R convincing victory
S’ experience of big day shines through
ts before Lee Chin nsolation from a free. been tight and Wexvery disappointed to points adrift. nly find goalie’s Colm and from an immediand the netminder’s opener from Conor s his best-ever day in early on by Willie Ryan pitted against edge of the square. d Jack O’Connor at Nolan on the ’40, and eeping duties meant as free for Galway at ubled their lead after Conor Whelan, but e mark in the fourth made a superb catch nd fed Paul Morris. urphy clearance was e posts by Pádraic nth minute, but Conor ed inside 30 seconds a free after Diarmuid ed. ught a Joseph Coonlie Devereux’s head O’Keeffe recovered e after a Chin handn a day when three nders contributed a play to underline the licy when the team stored Galway’s lead, only for Paul Morris to latch on to a crossfield Harry Kehoe ball and feed it outside to Matthew O’Hanlon for the leveller.
It remained tight, with Joe Canning (free) and Conor McDonald swapping points, the latter after Aidan Nolan emerged from a ruck with possession (0-6 each).
Wexford hit the front for the first time from a Chin free in the 19th minute that he earned himself, and the gap rose to two when handpasses from Willie Devereux and Chin led to a Jack O’Connor point.
Joseph Cooney replied quickly, but a superb crossfield pass from Conor McDonald gave Paul Morris the time to make it 9-7 in the 23rd minute.
Simon Donohoe was on Conor Cooney at this stage, with Devereux following Jason Flynn, and Galway drew level with two quick-fire points from David Burke and Canning (free).
Matthew O’Hanlon grabbed his second point from a Devereux handpass, with Canning knocking over another free after James Breen was booked from Callanan’s puck-out (0-10 each).
A vital flick by Simon Donohoe found Devereux who soloed away for the lead point once again in the 29th minute, but the remainder of the half didn’t go well for the eventual losers.
Conor Cooney equalised from a crossfield Canning line ball despite the close presence of Donohoe, and a half-block on a Mark Fanning clearance led to a foul on John Hanbury and the lead point from Canning.
Lee Chin struck a free wide and the puck-out was controlled superbly and pointed by Joseph Cooney. Conor McDonald also missed a scoreable free and a late tackle by Jack Guiney in added time earned a booking and led to a handy Canning point for a 14-11 interval lead.
At that stage there was still good reason to be hopeful, but that devastating seven-point burst after the missed penalty proved fatal on a day when Wexford struck eight wides while Galway had 13.
The winners’ midfield pairing of Johnny Coen and team captain David Burke held the upper hand in that area, and full-back Daithí Burke also deserves special mention for a very sound marking job on Jack Guiney who was held scoreless.
Wexford now have three weeks to lick their wounds and focus on the All-Ireland quarter-final.
All is not lost yet, and the experience gained last Sunday should really stand to this still-developing team in their next big test.
Wexford: Mark Fanning; Willie Devereux (01), Liam Ryan, James Breen; Simon Donohoe, Matthew O’Hanlon (joint capt., 0-2), Diarmuid O’Keeffe (1-1); Lee Chin (joint capt., 0-4, 2 frees, 1 ’65), Jack O’Connor (0-1); Shaun Murphy, Aidan Nolan, Conor McDonald (0-5, 3 frees); Paul Morris (0-2), Jack Guiney, Harry Kehoe. Subs. - David Redmond for O’Connor (HT), Eoin Moore for Donohoe (47), Cathal Dunbar (0-1) for Kehoe (54), Shane Tomkins for Nolan (63).
Galway: Colm Callanan; Adrian Tuohy, Daithí Burke, John Hanbury; Pádraic Mannion (0-1), Gearóid McInerney, Aidan Harte; Johnny Coen, David Burke (capt., 0-1); Joseph Cooney (0-5), Joe Canning (0-10, 8 frees, 1 ’65, 1 line ball), Jason Flynn; Conor Whelan, Niall Burke (0-2), Conor Cooney (0-8, 1 free). Subs. - Thomas Monaghan (0-1) for Flynn (31), Shane Maloney (0-1) for Canning (68), Greg Lally for J. Cooney (69), Seán Loftus for Mannion (70+2).
Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork).