Balance of power has shifted on the local football front
IGOT the distinct sense of something in the air at the first Wexford F.C. friendly of 2018 on Friday, and I’m not talking about the mild chill that goes with the territory when attending a floodlit sporting fixture in the month of January.
What really caught my attention was the palpable anticipation and expectation among home supporters in Waterford’s impressive Regional Sports Centre for the season to come.
The Blues are finally back in the Premier Division for the first time since 2007, and the attendance at this game was considerably higher than the Ferrycarrig Park league average last season.
You won’t find a detailed match report on the game elsewhere because it didn’t merit that sort of coverage. Both sides fielded numerous trialists who remained anonymous on the teamsheet, although some of the Wexford lads were very familiar, with the wholesale changes ensuring just two of the visitors - defenders Owen McCormack from Kilkenny and Blackwater’s Conor Sutton - played for longer than 45 minutes.
The most notable figure in the black jersey was young attacker Owen Wall who has signed from Friday’s opponents, having tormented Wexford in an EA Sports Cup rout last season.
Newcomer Liam McCartan played the first-half at right-back, while John Morgan and Shane Barnes featured at midfield and up front in the second period.
For the record, Waterford won 4-1, having led 3-0 at the interval. Their first was finished in the eighth minute by ex-Shamrock Rovers defender David Webster who reacted quickest after a Paul Keegan corner initially struck a defender before rebounding back into play off the post.
Izzy Akinade, another signing from Bohs, added the second on the 24-minute mark, heading home from a Ross Kenny goal-line clearance after Danny Bolger initially saved from Sander Puri.
The Waterford fans in my vicinity were amused to hear the P.A. announcer crediting yet another of their new faces, Bastien Héry, with the third on the stroke of half-time after another Keegan corner from the left quite clearly went in off the unlucky Dean George.
Wexford fared better on the re-start, and the big plus was a calmly-taken Aaron Dobbs goal in the 56th minute from a slide rule through ball by Shane Barnes. This augurs well for the Enniscorthy lad, on loan for a second term from Shamrock Rovers, who endured a frustrating scoring drought last season.
Waterford responded with a touch of class, a rising shot from just outside the box on the left by ex-Cork and Galway schemer Gavan Holohan that flew into the top right corner of the net.
Make no mistake about it, money talks at every level of football, and the League of Ireland is no exception.
On the trip home I was thinking back on my visit to the same venue for a First Division game in August of 2015. Wexford were on course for that memorable league title and won an entertaining clash 3-2.
The balance of power in this part of the world has shifted considerably in the interim. Millionaire Lee Power invested heavily in his native Blues with the ultimate aim of European football, and they have returned to the top flight at the first attempt. No wonder the natives are excited about the season to come.
As for Wexford, it’s also a big year but for different reasons as the club is in the ownership of a supporters’ trust for the first time.
I’m looking forward to seeing what they do in terms of enhancing the match-night experience. As fans themselves up to this point, the collective must surely accept that it won’t work if they simply plead for supporters to turn up without making it as attractive as possible.
I was pleasantly surprised driving over Wexford bridge on the way to work last Friday when I saw they have taken out advertising on the best-located billboard in town. What a pity that the message posted is a grammatical mess.
After going to the trouble and expense of trying to catch the public’s eye, surely it could have been proof read to ensure that ‘its’ didn’t appear three times instead of the correct ‘it’s’.
Wexford F.C. can and must do better, because there is now a very attractive alternative for neutral football fans seeking entertainment, just a short spin down the road in Waterford.