Wexford wilt as Westmeath waltz home
Defensive frailties cruelly exposed as midlanders run riot in the open spaces
WESTMEATH 2-24 WEXFORD 2-11
A MALFUNCTIONING defensive system laid the unfortunate foundations for a disastrous outing in Croke Park on Saturday as the Wexford Senior footballers were subjected to the second thrashing by Westmeath in the space of a fortnight, losing this Allianz League Division 4 final by 13 points.
Eyebrows were raised at the positions taken up by the Model county men for the throw-in, with long-time attacker Kevin O’Grady at left half-back and Brian Malone in the right half-forward slot.
However, when the action began the intentions became clear as Malone moved to a more familiar right half-back role to police David Lynch, with Eoghan Nolan picking up Paul Sharry on the ’40. This left John Leacy to double up on dangerman John Heslin with Jim Rossiter, and John Tubritt drifted out to the number 10 position while Ciarán Lyng and P.J. Banville formed a two-man full-forward line.
And while O’Grady remained in his unfamiliar defensive spot, that was one of the sole success stories of a forgettable afternoon as he repeatedly bombed forward to win frees and also scored 1-1 in the opening half.
Banville tried all he knew to worry Westmeath and was one of very few players to perform with any degree of consistency. Otherwise it was a real eye-opener though as the midlanders burst forward at their ease, with the ongoing failure of Wexford men to track back giving their rivals ample time on the ball.
In addition, the losers’ backs struggled for the most part in the physical stakes, with their tackles repeatedly swatted aside by stronger opponents who only dropped one point in the entire campaign, on day one when they drew at home to our first championship opponents, Carlow.
Sharry, Kieran Martin, John Heslin and Tommy McDaniels ensured Eoghan Nolan, Michael Furlong, Jim Rossiter and Ronan Devereux respectively had a torrid time of it in the first-half, while John Leacy struggled to stop the wave after wave of Westmeath attacks too.
The winners also held sway in midfield, nothwithstanding the fact that Daithí Waters did have occasional bright spells. It was a rude awakening on the whole, highlighting the reality that Carlow will prove very difficult opponents to overcome on their home soil next month.
Wexford won the toss and opted to play into the Hill 16 end first, but they conceded an opening score after 30 seconds when Westmeath captain Ger Egan pointed after an initial good tackle by Leacy.
However, the first 15 minutes were reasonably encouraging as the sides were level three times.
Michael Furlong came forward from corner-back to finish a good move involving Jim Rossiter, Ciarán Lyng and Ben Brosnan, but a Brosnan ’45 in the fifth minute was kept in play by Lyng and delivered to Paul Curtis whose kick was blocked and cleared.
It was apparent from that early stage that all three of Westmeath’s inside attackers were capable of regularly beating their individual opponents.
John Leacy fouled Kieran Martin as he cut inside menacingly from the left, with John Heslin restoring his side’s lead from the free before Kevin O’Grady showed his first signs of settling into that new role.
He spotted a gap in the ninth minute after receiving a John Tubritt pass and darted into the ‘D’ before steadying himself and splitting the posts.
Tommy McDaniels fisted the ball over the bar in reply before the old guard were involved in Wexford’s third equaliser, finished by an otherwise quiet Ciarán Lyng after good work by Brosnan, Malone and Banville.
A foul by Colm Kehoe, already booked, led to John Heslin making it 4-3, and it all started to go extremely wrong for Wexford when they conceded a goal in 17th minute.
James Dolan surged forward from wing-back to join an attack and was taken down by Paul Curtis after a Kevin Maguire handpass put him clear.
It was surprising that referee Paul Faloon didn’t deem it worthy of a yellow or even black card, but enough punishment was meted out as Ger Egan calmly sent Shane Roche the wrong way from the spot kick (1-4 to 0-3).
Three more points were added by the rampant trio of Heslin, Martin and Sharry before a chink of light emerged in the 22nd minute. P.J. Banville and John Tubritt combined, with Kevin O’Grady accepting a pass from the latter in an advanced position and jinking one way and then the other before planting a left-footed piledriver past Darren Quinn (1-7 to 1-3).
That goal could have been cancelled out on the next Westmeath attack, but Shane Roche made a stunning point-blank save to deny Martin who was put clean through by Sharry.
Tommy McDaniels created another good opening less than 60 seconds later but, no doubt mindful of the netminder’s heroics, opted to fist the ball over the bar rather than shooting low.
Wexford did create another goal chance in the 25th minute when Paul Curtis and Daithí Waters combined to release P.J. Banville, but his shot with his left across the body of netminder Darren Quinn was well saved by the number 1.
