I’ll be afraid of my life playing Dublin in Championship..
DAVY WARY OF BLUES THREAT BUT BOOKS CATS DATE
WEXFORD will face near neighbours Kilkenny in next weekend’s Walsh Cup final after overcoming 14-man Dublin at Parnell Park.
Such an outcome seemed unlikely as Dublin enjoyed a five point advantage early in the second-half but the dismissal of full-forward Paul Winters in the 46th minute proved a body blow from which they didn’t recover.
The hosts managed just a solitary point in the last 27 minutes with Kevin Foley an increasingly influential figure at centrefield for Wexford.
“We were just a bit slow, but then we played some unbelievable stuff in the secondthree half,” said Wexford boss Davy Fitzgerald (below). “You look at some of the scores that were incredible and our movement is good but we need to work harder than that.
“Dublin were definitely better than us in the first-half but I think your man being sent-off was the change.
“I definitely thought Dublin were moving a lot better. I’ll tell you now straight, I’ll be afraid of my life playing Dublin in the championship.”
It was Wexford that started the brighter thanks to a brace of points from Conor Mcdonald inside four minutes but with Chris Crummey and Cian Hendricken impressing defensively, the hosts began to play. Winters notched points from placed balls to complement further scores from Fergal Whitely and Danny Sutcliffe while their opponents managed to stay in touch thanks to a trio of points from wing-back Paudie Foley.
Leading by 0-11 to 0-8 at the interval, Dublin resumed with Donal Burke adding two frees to add to points from Johnny Mccaffrey and the lively Whitely.
However, once Winters’ afternoon was cut short by referee Gavin Quilty, the wheels fell off Dublin’s challenge in an alarming fashion and a Cathal Dunbar goal in the 51st minute added to their troubles.
“We had been putting up a serious intense shift up until the sending-off and I think that took its toll after that,” said Dublin manager Pat Gilroy.
“It would have been nice to get another game next weekend but we will not be losing any sleep over it either,” he added.