Final spot sealed
Fancied footballers grind down Offaly
WEXFORD 1-18 OFFALY 0-7
WEXFORD WILL face Meath in the TG4 Leinster ladies’ Intermediate football championship final after grinding down Offaly in their last four clash in Ferbane on Sunday.
Anthony Masterson’s side were red-hot favourites going into this game but were sluggish in the early stages. However, before throw-in they would certainly have taken a 1-8 to 0-5 interval lead after playing against the breeze, and that was enough to knock the stuffing out of their hosts.
It did take Wexford a while to wear down the Faithful girls after the change of ends - they only scored two points in the first 14 minutes - but eventually the gargantuan effort that Offaly put in to stay in the game told and the visitors accelerated away to win with plenty to spare.
Overall, this was a slight step back in level of performance. Wexford played some nice football in patches but at other times they switched off in defence and got a tad lazy with the purpose and energy of their runs in attack.
There’s hardly cause for alarm, as it’s undoubtedly difficult to get up to tip-top performance level for a game that is only going to end one way. With the carrot of a Leinster championship medal on the line on July 9, it’s unlikely to be repeated.
Offaly set up to work hard and frustrate Wexford, as you would expect of an inferior team. They played Bernie Walsh as a sweeper and she did the job well. They sucked players back, circled their own goal and were as defensive a side as the Slaneysiders have faced this season.
Much of their focus in attack, as usual, was on getting Mairéad Daly involved but any day the extremely talented forward lands just one point from play is a good one for her opponent. Niamh Mernagh excelled in the marking job again, sticking limpet-close to Daly throughout.
The only change for Wexford was the introduction of Sarah Merrigan in goal for the absent Mary Rose Kelly. The Kilanerin clubwoman had her best game in a Wexford jersey; she was competent under the high ball and her distribution was excellent.
Otherwise Masterson relied on the same side that dispatched their final opponents in the last group game. Both corner-forwards struggled to repeat the impact they had in that game, mainly because Wexford didn’t look long early with the sweeper waiting to pounce.
However, Aisling Murphy did make the most of Róisín Murphy’s burst forward to kick the opening point in the first minute. When Clara Donnelly’s shot was foot-blocked, Fiona Rochford registered the easiest of her nine points from in front of the posts.
Mairéad Daly opened her account from a free in the fifth minute but Rochford responded in kind after Caitríona Murray was felled. Daly again snipped the deficit to a point but good teamwork by Siobhán Cloake, Aisling Murphy and Rochford helped Murray break free and fire to the net.
Compared to the excellent performance of Maurice Mulcahy two weeks earlier, referee Kevin Phelan blew a little too often, particularly for borderline over-carrying infringements, and the game didn’t really flow as a result, especially in the first-half.
Another Daly free made it 1-3 to 0-3 after twelve minutes, and Offaly managed just four more points in the next 48. Rochford punished a foul on her by kicking the resulting dead-ball, and then Clara Donnelly took the safe point when a goal might have been in the offing.
Bernie Breen took a great catch from a Lauren Dunne kick-out and started a move that midfield partner Kellie Kearney ended with a fine point. At the other end, in the 22nd minute, Róisín Egan grabbed her side’s first score from play after Daly caught the Wexford defence napping with a quickly-taken free.
Breen repaid the favour at the other end when releasing Rochford for her fourth point and, after Daly pulled one back, Donnelly blasted narrowly over after a one-two with Kearney to leave Wexford 1-8 to 0-5 ahead at the interval.
Sarah Merrigan made a smart stop from Ellee McEvoy when she was allowed run too far through the heart of the Wexford defence after the break. Rochford hit the target at the other end after the marauding Clara Donnelly was fouled.
While McEvoy and Rochford traded third quarter scores - the latter after Murray turned over possession - there were signs of frustration with several aimless passes from the visitors. However, when Rochford pointed a 44th-minute free and Bernie Breen followed it with a wind-aided score moments later, Offaly looked like a spent side.
Siobhán Cloake kicked a superb point that was quickly followed by a great run off the ball and score by Aisling Murphy from Murray’s feed.
Then, the score of the game started with Marica Cullen winning the ball in defence. Wexford broke up the field and eventually Murphy made it 1-15 to 0-6.
The first pair of substitutes, Ciara Walsh and Georgina Hearn, were both involved in Rochford’s eighth point in the 53rd minute. Murray kicked her only minor of the afternoon after Rachel Bennett blocked an attempted clearance.
With three more substitutes entering the fray, Wexford took their foot off the gas. Daly knocked over her only score from play with three minutes of normal time remaining, a point that was countered by Rochford’s ninth in the 60th minute.
With the game over, and the sides going through the motions, a flashpoint saw Marica Cullen go down and substitute Sinéad Egan collect a straight red card in added-time - an incident completely out of kilter with the rest of the game.
It didn’t matter a jot to Wexford as they took the win by triple scores in the end. Meath will be a tougher opponent on July 9 but the shorter journey to Netwatch Cullen Park in Carlow should stand to the Slaneysiders.
That game is scheduled to throw-in at 2 p.m. and is part of a triple-header. Carlow and Kilkenny meet in the Junior final at noon while Dublin face off against Westmeath for the Senior title decider at 4 p.m.
Wexford: Sarah Merrigan; Sarah Harding-Kenny, Marica Cullen, Niamh Mernagh; Clara Donnelly (0-2), Róisín Murphy, Marguerite Doyle; Bernie Breen (0-1), Kellie Kearney (0-1); Niamh Butler, Caitríona Murray (1-1), Siobhán Cloake (0-1); Aisling Murphy (0-3), Fiona Rochford (capt., 0-9, 5 frees), Rachel Bennett. Subs. - Ciara Walsh for Butler (52), Georgina Hearn for Cloake (52), Brídín Doyle for M. Doyle (57), Maeve Quill for Harding-Kenny (57), Fiona Rowe for A. Murphy (57), also Bríd Byrne, Emer Cahill, Eleanor Neville, Elaine McCabe, Ann Byrne, Aoife Sheil, Aoife Tormey, Chantelle Martin.
Offaly: Lauren Dunne; Alisha Murphy, Sarah Cummins, Sinéad Byrne; Katie Kehoe, Emma Maher, Imelda Fleming; Gráinne Dolan, Ellee McEvoy (0-1 free); Róisín Egan (0-1), Sarah Kehoe, Bernie Walsh; Mairéad Daly (capt., 0-5, 4 frees), Aoife Corbett, Méabh Coleman. Subs. - Ann Daly for Byrne (44), Vicki Carey for Coleman (44), Sinéad Egan for S. Kehoe (59).
Referee: Kevin Phelan (Laois).