U-15 boys lose pole position
Costly second loss on trot
staff made it clear to him that he had been mistaken.
When the interval finally did come and go, Wexford looked like a new team after the re-start. The blues barely left their half for the entire 40-minute period but just did enough to keep Wexford at bay.
Goalkeeper Kyle Shelly certainly played his part in that, as he dominated his area as Wexford’s onslaught began. James Dowling made an impact from the bench on the left side but lacked an end product before Luke Greene’s intelligent back heel almost found its way past Shelly.
Brody Murphy was another who lacked a killer touch, as he could only fire wide after capitalising on a rare Shelly error while Evan Farrell blasted into the side-netting from close range.
Wexford: David Murphy; Rian Fitzpatrick, Cormac Doyle, Kyle Scallan (capt.), Darragh McGuire; Luke Greene, Graham O’Reilly, Darragh O’Donoghue, Cian Kinlough, Cormac Bruce; Brody Murphy. Subs. (rolling) - Seán O’Brien-Murphy, Shane Gibson, Dylan Whelan, Brian Byrne, Darragh Levingston, Evan Farrell, James Dowling.
Waterford: Kyle Shelly; Killian Griffin, Cian Browne, Donal Porter (capt.), Sam Morrissey; Scott Delahunty, Kacper Zajac, Kyle Cuddy, Charlie Binions, Jack Deegan; Ian Byrne. Subs. (rolling) - Abel Alabi, Robert Bulmer, Dean Larkin, Tega Agberhiere, Seán Maher, Ethan Flynn.
Referee: John Diskin (Wexford). WEXFORD F.C. were outclassed by an impressive Waterford outfit on Sunday in their SSE Airtricity Under-19 League Shield first round match at Ferrycarrig Park.
Goals from Seán Roche and Darryl Walsh saw the Blues take a 2-0 lead into the break, and there was no let up for the hosts after the interval with Tunmise Sobowale and Owen Wall adding to the tally.
With the sides having played a scoreless stalemate just a fortnight earlier, a game in which Wexford had to play almost two-thirds of the contest with ten men, they would have come into this clash with a degree of confidence.
However, they faced a completely different Waterford outfit this time around.
The personnel may have been more or less the same but the performance was much improved and the home side had no answer to their slick passing and direct running.
That said, the Slaneysiders began brightly and had they made an early breakthrough it could have been a different story.
In the third minute Yaw Aboagye saw his shot deflected out for a corner, while moments later Dean George was presented with an opportunity when goalkeeper Paul Martin raced off his line to head the ball clear, but the midfielder’s effort took a nick off a defender and drifted narrowly wide.
In the twelfth minute Waterford were in front. Owen Wall hared down the left wing and whipped in a fantastic cross which the inrushing Seán Roche met with a firm header that rocketed to the net.
The hosts tried manfully to try to play their way back into the game, with Michael Gardiner showing some neat touches, but too often they took the wrong option, lumping the ball forward when a patient approach would have been more prudent.
They did have their moments though, with Vinny Quinlan linking up with Aboagye in the 22nd minute, but after showing great resolve to break through the defence, his effort was comfortable for goalkeeper Martin.
The netminder had to be at his best two minutes later, adjusting his body brilliantly to claw away a Danny Doyle header after Dylan Bradley had fired a delivery into the danger zone.
In the 35th minute Waterford doubled their advantage, when Darryl Walsh rose highest at the back post to power home a Justin Croke corner.
Wexford tried to respond quickly, and within a minute of the re-start Danny Doyle ran on to a pass from Robbie Kane, but Martin was quickly off his line to block the shot.
At the other end, the skilful Justin Croke attempted to chip goalkeeper Adam Dempsey, but he didn’t get enough elevation on his effort.
Waterford comfortably kept the hosts at bay in the early part of the second-half, although Wexford did begin to build up a head of steam shortly after the hour mark, with Yaw Aboagye off target with an effort and Vinny Quinlan dragging a shot wide after running on to a long ball forward from Owen McCormack.
Martin O’Connor’s header was narrowly over the top in the 70th minute, but five minutes later Waterford came within a whisker of putting the tie to bed when a great Justin Croke shot struck the crossbar.
Seconds later the woodwork was rattling at the other end, when Vinny Quinlan’s effort came back off the bar after good work from Dean George.
It was game, set and match with 77 minutes on the clock when Tunmise Sobowale swept the ball to the net after a good one-two with Croke.
Waterford then put the icing on the cake in the 89th minute when Owen Wall’s hopeful ball forward took a wicked bounce off the turf and sailed over the head of goalkeeper Adam Dempsey, to rub salt into the wounds on a tough day at the office for Wexford.
The losers used four young men with first team experience in Owen McCormack, Vincent Quinlan, Dean George and Danny Doyle.
Wexford F.C.: Adam Dempsey, Adam Rochford, Martin O’Connor (capt.), Owen McCormack, Vincent Quinlan, Dylan Bradley, Michael Gardiner, Dean George, Robbie Kane, Yaw Aboagye, Danny Doyle. Subs. - Neil Murphy for Bradley, Michael Murphy for Aboagye, also Alan Maher-Broderick.
Waterford F.C.: Paul Martin (capt.), Darragh Corcoran, Darryl Walsh, Eoghan Rea, Tunmise Sobowale, Justin Croke, Shane Griffin, Edward Black, Dara Keane, Owen Wall, Seán Roche. Subs. - Lee Costello for Corcoran, Darragh Power for Keane, Jack O’Donnell for Griffin, also Jack Dolan.
Referee: Michelle O’Neill.