The deadly duo of Sharry and Martin widened the gap to seven before Waters beat three men down the right flank and fisted a point from a John Tubritt pass in the 32nd minute.
Westmeath had the last say on the half though, with Sharry's sidestep and point coming after David Lynch found himself in acres of space down the left wing.
Wexford trailed by 1-11 to 1-4 at the break, and the fact that only 0-1 of that tally came from a forward said it all about their difficulties all over the field. Adrian
Flynn and Michael O'Regan came in at half-time, at right half-back and full-forward repectively, with Malone moving to the full-back line to join Jim Rossiter and Michael Furlong. Flynn, Eoghan Nolan and O'Grady completed the defence, while Conor Carty had already come into the action at the expense of Paul Curtis is near the end of the first-half. There was some early promise a pointed free for Lyng after a push or Banville, but it was shortlived.
Westmeath chalked up the next four
points, via McDaniels, Martin, Kelvin Reilly and Martin again, while Shane Roche saved a goal attempt by corner-back Mark McCallon with his leg and a Ben Brosnan placed ball rebounded off the post at the other end.
Donal Shanley replaced the man who appeared in a Wexford jersey as a Castletown clubman for the first time, and an eight-minute barren spell for the Slaneysiders ended with a solo point from P.J. Banville (1-15 to 1-6).
The outcome was inevitable though as we reached the midway stage of the half, with Westmeath comfortably keeping their rivals at more than arm’s length and controlling the pace of the game.
Heslin and Lyng, after Banville was fouled, swapped points from frees, and that duo did the same again to leave the score at 1-17 to 1-8. Colm Kehoe had been held back as he played a pass to Michael Furlong, and no advantage accrued as the defender’s shot was deflected into the side-netting by a Westmeath man.
Kehoe picked out Banville for his second point from play, but the gap was stretched to double digits for the second time after a brace from Heslin, the first a spectacular effort from play.
Lyng and Kehoe combined to create a chance for Michael O’Regan in the 64th minute, but his low shot was blocked by substitute John Egan’s feet. And just to make matters a little worse, Wexford had to finish with 14 men, having used all six substitutes before Conor Carty was black-carded for blocking James Dolan’s run off the ball.
The space opened up even more thereafter, with substitutes Shane Dempsey and John Connellan (two) slotting over easy points (1-22 to 1-9).
Wexford’s dreadful day was summed up in the 67th minute when Dempsey clearly mis-hit a point-scoring attempt which caught Shane Roche by surprise. And although the netminder scrambled to his left as the ball dipped under crossbar height, he only succeeded in parrying it into the net. Ger Egan stretched the lead to a game-high 17 points before Wexford replied with a consolation goal, directed to the far corner with a low shot by Donal Shanley after Banville and Waters combined.
Heslin caught a long ball over Brian Malone’s head and closed the scoring for Westmeath before Shanley pulled back late consolation scores from a free and ’45 respectively. A small crowd of 5,823 watched this double bill which also featured Tipperary beating Louth in the Division 3 final. Wexford hit seven of the game’s 15 wides and were awarded 19 of the 37 frees.
Wexford: Shane Roche; Ronan Devereux, Jim Rossiter, Michael Furlong (0-1); Eoghan Nolan, John Leacy, Kevin O’Grady (1-1); Daithí Waters (capt., 0-1), Colm Kehoe; Brian Malone, Ben Brosnan, Paul Curtis; John Tubritt, Ciarán Lyng (0-4, 3 frees), P.J. Banville (0-2). Subs. - Conor Carty for Curtis (30), Adrian Flynn for Leacy (HT), Michael O’Regan for Devereux (HT), Donal Shanley (1-2, 0-1 free, 0-1 ‘45) for Brosnan (43), Joey Wadding for Tubritt (51), Tiarnan Rossiter for Nolan, inj. (56).
Westmeath: Darren Quinn; Kevin Maguire, Jamie Gonoud, Mark McCallon; James Dolan, Killian Daly, Noel Mulligan; Alan Stone, Ger Egan (capt., 1-2, 1-0 pen.); Kelvin Reilly (0-1), Paul Sharry (0-3), David Lynch; Kieran Martin (0-4), John Heslin (0-8, 5 frees), Tommy McDaniels (0-3). Subs. - Denis Glennon for Daly (48), Shane Dempsey (1-1) for McDaniels (52), Denis Corroon for Stone (55), John Egan for Mulligan (57), John Connellan (0-2) for Martin (62), Callum McCormack for Lynch (66).
Referee: Paul Faloon (Down).