the resumption of the Allianz League Division 4 campaign after a 232-day break, and they gelled impressively to claim a merited three-point victory.
It wasn’t all plain sailing, with netminder Pa Doyle making two marvellous second-half saves, while Limerick came close to a late equaliser when Adrian Enright touched the ball on to the outside of the right post in the last play of the game.
However, Wexford’s slick first-half attacking and immense workrate throughout deserved to be rewarded, and now they are locked on eight points along with Limerick and Wicklow as the latter prepare to visit Chadwicks Wexford Park for the final round this Saturday.
Antrim, on seven points, are not out of the promotion equation yet either, but the bottom line is that Roche’s charges are in control of their own destiny.
After some disappointing omissions from the squad earlier in the year, it was a real positive to see mighty midfielder Daithí Waters and corner-forward Kevin O’Grady back in the fold for this crucial clash.
The most interesting positional choice was the decision to start Seán ‘Mini’ Ryan at wing-back, while there was an inter-county Senior debut on the right flank of the attack for Starlights star Alan Tobin who contributed immensely to this success.
John Tubritt’s return was another huge plus as he was buzzing in a lively full-forward line, with new captain Ben Brosnan continuing his fine form in what is arguably the best season of his entire career for both club and county thus far.
Donal Shanley and substitute Nick Doyle also featured for the first time in the Wexford shirt this year, on an afternoon when the constant tracking back and determined tackling led to several vital turnovers.
Vice-captain Martin O’Connor excelled in a well-marshalled back line that responded very well to the constant encouragement of new defence coach Philip Wallace, with the visitors overcoming two second-half black cards for Glen Malone and substitute Tom Byrne to keep their promotion hopes very much alive.
Given that the players had all travelled down Sunday morning, the fact that they burst out of the starting blocks was as welcome as it was unexpected.
They were the dominant force from the off, and the generally wise choices taken in front of goal were a clear sign that forwards coach Declan Browne, the former Tipperary star, has also made an immediate impact.
Indeed, a Niall Hughes wide after 24 seconds was one of just four registered by the visitors (two per half), whereas Limerick sent eleven attempts astray, including a couple of very scoreable frees taken by Pádraig Scanlon in the opening half.
Daithí Waters gave everything to the cause until his legs could offer no more, with Nick Doyle proving an equally effective midfield replacement in the 46th minute.
On the day when his reaching the 100-appearance mark became public knowledge - after a January, 2009, O’Byrne Cup debut against Kildare - the eighth inter-county goal the big man has registered arrived in admittedly fortuitous circumstances in the 34th minute.
Waters had been busy from the off, with his pass leading to a foul on Kevin O’Grady and the first of Ben Brosnan’s five pointed frees in the third minute.
Eoin Porter joined the attack at pace and was impeded to give the captain his second opportunity which he took with ease, before an alert Gavin Sheehan was on hand to make a vital goal-line catch after Limerick’s Iain Corbett had poked the ball over the head of Pa Doyle when it ran away from him.
John Tubritt kicked a sweet left-footed point from an O’Grady assist as the bright start continued, and Limerick didn’t get off the mark until the twelfth minute when Adrian Enright polished off good approach work from Darragh Treacy and Hugh Bourke.
Waters had a hand in the next Wexford point too, with Glen Malone going on to exchange passes with Alan Tobin before splitting the posts for a 0-4 to 0-1 lead.
Tubritt registered again in the
14th minute, after evading the close attention of Brian Fanning in the left corner and cutting inside following a Ben Brosnan pass.
Tobin, Tubritt and O’Grady all applied strong pressure on the short kick-out that followed, leading to a foul on the latter and another Brosnan score.
And it was 0-6 to 0-2 in Wexford’s favour at the water break, after Pádraig Scanlon hit the first Limerick point from play before Brosnan was unfortunate to strike the right post with a high kick.
Martin O’Connor made a superb tackle when play resumed to deny Adrian Enright a possible goal, with Eoghan Nolan kicking his side’s second wide before his pass led to a foul on Tubritt and another Brosnan conversion.
Both O’Grady and Tubritt went to ground in the same move, with neither awarded frees despite strong Wexford pleas, but the Limerick counter that followed ended with a fine Gavin Sheehan block on Enright’s effort for a point.
Pádraig Scanlon followed a miss from a kickable free with a good score from play, but the crucial Wexford goal arrived on their next attack, in the 34th minute.
In all fairness, the last thing on Daithí Waters’ mind was a goal when he lofted a high kick from outfield towards the Limerick posts.
However, with Donal Shanley proving a major distraction in his immediate eye-line, netminder Donal O’Sullivan dropped the ball into his own net and the visitors’ lead was extended to 1-7 to 0-3.
