Heavy defeat for U-20 team

Second Corden Cup loss

TIPPERARY WEXFORD 3-16 0-4

HAVING LOST by 19 points nine days earlier against Carlow, the Wexford Under-20 footballers went two worse when being crushed by Tipperary in the Moyle Rovers club grounds in Monroe, near Clonmel, on Sunday.

Honestly, the most interesting fact about this defeat was that for the second time in two games they faced a goalkeeper called ‘Kuba’, which must be a unique occurrence, and for the second time they failed to beat the ‘K’ man between the sticks.

Otherwise there was limited value to this drubbing. Wexford had 19 fit players, down considerably from the rake they had in their 2-19 to 0-6 defeat to Carlow, but the result was more of the same.

Unsurprisingly, when you lose by such a margin, things are fairly untidy at the moment. Guys looked heavy-legged quite early, on an admittedly heavy pitch, while the inter-play in possession and movement off the ball was nowhere near what one would expect of an inter-county team at any age group.

There is clearly a lot of work to be done before the championship rolls around, and Wexford will hope to find a bit of an easier proposition this weekend when they face a Waterford side which has also lost its two games so far in the competition, ensuring Carlow will meet Tipperary in the final.

The first-half wasn’t awful, but Wexford were still a little lucky to go in at the break only trailing by 1-5 to 0-3.

The hosts burst into a 0-4 to nil lead after nine minutes, with both wing-backs getting on the scoresheet, but Cormac Cooney did reply with a classy point from an attacking mark.

With Ciarán Regan involved in the build-up, Colum Feeney flighted over a second score for the Slaneysiders early in the second quarter.

His replacement in goal, Josh Burke, had already made a quality stop from Rian Quigley, but there was nothing he could do when the corner-forward got in again in the 20th minute to net.

Tipperary didn’t score in the remainder of the half as they kicked some awful wides from placedballs. Feeney did add another for

Wexford after the marauding Sam Audsley was fouled just before the interval.

The second-half was abysmal, from Wexford’s point of view. Down by five at the break, that soon swelled after Seán O’Connor netted.

Burke made a save from the same man to keep the goal column stagnant in the 40th minute, but the points kept flowing.

It was 2-12 to 0-3 when Fiachra Hourihane punched a difficult effort wide in the 49th minute.

Another Burke save prevented a third goal in the 53rd minute, but with five remaining Mark Stokes did drill home the third.

Wexford did keep plugging away and pulled a point back through Feeney in the 59th minute. It proved to be their only score of the half, although Kuba Beben did made a smart save from Regan in injury time as the hosts kept their clean sheet intact.

Wexford: Josh Burke (Our Lady’s Island); Liam O’Connor (St. Mary’s, Rosslare), Garbhan MacCormack (Glynn-Barntown), Colm Parnell (Ballyhogue); Sam Audsley (St. Martin’s), Páraic Hughes (Kilanerin), Peter O’Neill (Kilrush); Emmet Cullen (Gusserane), Adam Fleming (Réalt na Mara); Ciarán Regan (HWH-Bunclody), Colum Feeney (Adamstown, 0-3, 2 frees), Nathan O’Connor (Starlights); Cormac Cooney (Glynn-Barntown, 0-1 mark), Fiachra Hourihane (Oylegate-Glenbrien), Rees Broaders (St. Mary’s, Rosslare). Subs. - Paudie Casey (Oylegate-Glenbrien) for Broaders (38), Seán Kirwan (Kilrush) for MacCormack (41), Micheál Gahan (Monageer-Boolavogue) for Cooney (42), Ollie Gahan (St. Patrick’s) for O’Neill (42).

Tipperary: Kuba Beben; Brian McKeown (0-1), Shane O’Connor, Paul Devlin; Mark O’Meara (0-1), Marton Kehoe, Diarmuid Mulcahy (0-1); Lorcan Roche (0-1 free), Kevin Grogan (0-1); Mark Stokes (1-2), Adam McGrath (0-1), Conor Ryan (0-1); Rian Quigley (1-3), Seán O’Connor (1-2, 0-1 free), Kyle Skelly. Subs. - Ciarán O’Dwyer for Mulcahy, inj. (13), Billy Murphy (0-1) for Grogan (44), Billy O’Connor for Devlin (44), Stephen Grogan for McGrath (47), Christy Enright (0-1) for Skelly (47), Conal Horan for O’Meara (53).

Referee: Niall Quinn (Clare).