Under-17 boys shock leaders
Defeat for Shamrock Rovers
Danila Bogdanov pulled one wide as the visitors momentarily broke the Wexford defence.
Wexford were producing some very good spells of passing play, and they won a corner from a move beginning with Aaron Hall, before going through Kevin Murphy, James Dowling, Seán Smithers and Shane Gibson.
Kevin Murphy volleyed home from the corner, as Shane O’Rourke’s punch failed to clear the box.
It really should have been two in the 26th minute when Murphy finished off another cross into the Rovers area, this time with his head, but referee Brian Fenlon ruled the goal out for a push by the Wexford defender.
Levingston saw his free-kick well held by O’Rourke before Rovers finished the half strong. Toby Owens pulled a good save from Hall on the verge of the halftime whistle.
The home side had another opportunity to put the game to bed immediately after the re-start. They broke swiftly from a Rovers corner, and Smithers fed Brody Murphy who thumped the post with O’Rourke beaten.
The Hoops enjoyed more possession in the final 30 minutes but for the most part they looked strapped of ideas against this resilient Wexford defence. Only James Clarke could really test Hall, but the Model netminder was equal to the effort.
The extent of Wexford’s illness crisis was evident come the 83rd minute when goalkeeper Seán Maher replaced the exceptional Shane Gibson. Maher acted as Wexford’s striker for the final ten minutes as they just focused on keeping things tight at the back.
Fenlon’s whistle after four minutes of injury time ended what could in theory be Wexford’s final home game of the season. They travel west to Galway next weekend with another giant-killing on their minds in their final league game.
Wexford F.C.: Aaron Hall; Shane Gibson, Kevin Murphy, Darragh Levingston (capt.), Danny Bruce; Luke Greene, Graham O’Reilly, Ethan O’Neill, Brody Murphy, James Dowling; Seán Smithers. Subs. - Caellum Travers-Devlin for O’Neill (55), Seán Maher for Gibson (83), also Robert Bulmer, Dylan Whelan.
Shamrock Rovers: Shane O’Rourke; Martins Olakanye, Andrew Spain (capt.), Jordan Tallon, James Furlong; Dean McMenamy, Thomas Hannon, James Clarke, Emmanuel Odeniyi, Toby Owens; Danila Bogdanov. Subs. - Jack Kelly for Odeniyi (46), Cian Kelly for McMenamy (67), Shane Nealon for Hannon (67), also Alex Dunne, Conor Behan.
Referee: Brian Fenlon (Wexford). WEXFORD BADMINTON returned for the 2018-2019 season earlier this month.
We were delighted to see the return of some familiar faces, along with new faces interested in taking up the sport.
Some of our players returned early to participate in tournaments in Dublin and Ulster.
Edward Cousins, a member of the Taghmon club (and Ailesbury club, Dublin), won the Leinster Autumn Open Yonex championship in the men’s doubles.
Laura Lynch, of the New Ross club and Lady Lane club, Waterford, recently took part in the South West Leinster Badminton Shuttle Fest, grade one, and was runner-up in the mixed doubles.
Paddy Nolan of Taghmon took part in the Ulster Under-17 open where he reached the semi-finals in the boys’ doubles and the boys’ singles.
Very well done to all, and keep up the good work for the remainer of what promises to be an exciting, action-packed season.