And the margin was widened to eight before the break, with a partial block on a John Tubritt kick falling into the hands of a grateful Seán Ryan who had burst forward and was in the perfect place to avail fully of the opening.
Scanlon wasted another handy chance from a free in added time, but the introduction of three substitutes and a strong dressing down from manager Billy Lee on the side
of the field energised Limerick at the start of the second-half.
The good start they needed duly arrived in the form of a 38th-minute goal, with one new face setting up another as a back got his hands on a Seán McSweeney kick on its way towards the square, with Tommy Griffin rising highest to touch the dropping ball to Pa Doyle’s net (1-8 to 1-3).
Losing Glen Malone for ten minutes after a body-check on Tony McCarthy added to the pressure, with Limerick’s best spell yielding two points without reply from Iain Corbett and Darragh Treacy.
Brosnan had sent a free from the hands off target from Wexford’s only chance in that period, with their fourth and final wide of the game coming in the form of a misplaced Martin O’Connor pass.
Seconds after Malone returned,
Hugh Bourke tapped over a closein free to leave two between them.
Eoghan Nolan was penalised for touching the ball on the ground in that incident, but he made amends with a surging run after a one-two with Donal Shanley.
It led to a foul and a pointed Ben Brosnan free in the 53rd minute, Wexford’s first score after the interval and something positive to take into the water break that followed immediately (1-9 to 1-6).
And the visitors were back to something approaching their best when the last quarter began, with the three points they hit on the bounce all worth their weight in gold.
A key interception by Shanley led to a foul on Tubritt and a Brosnan point, before the latter delivered a huge legitimate hit on Gordon Brown that shook the Limerick man to the core and summed up Wexford’s spirit.
Alan Tobin’s first point at this level came via the left post in the 58th minute after good work by Shanley and Niall Hughes.
Substitute James Stafford cut out the next Limerick attack by getting a vital hand in, and he picked out Brosnan who in turn teed up Shanley for the St. Fintan’s man to widen the lead to 1-11 to 1-6. Pa Doyle was seen at this brilliant best for the first time with a diving save to deny Seán McSweeney after Darragh Treacy drove through the middle in the 60th minute.
Brosnan then fisted over after Kevin O’Grady worked a short free in the right corner, but the hard work was far from over.
Tony McCarthy pulled a point back before Wexford were reduced to 14 again, with Tom Byrne staying on the field for less than three minutes after his arrival, seeing black for a heavy late hit on Paul Maher.
Iain Corbett and Cillian Fahy kicked points to reduce the visitors’ lead to 1-12 to 1-9, before Pa Doyle highlighted his importance to the cause once more near the end of the third of the six and a half added minutes played.
Another spectacular dive ensured Seán McSweeney didn’t find the net, and the Wexford breakaway that followed saw substitute Mark Rossiter kick a neat pass into space for Ben Brosnan to race on to and fire over their last point (1-13 to 1-9).
Hugh Bourke did convert a free after Pa Doyle overcarried, just before Tom Byrne returned, and there was one huge late scare. Iain Corbett lofted the ball towards the far post from the right, with Bourke keeping it in and popping it across the square.
Adrian Enright got a hand to it, but it shaved the outside of the post and went wide, with the final whistle thankfully following on the kick-out.
Wexford: Pa Doyle; Eoin Porter, Gavin Sheehan, Martin O’Connor; Seán Ryan (0-1), Brian Malone, Glen Malone (0-1); Niall Hughes, Daithí Waters (1-0); Alan Tobin (0-1), Donal Shanley (0-1), Eoghan Nolan; Kevin O’Grady, John Tubritt (0-2), Ben Brosnan (capt., 0-7, 5 frees). Subs. - Nick Doyle for Waters (46), James Stafford for Ryan (48), Tom Byrne for Nolan (62), Mark Rossiter for Tubritt (65), Seán Nolan for Shanley (68), also Colum Feeney, Liam O’Connor, Aaron Murphy, Jake Firman, Richie Waters, Daire Barden. Sin-bin: Glen Malone (39), Tom Byrne (65).
Limerick: Donal O’Sullivan; Seán O’Dea, Brian Fanning, Paul Maher; Tony McCarthy (0-1), Iain Corbett (capt., 0-2), Gordon Brown; Darragh Treacy (0-1), Tommy Childs; Pádraig de Brún, Cillian Fahy (0-1), Adrian Enright (0-1); Pádraig Scanlon (0-2), Seamus O’Carroll, Hugh Bourke (0-2 frees). Subs. - Tommy Griffin (1-0) for Childs (HT), Seán McSweeney for O’Carroll (HT), Killian Ryan for de Brún (HT), Cian Sheehan for Scanlon (48), Colm McSweeney for Brown (61).
Referee: Seán Lonergan (Tip