Wexford’s fourth loss on trot
Shels swoop for winning goal from second-half corner
WEXFORD F.C. SHELBOURNE
WITH A staggering corner count of 14-1 in their favour, it was surely no surprise that one such set-piece should pay off for Shelbourne in Ferrycarrig Park on Friday as they inflicted a second successive 1-0 defeat on early strugglers Wexford F.C. in this SSE Airtricity First Division encounter.
In fact, the breakthrough came near the end of the third quarter after the last of five successive flag kicks for the visitors in less than three minutes as the ball pinged around the home side’s goalmouth.
Gavin Boyne delivered the ball from the left, and it broke invitingly for centre-half Aaron Molloy who thumped it home for the decisive moment in an otherwise forgettable affair.
Wexford have now shipped four league defeats on the trot, including both home games thus far, and it’s not difficult to pinpoint the main reason why.
Manager Damian Locke presided over a poor campaign last season, with a mere 16 goals scored in 28 games, and the lack of attacking ambition and creativity is sadly being repeated once more.
The net has only rattled twice in five outings to date, and the service for the lone striker is leaving a lot to be desired.
Danny Doyle ran himself into the ground for 68 minutes without any reward, before Aaron Dobbs took on the onerous task of trying to unlock a Shelbourne defence revelling in the endless succession of long balls, often aimless, thumped into the night sky.
Invariably, they were met with a thumping header either from goalscorer Molloy or much-travelled league veteran Dave Mulcahy.
And on about the only occasion when that didn’t happen, Wexford couldn’t make the most of a giltedged chance to equalise.
It arrived in the 86th minute when Molloy seemed to lose sight of one boomer into the air, allowing it to bounce which enabled Dobbs to use his upper body strength to win possession with his back to goal.
He laid off to substitute Dean Kelly who immediately rolled the ball to his left for winger Owen Wall who was arriving at pace, but he couldn’t keep his right-footed shot down and it flew high and wide.
Wexford’s frustrating approach to attacking play ensures that chances don’t come around too often, and when they’re not taken it’s no surprise to see them falling to defeat after defeat.
This win moved Shelbourne into third spot in the table, only behind Drogheda United on goal difference, with U.C.D. leading the way.
However, while they deserved this win on the basis of chances created, they didn’t look anything special either in a generally poor advertisement for the league.
The suspended Owen McCormack was replaced at centre-half by Seán Kelly, while Owen Wall came in for Seán Hurley from the starting team versus Finn Harps and John Morgan moved from the wing to left-back.
Prolific Shelbourne striker David O’Sullivan had a long ball to chase inside three minutes, but Kealan Gaffney was quick off the mark as the young netminder lined out against his old club for the first time since moving to the south-east.
The first of those 14 corners for the visitors was needlessly conceded by captain Ross Kenny, with Gaffney ready to claim a James English cross behind him, and it almost led to an early Shels goal.
Adam Evans played it short to Dayle Rooney who in turn picked out Gavin Boyne, and his thumping drive from distance was on its way towards the top left corner before Gaffney acrobatically turned it around the post.
James English volleyed over the bar after another corner, before a decent run by Owen Wall from the left into a central position led to a free-kick and Wexford’s first opportunity.
Chris Kenny was given the task of trying to beat the wall, and he did just that but veteran netminder and captain Dean Delany dived low to his left to make a good save.
Aaron Molloy gave warning of his threat in the opposition box when he headed over from a Dayle Rooney corner in the 16th minute.
And there was a momentary scare for Shels on the next Wexford attack when a long free-kick from Seán Kelly seemed to be misjudged by Delany as it hopped swiftly off the surface but went left and wide.
James O’Brien saw yellow for a crunching challenge on Thomas Croke, before a deep cross from the left by Lorcan Fitzgerald was headed out by John Morgan for yet another Shelbourne corner.
Molloy was lurking again, with nobody picking him up as he was granted a free header from Dayle Rooney’s delivery but he couldn’t keep it down.
Ross Kenny dealt well with a dangerous David O’Sullivan cross before a weak shot from the visiting striker was easily gathered by Kealan Gaffney.
And the visitors really should have taken the lead in the 40th minute as Wexford’s struggles when dealing with corners continued.
This time there was nobody close to the wily Dave Mulcahy as he rose to get a firm connection on Rooney’s ball in from the right, but it flew over with the goal at his mercy.
There was no real danger when James English shot wide at Gaffney’s near post in the 43rd minute, and the kick-out hopped invitingly for Chris Kenny whose first-time effort missed the target.
Leaving aside those earlier free-kicks from Kenny and Kelly respectively, it was the only occasion in the opening half when a Wexford player had a shot from open play.
The corner count in that first period was 6-0, and it was 8-1 in the second 45 minutes as Shels always looked the more likely side to break the deadlock.
The one and only for Wexford arrived after a mere 26 seconds, but John Morgan made a mess of the delivery and the chance to threaten was squandered.
The home side did step it up all the same, with Dean Delany parrying a Thomas Croke shot before Lorcan Fitzgerald hooked it to safety.
Owen Wall had an effort blocked on the edge of the area, while the ball was cleared at the other end before Dayle Rooney could pounce after Kealan Gaffney dropped a James English cross.
Shelbourne’s Adam Evans did have the ball in the net in the 53rd minute, but James O’Brien was penalised for a foul before the Dubliners came close yet again.
James Brown passed along the deck into the right side of the penalty area for Dayle Rooney who took a defender out of the equation with some neat footwork, only to pull the ball across goal and wide.
A good pass by Mikey Byrne presented Danny Doyle with his sole chance in the 59th minute, but his shot from slightly to the right of goal was smothered by netminder Delany.
Gavin Boyne shot wide from long range after two sloppy clearance attempts by Chris Kenny before that quickfire sequence of five corners ended with the match-winning Shelbourne goal.
Unusually, the leaders kept faith with their starting eleven whereas Wexford tried to liven up their attacking options with the introduction of Dean Kelly, Aaron Dobbs and Dean George respectively.
And while Kelly and Dobbs did feature in the build-up to that one big opportunity created, unfortunately Owen Wall couldn’t make the most of it as his quest for a first goal for the club continues.
The three added minutes had almost elapsed when Dave Mulcahy was yellow-carded for a rash challenge and Shelbourne had a late free-kick to defend, but they did that with flying colours to chalk up their first win on the road from three outings.
Next up for Wexford is the visit of Cobh Ramblers to Ferrycarrig Park on Friday at 8 p.m., and they will be very familiar with the trip after making it only last month for the EA Sports Cup game, won on penalties by the Cork side.
Ramblers are just one point above Wexford on the table, while the gap to the bottom was narrowed slightly when Athlone Town finally got off the mark by drawing with Finn Harps on Friday.
Wexford F.C.: Kealan Gaffney; A.J. Lehane, Seán Kelly, Ross Kenny (capt.), John Morgan; Liam McCartan, Chris Kenny, Mikey Byrne, Thomas Croke, Owen Wall; Danny Doyle. Subs. - Dean Kelly for Lehane (66), Aaron Dobbs for Doyle (68), Dean George for Byrne (80), also Colum Feeney, Mark Slater, Shane Barnes, Ryan Nolan.
Shelbourne: Dean Delany (capt.); James Brown, Dave Mulcahy, Aaron Molloy, Lorcan Fitzgerald; James O’Brien, Dayle Rooney, Gavin Boyne; James English, David O’Sullivan, Adam Evans. Subs. (none used) - Lee Steacy, Cian Kavanagh, Jamie Doyle, Shane Farrell, Dylan Grimes, James Woods, Reece McEnteer.
Referee: Andrew Mullally (Waterford).