Cobh ramble to late victory
Spot kick drama on a long night as Wexford bow out
WEXFORD F.C. COBH RAMBLERS 0 0
(AET, Cobh won 8-7 on penalties) THERE WAS late-night drama in Ferrycarrig Park on Tuesday to make up for the generally dull fare that went before it as an unlucky Wexford F.C. were knocked out of the EA Sports Cup at the first hurdle by Cobh Ramblers after a penalty shoot-out.
This was the second of a three-game losing sequence in the space of just six days, sandwiching those comprehensive league losses to Longford Town and Drogheda United respectively.
And it was undoubtedly the best display of that period too, with the home side enjoying the better chances in the 90 minutes in particular before ultimately bowing out in the spot-kick lottery.
The handful of hardy souls who braved the bitter cold rather than watching Manchester United and Sevilla on the box got more than they bargained for, as a game that kicked off at 8 p.m. didn’t end until 10.40 p.m. when Cobh centre-back Ben O’Riordan scored the winning penalty to shorten his side’s journey home.
There was an experimental look about the team in keeping with the usual policy in this competition, with full debuts handed to young goalkeeper Kealan Gaffney, right winger Liam McCartan, and midfielder Ryan Nolan from Ferns who was a member of last year’s Wexford Gaelic football squad.
And while there was little of note to get excited about in a pedestrian first-half, McCartan came closest to breaking the deadlock when his shot from inside the area in the 30th minute was saved by the feet of Ramblers netminder and captain, Paul Hunt.
The leader for the night, Thomas Croke, had earlier worked a neat onetwo on the right with Dean George, but his shot was rising from the moment it left his boot and veered high and wide.
The sole Wexford corner of the half came after a Dean George shot was blocked in the 22nd minute, but John Morgan’s delivery was palmed out by Hunt and a defender got in the way of Seán Kelly’s follow-up attempt.
Ramblers had wasted their sole corner at an early stage, while Beineon O’Brien-Whitmarsh didn’t test Kealan Gaffney with a weak shot in the 25th minute.
While Wexford were best in the second-half corner count 4-2, neither side managed to break the deadlock.
The home side’s most assured performer throughout, defender Owen McCormack, had the best attempt in the 59th minute after Thomas Croke sent in a corner from the right.
Paul Hunt could only knock it into the Kilkenny lad’s path, and he controlled neatly before shooting narrowly over, with appeals that it had struck a defender turned down.
Good play by Dean George had created an early opening for the lively Owen Wall who couldn’t keep his shot down, while Danny Doyle was in an offside position when he headed over from a John Morgan cross.
Gaffney had another comfortable save to make from a speculative Cian Leonard shot in the 65th minute, while Wall was well off target with another wayward effort at the opposite end.
Owen McCormack cleared a dangerous free-kick into the box, but Wexford were fortunate on the next Ramblers attack when substitute Jaze Kabia stretched but couldn’t get a connection on Charlie Fleming’s low cross from the right.
A Thomas Croke shot was deflected for a fruitless corner, and the best chance late on fell to the visitors but defender Pierce Phillips couldn’t get his head on a corner from Darren Murphy.
The only real opening of the first period of added time didn’t arrive until the final minute, and it produced a fine save from Kealan Gaffney to keep out a Phillips snapshot.
Wexford were inches away from a winner in the sixth minute of the second-half when a John Morgan corner struck a defender and was palmed away by Paul Hunt before it crept over the line.
And they were dogged by misfortune for a second time shortly afterwards when substitute Shane Barnes worked some space close to the byline on the left before striking the butt of the post. The ball rebounded invitingly across the six-yard box, but there was nobody there to get the vital touch before it was eventually cleared.
A couple of late Cobh corners were dealt with before the 120 minutes of goal-less action drew to a conclusion.
The town end goal was the location for the shoot-out, and the first six kicks were expertly converted, with the Wexford trio slotted home by John Morgan, Aaron Dobbs and Owen McCormack respectively.
The initial glitch arrived with number seven when Aaron O’Connor’s effort was saved by Hunt, but Kealan Gaffney did likewise immediately to leave the sides deadlocked on 3-3.
Shane Barnes restored the Wexford lead, only for ex-Waterford schemer Anthony McAlavey to respond as we moved into sudden death.
There was another perfect six conversions, with Thomas Croke, A.J. Lehane and Dean George doing the business for the home side, while Jaze Kabia, Andrew Wall and Ian Mylod ensured a 7-7 tie.
Liam McCartan was the unfortunate Wexford player whose attempt was saved, and up stepped Ben O’Riordan to beat Gaffney and clinch victory for Ramblers on an 8-7 scoreline.
The ‘new’ Wexford F.C. have yet to win a game in this competition, although this display was an immense improvement on last year’s 5-0 home exit at the same stage to neighbours Waterford.
And it’s worth noting that fatigue from the extra-time couldn’t really be used as an excuse for the humiliation at the hands of Drogheda three nights later, given that only defender Owen McCormack and midfielder Thomas Croke started bothgames.
Wexford F.C.: Kealan Gaffney; Owen McCormack, A.J. Lehane, Seán Kelly; Liam McCartan, Ryan Nolan, Thomas Croke (capt.), Owen Wall, John Morgan; Dean George, Danny Doyle. Subs. - Aaron O’Connor for Nolan (67), Shane Barnes for Doyle (76), Aaron Dobbs for Wall (100), also Danny Bolger, Seán Hurley, Ross Kenny, Jordan Harmon.
Cobh Ramblers: Paul Hunt (capt.); Charlie Fleming, Pierce Phillips, Ben O’Riordan, Adam O’Sullivan, Ian Mylod; Stephen Christopher, Darren Murphy, Anthony McAlavey; Cian Leonard, Beineon O’Brien-Whitmarsh. Subs. - Jaze Kabia for O’Brien-Whitmarsh (57), John Dineen for Christopher (72), Andrew Wall for Leonard (84), also Kevin Taylor, James McSweeney, Michal Sadys, Denzil Fernandes.
Referee: Jason Mannix (Cork).