Wexford live to fight another day - but only just
WHATEVER ELSE happens in the Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Senior camogie championship semi-final replay, Wexford won’t be able to rely on luck to beat Cork as they used up their full quota of this precious commodity in Saturday’s drawn encounter in Semple Stadium, Thurles.
The Slaneysiders left it as late as was humanly possible to rescue a draw after delivering a below-par performance, with their Munster rivals no doubt feeling empty at the finish as they simply couldn’t kill them off despite a dominant second-half display.
It does say something for the resilience of Wexford that they managed to stay in the hunt, but even the most partisan of supporters would have to admit that they are fortunate to still be in with a shout of taking on Kilkenny in the final on September 14.
Una Leacy, on her way back from a knee injury, was the saviour as she pounced for the levelling goal with 48 seconds of the two minutes of added time remaining. It arrived after excellent work on the left flank by Ursula Jacob and Katrina Parrock, with the latter playing a one-two with the former before the ball found Leacy who turned and powered a head-high drive to the net past Aoife Murray.
The drama was far from over though, as an injury to Josie Dwyer caused a delay before Cork had a chance to win it when Julia White was fouled close to the right sideline. A long delay followed as Shauna Sinnott was treated after an incident much closer to goal which ended in a yellow card for herself and White, but it meant that free-taker Jennifer O’Leary probably had too much time to think about the task ahead of her.
A somewhat surprising choice in the first place given that Orla Cotter had taken the earlier placed balls, she directed her effort from 42 metres to the left and wide over six minutes into added time, with Wexford clearly the happier of the teams when the final whistle was finally blown seconds later.
Cork’s ultra-defensive approach frustrated their conquerors from the 2012 final, but it almost worked as they came within a whisker of gaining revenge. They defended in numbers, dragging players into deep roles and then carrying the ball effectively in the second-half in particular. Wexford were under pressure when they ran at them although Noeleen Lambert and Mary Leacy gave their all to stem the flow at the back along with Shauna Sinnott, but the forward line didn’t get enough ball to make any real impact.
Una Leacy was introduced at half-time for the somewhat unfortunate Lisa Bolger, and she lined out on the edge of the square flanked by Ursula Jacob and Katrina Parrock. With three proven score-getters in that inside line it was clear what the aim was: create as much space as possible and get the ball into them to reap the dividends.
However, that simply didn’t happen enough as firstly the middle third was dominated by Cork, and secondly what little ball did go forward was mopped up repeatedly by a strong defence marshalled superbly by player of the match Gemma O’Connor.
The first-half was a stop-start affair with 16 frees awarded (eleven to Cork), and it served as a poor advertisement for the game to be honest. Just seven scores were recorded, with a lot of early Cork pressure absorbed before Ursula Jacob pointed a free on Wexford’s first attack in the fifth minute.
It was close to the end of the opening quarter when the next score was registered, and it was a severe blow as Cork pounced for a well-worked goal. Julia White raced in from the right before finding Angela Walsh, and her handpass was gathered at speed by Katriona Mackey who duly rattled the net for a 1-0 to 0-1 lead.
Orla Cotter followed up with a pointed free after her first effort came back off the post, and a crossfield Aisling Thompson line ball then found Briege Corkery who made it 1-2 to 0-1 in the 20th minute.
Wexford weren’t playing with any fluency and Cork were generally dictating matters, although Ursula Jacob did pull back a point from a free in the 22nd minute after Laura Tracey was booked for a foul on Katrina Parrock.
This was the first of four yellow cards dished out before the break by fussy referee Alan Lagrue, with Parrock, Deirdre Codd and Aisling Thompson also entering his notebook. It was ironic then that he chose to completely ignore by far the worst offence committed, a nasty stroke delivered to the back of Parrock’s head right in front of the new stand in first-half added time.
A short puck-out by Mags D’Arcy in the 25th minute didn’t work out as Codd committed the foul which earned her that yellow card and Orla Cotter pointed (1-3 to 0-2).
Wexford’s second wide of the half followed from an Ursula Jacob free (Shelley Kehoe had the first) before they finally scored from play in the last minute of normal time, with Jackie Quigley’s shot touched over the crossbar by Aoife Murray after a build-up involving Katrina Parrock, Ursula Jacob and team captain Kate Kelly who delivered the final handpass.
The start to the new half was positive as Jacob pointed after a long Kelly free was batted out by Murray, with the scorer sending a free off target for the first of six second-half Wexford wides before Jennifer O’Leary hit back after good work by Briege Corkery, Katriona Mackey and Aisling Thompson.
A nervy period followed which featured misses from Kelly, Parrock and Jacob before Eimear O’Sullivan paid the price for defending too deep on the left flank. Shauna Sinnott’s clearance left Jackie Quigley with oodles of space and time, and she pointed superbly from long range to narrow the gap to two (1-4 to 0-5).
Una Leacy followed her example from a long free taken by her sister, Mary, but that attack was still surviving on scraps and Jennifer O’Leary responded at the other end at the close of the third quarter.
Another effort from her hit the post, with Una Leacy and Jackie Quigley posting wides before Bríd Gordon and dual player Fiona Rochford were introduced in quick succession for Fiona Kavanagh and Shelley Kehoe respectively.
Orla Cotter and Rochford traded points, the latter with her first touch in the 54th minute, and Angela Walsh shot tamely at Mags D’Arcy as Cork struggled to wrap the game up despite having by far the greater number of chances. Katriona Mackey did make it 1-7 to 0-7 from a Jennifer O’Leary handpass before Ursula Jacob was fouled and pointed the free. A long solo run by Orla Cotter led to Julia White’s point (1-8 to 08) but Katriona Mackey then shot wide.
Wexford still had a slight chance once the gap didn’t go higher than three points, with Kate Kelly robbing Pamela Mackey on the right wing and earning a vital free which Ursula Jacob pointed in the 59th minute.
The Oulart-The Ballagh attacker ended up on the ’40 with Kelly in the corner, but these two long-servers and their colleagues seemed set for a major disappointment when Briege Corkery caught a Gemma O’Connor free and her shot went over the bar via Mags D’Arcy’s stick.
That dramatic conclusion followed, leading to a replay on Saturday (Waterford, 2.30 p.m.) where some tactical innovations will be needed to break down this physical Cork outfit.