Under-17s give rivals another dose of the blues

WEXFORD F.C. WATERFORD F.C. 3 3

WEXFORD WIN 6-5 ON PENALTIES WATERFORD MAY have an obvious edge over Wexford on the senior stage at this moment in time, but one thing has been made very clear over the course of this season: that dominance certainly does not transfer into the under-age SSE Airtricity Leagues.

Wexford’s penalty shoot-out win on Saturday in the quarter-final of the SSE Airtricity League Under-17 shield represents their fourth victory of the season over their nearest rivals, and possibly the most dramatic one to date.

If there was a guide in football entitled ‘how to ruin your rival’s season’, it would be written by the Ferrycarrig boys about this 2018 campaign.

By beating Waterford in all four of their encounters, something which may never be achieved again by a Ferrycarrig side, they have knocked them out of all three competitions that these teams take part in.

First, a ten-man Wexford pushed Waterford out of the Mark Farren Cup, winning 2-1 thanks to some resilient defending.

They beat them twice in the league, both by a 3-2 scoreline, spoiling their chances of an all-important top-four finish. Now, Wexford have finished off their south-east rivals’ season with last weekend’s spotkick triumph.

There is real momentum building behind this team now. They’ve won consecutive games for the first time since the opening two games of the season, and all in all they have won four of their last six, all against high-flying opposition.

While this particular game had everything you could wish for in a football match, it started slower than previous matches.

Waterford dominated the early exchanges and before long took a deserving lead. Captain Greg Waters headed in from a corner as Wexford lacked defensive solidity.

Leven Sarafin and Niall O’Keeffe had half-chances to extend their side’s lead but Wexford drew blood next as Luke Greene burst into the Waterford area and had his parried effort finished off by Brody Murphy.

While their equaliser was against the run of play, their second goal set the tone for a second-half dominated by the boys in black. Kevin Murphy thumped a header past Noel Heffernan as a straightforward afternoon looked like it could be a possibility.

A mere possibility was all it stayed and despite a flurry of Wexford chances, they couldn’t get a killer goal.

Robert Bulmer’s flick almost found the bottom corner, Murphy had numerous efforts well saved by Heffernan, and Seán Smithers could have won the game on the counter for the Model boys.

A poor clearance in injury time allowed Kyle Cuddy to fire into the top corner and extend the match by another 30 minutes. What an extra half-hour it proved to be.

Danny Bruce blocked a certain goal on a Waterford counter-attack before Heffernan fumbled a cross and Murphy reacted quickest to pull into the bottom right corner before the end of first-half extra-time.

After the short interval, Dylan Whelan hobbled off with a head injury before Bruce was handed a harsh red card from Seán Grant for a tackle on the edge of the box.

All of a sudden Wexford were defending with ten men and without a centre-back on the pitch.

Waterford would eventually capitalise and force penalties, as Mike Nzongong drove into the box before setting Cuddy to finish past Seán Maher.

Wexford showed a great amount of poise during the shoot-out, smashing a number of unsaveable penalties just under the crossbar.

Darragh Levingston, Brian Byrne, Caellum Travers-Devlin and Luke Greene all dispatched their spot kicks but James Dowling’s saved penalty forced it into a sudden-death shoot-out.

With Killian Griffin and Brendan Kirwan both scoring the first set, Waters smashed his penalty onto the underside of the crossbar, giving Brody Murphy the opportunity to send Wexford into a shield semi-final against Athlone Town - an opportunity which he took emphatically.

Wexford F.C.: Seán Maher; Shane Gibson, Darragh Levingston (capt.), Kevin Murphy, Killian Griffin; Luke Greene, Graham O’Reilly, Ethan O’Neill, Brody Murphy, Seán Smithers; Robert Bulmer. Subs. - Caellum Travers-Devlin for O’Reilly (39), Dylan Whelan for O’Neill (79), James Dowling for Bulmer (91), Danny Bruce for Murphy (94), Brian Byrne for Whelan (118), also Aaron Hall, Seán O’Brien-Murphy.

Waterford F.C.: Noel Heffernan; Leven Sarafin, Tega Agberhiere, Greg Waters (capt.), Torik Adegoke; Niall O’Keeffe, Cian Foley, Cian Browne, Seán Tracey, Sam Dwyer; Kyle Cuddy. Subs. - Mike Nzongong for Browne (46), Scott Delahunty for Dwyer (63), Brendan Kirwan for Sarafin (79), also Donal Porter.

Referee: Seán Grant (Wexford).

St Leonards v. All Blacks; Cushinstown AFC v. Adamstown FC; Fastnet Rovers v. Bunclody AFC; Aughrim Rangers v. Tombrack United; Seaview United v. St. Joseph’s; Courtown Hibs v. Bridge Rovers; Curracloe United v. Oylegate United; Wexford Youths v. Moyne Rangers; Campile United v. New Ross Town; Corach Ramblers idle. U-12 Premier Division: Curracloe United v. Wexford Youths; New Ross Celtic v. All Blacks; New Ross Town v. Ballindaggin FC. U-12 Division 1: Aughrim Rangers v. North End United; Bridge Rovers v. Courtown Hibs. U-12 Division 2A: Tombrack United v. Kilmore United; Adamstown FC v. Shelburne United; Bree United v. Moyne Rangers.

U-12 Division 2B: Cushinstown AFC v. All Blacks 2nds; Ferns United v. St. Leonards; Rosslare Rangers v. St. Joseph’s; New Ross Town 2nds v. Carnew FC.

U-16 Premier Division: Bunclody AFC v. Curracloe United; All Blacks v. Forth Celtic. U-16 Division 1: Moyne Rangers v. Courtown Hibs; Seaview United v. North End United. U-16 Division 2: New Ross Celtic v. Wexford Youths. Sunday, October 21

Women’s Premier Division: Adamstown FC v. Cloughbawn AFC (11.00); Ferns United v. Forth Celtic (11.00).

Women’s Division 1: St. Joseph’s v. Bree United (11.00); Piltown AFC v. Courtown Hibs (1.00); Kilmore United v. Camolin Celtic (11.00).

Women’s Division 2A: Stoney LFC v. Bunclody AFC (11.00); Corach Ramblers v. Fastnet Rovers.

Women’s Division 3: St. Cormac’s v. Cushinstown AFC; Wexford Bohs v. Shelburne United; New Ross Town v. Ajax Athletic.