Murphy’s the man for U-15s
WEXFORD F.C. CORK CITY 3 0
A BRODY Murphy hat-trick fired Wexford past Cork City in Group 3 of the SSE Airtricity Under-15 League in Ferrycarrig Park on Sunday Afternoon.
Wexford, who saw themselves on top of the group after wins over Cobh Ramblers and Kerry, claimed their first big scalp of the season as they put Cork to the sword.
In truth the first half was relatively even, with City looking to exploit the space behind Wexford backline, they went close on a couple of occasions.
Their most notable effort was Robert Walsh’s indirect free-kick which cannoned back off the post, after a mix-up between Dylan Whelan and David Murphy resulted in a foul.
Wexford, who made seven changes from the side who defeated Kerry, were inches away from taking the lead in the 14th minute. Darragh Levingston swivelled from Evan Farrell’s lay off, his strike hit the underside of the bar before bouncing out of danger.
The table-toppers were ahead ten minutes later when Kyle Scallan’s clearance sent Brody Murphy away, with the striker spectacularly chipping the back-tracking Darragh Burke in goal.
Between then and the break Darragh McGuire went close for the hosts and the Ferrycarrig side got their second on the stroke of half-time. James Dowling drifted inside to link up with Farrell, the Ex-Forth Celtic man found the run of Murphy who slotted home with his left foot.
After the restart, the Munster men were gifted with an opportunity to get back into the game in the 8th minute of the half.
David Murphy miss-hit his clearance and left the goal open as the ball fell to Oran Crowe, the City midfielder’s effort crashed off the crossbar and Murphy got back to recover.
The model side did find a little bit more composure after this error and this paid dividends as Murphy found his third, after a sublime attacking move.
Dowling regained possession for the hosts before an intelligent Levingston back-heel found Graham O’Reilly. O’Reilly’s ball was chested down by Farrell for Murphy to half-volley into the bottom left corner for an early contender for goal of the season.
Wexford’s third knocked some of the wind from Cork’s sails and Sean O’Brien-Murphy almost added a fourth after his long run resulted in a shot on target.
Wexford closed out an impressive 3-0 win over the Cork side and up next for Billy Molloy’s side is a visit from Limerick, the groups only other team with a 100% record. They will fight it out for top spot next Sunday in Ferrycarrig at 2pm.