Wexford have point to spare
Three barren months ended with nail-biting success
WEXFORD LIMERICK 0-12 0-11
IMMENSE RELIEF was the over-riding emotion at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday after the Wexford Senior footballers finally arrested the slide and carved out a narrow one-point win over wasteful Limerick in an All-Ireland qualifier round 1B fixture that will be remembered for intense effort rather than quality.
It was three months and counting since the Slaneysiders’ last competitive victory - in the league game at home to London that saw promotion secured on March 19.
The happenings since have been well documented, and the circumstances made this a real make-or-break encounter, with some distinguished inter-county careers on the line along with the obvious short-term goal of staying alive in the competition.
In the circumstances, Wexford shouldn’t mind in the slightest that it was a defence-dominated, error-strewn, low-scoring clash. Some of the unforced handling mistakes from Limerick in particular were hard to credit, but they still forged the better goal chances and will no doubt harbour deep regret as they ponder this early exit.
They only claimed a point from a first-half penalty and were denied a certain goal after the break by a memorable Shane Roche save, making his 100th Senior appearance a very happy one after his surprise omission for the loss to Carlow.
It must be noted too that Adrian Flynn did have one gilt-edged goal chance before the interval, but Limerick netminder Donal O’Sullivan redeemed himself after a poor kick-out by pushing his drive over the bar from point-blank range.
On the whole though, the home side had plentiful chances and struck twelve wides to Wexford’s five, with three coming after the very impressive P.J. Banville was tripped by sweeper Peter Nash and then kicked what proved to be the winning point from a 45-metre free on the left in the 69th minute.
The victors certainly rode their luck at the death, and in the three extra minutes in particular. Limerick substitute Jamie Lee directed a free from the right across goal and wide in the last seconds of normal time before Nash missed the target with a pot-shot, but another chance arose for Lee.
Conor Carty slowed down as Shane Roche played a kick-out into his path, seemingly unaware that Seánie Buckley was in his slipstream. The Limerick substitute gathered the ball and was duly fouled by the Castletown man, but Lee hooked his free from the left on the 13-metre line wide at the near post.
The storm had been weathered, and when captain Iain Corbett ballooned one last attempt wildly off course, referee Pádraig O’Sullivan blew his last whistle and Wexford celebrated a very important win.
Perhaps the presence of the Kerry official was a good omen, because he was also in charge when the Slaneysiders last won a qualifier game on the road in Pearse Park, Longford, in 2013. Their sole away trek since had resulted in defeat to Derry in Owenbeg in 2015, the first of four straight championship losses before the record was put straight on Saturday.
And from a historical point of view, it was nice to make amends for the one-point defeat to Limerick when the sides last met in a round four qualifier in Portlaoise six years ago.
Nine of the current squad played some part in that bitter defeat after a disputed late score, and that experience was extremely important in getting the team over the line on this occasion.
Three personnel changes were made from the Carlow loss, with Shane Roche replacing Conor Swaine in goal, while Junior captain Tiarnan Rossiter and Conor Carty came in for Colm Kehoe (injured) and John Tubritt.
Some of the positional switches were significant though, with Kevin O’Grady returning to wing-forward after a spell at wing-back while ertswhile full-back Naomhan Rossiter partnered Daithí Waters at midfield.
With both sides using sweepers - Carty and Peter Nash - it led to a dour encounter with players either moving forwards or backwards in waves depending on whether they were attacking or defending. Space was hard to find for forwards, but while Wexford only managed five second-half points with the breeze behind them, it must be said that the four from play before Banville kicked the winner from a free were of the highest quality.
The fact that it took eleven minutes before we saw a score - from Seamus O’Carroll after his Limerick side won the toss and opted to use the wind - tells its own story about the general fare on offer.
Brian Malone had been yellow-carded for an off-the-ball incident in that settling down period for both sides, but he emerged as one of his team’s main men along with fellow long-time campaigners P.J. Banville, Daithí Waters and Ciarán Lyng.
The latter levelled after a foul on Kevin O’Grady before Ger Collins restored Limerick’s lead from a free after a push by Malone, but Lyng ensured parity once more - this time from play after a Ben Brosnan pass into space.
Lyng also started the move after a Limerick turnover that was finished by overlapping corner-back Michael Furlong from a P.J. Banville pass.
That put Wexford clear for the first time (0-3 to 0-2) in the 16th minute, but Seamus O’Carroll equalised from a ’45 in a tight clash with a margin never in excess of two points.
Banville earned and converted a free prior to Limerick teenager Josh Ryan bringing the sides level for a fourth time, and Furlong then soloed forward to make it 5-4 in the 24th minute.
Iain Corbett kicked a good long-range Limerick point, with Lyng responding after a foul on Malone before Flynn should have stretched the lead to 1-6 to 0-5 rather than 0-7 to 0-5.
He intercepted a weak kick-out, exchanged passes with Banville, and then looked to pick his spot, but netminder O’Sullivan somehow got a hand on his piledriver to direct it over.
Substitute Seán McSweeney reduced the gap to one from a free before Wexford had a major let-off in the 33rd minute.
Danny Neville and Corbett combined before midfielder Darragh Treacy was taken down by Eoghan Nolan, but Corbett drove the spot kick high over Shane Roche’s bar.
As a result, the teams went in at the break on level terms for the sixth time (0-7 each), so it was important for Wexford to make a big statement on the re-start.
And they did just that, as Banville redeemed himself after dropping two shots short by registering a brace of points from play in the 43rd and 45th minutes.
They didn’t push on though, with Ger Collins missing an easy Limerick free before Danny Neville and Jamie Lee (free) made it 9-9 by the 52nd minute, the latter with his first touch after coming on.
A key moment occurred just over 60 seconds later when big Josh Ryan shook off Daithí Waters and Conor Carty to power in a goalbound shot which Shane Roche saved superbly. In such a low-scoring game, the concession of a major at that stage could have been a fatal blow.
Instead, Wexford drove on, with a Michael Furlong wide followed by a sublime left-footed point from substitute John Tubritt after P.J. Banville ventured outfield to forage and played a neat ball down the right flank.
Limerick simply couldn’t be shaken off though, and U.C.D. Sigerson Cup regular Seán O’Dea equalised before five tense minutes ended with a quality lead score from Wexford.
Ciarán Lyng worked a short line ball on the right with Daithí Waters, availing of the better angle from the return pass to fire sweetly between the posts for an 11-10 advantage.
The subsequent Limerick kick-out nearly produced a goal though, as Brian Fanning surged past the cover and handpassed into the path of Danny Neville who had to stretch to get his boot to the ball before the rapidly advancing Shane Roche. Thankfully his effort shaved the wrong side of the post and Wexford’s lead remained intact.
That wasn’t for long though, as Jamie Lee fed Darragh Treacy who popped over a ninth leveller in the 67th minute. Extra-time looked a real possibility, and Limerick had more than enough chances to force it even after P.J. Banville cut in from the left wing, was tripped by Peter Nash, and calmly kicked the last score of the game with 90 seconds of normal time to go.
It could be argued that luck deserted Wexford in the Carlow game for a couple of major decisions, so perhaps they had earned a little good fortune this time around as they re-discovered that winning feeling to the delight of players, mentors and supporters.
Wexford: Shane Roche; Michael Furlong (0-2), Brian Malone, Jim Rossiter; Eoghan Nolan, Joey Wadding, Tiarnan Rossiter; Daithí Waters (capt.), Naomhan Rossiter; Kevin O’Grady, Ben Brosnan, Adrian Flynn (0-1); Conor Carty, Ciarán Lyng (0-4, 2 frees), P.J. Banville (0-4, 2 frees). Subs. - John Tubritt (0-1) for O’Grady (46), Paul Curtis for Brosnan (54), Jake Firman for Flynn (63).
Limerick: Donal O’Sullivan; Brian Fanning, Johnny McCarthy, Seán O’Dea (0-1); Paul White, Garret Noonan, Iain Corbett (0-2, 1 pen.); Darragh Treacy (0-1), David Ward; James Naughton, Ger Collins (0-1 free), Peter Nash; Seamus O’Carroll (0-2, 1 ‘45), Josh Ryan (0-1), Danny Neville (0-1). Subs. - Seán McSweeney (0-1 free) for Ward (28), Jamie Lee (0-1 free) for McSweeney (51), Pádraig Scanlan for Collins (56), Seánie Buckley for O’Carroll (65), Ian Ryan for Naughton (67).
Referee: Pádraig O’Sullivan (Kerry).