ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 1B, ROUND Wexford tested to the
GAA Hurlers maintain unbeaten record but
IT WAS mission accomplished in Innovate Wexford Park on Sunday - but only if the plan was to dampen expectations ahead of the home side’s quarter-final clash with likely championship opponents Kilkenny in the Allianz Hurling League.
In one sense it was the ideal type of outcome for Davy Fitzgerald, because the game left him with no shortage of examples to hammer home the message that a repeat simply won’t be good enough in the more demanding tests to follow.
Laois had been obliterated in previous rounds by Galway and Limerick respectively, but with Wexford hitting 18 wides, conceding too many scoreable frees and over-playing the ball time and time again, it meant the underdogs still had a chance of pulling off a shock result entering the closing stages.
They had been level with the hot favourites at the break (0-13 to 1-10) after playing with the wind, but a typically opportunist goal by roving wing-back Diarmuid O’Keeffe early in the second period left Wexford with a slight cushion for the most part.
It was extended to six points (2-18 to 0-18) after lively substitute Paul Morris registered twice in the 52nd and 53rd minutes, but Laois simply wouldn’t go away and created plenty of anxious moments for the eventual winners before the finish.
Midfielders Ross King and Patrick Purcell were rampant from placed balls and play respectively, and points from both drew responses from Jack Guiney and the impressive Morris before Wexford conceded their first goal in the 62nd minute.
A long delivery broke off the hurl of Liam Ryan into the path of Purcell who raced clean through before planting the ball out of Mark Fanning’s reach.
Wexford had second-half wind advantage but it wasn’t counting for a great deal at that stage, even though Morris set up Lee Chin for a point on the next attack of note.
Jack Guiney was off target from a 64-metre free before the Slaneysiders were rocked again with less than five minutes left. A Willie Dunphy strike from the right was partially blocked and fell kindly for full-forward Neil Foyle who grabbed the ball and raised another green flag even though Mark Fanning’s body made some contact with it en route.
All of a sudden just one point divided the teams, and Laois had a chance to equalise when Andrew Kenny pushed Jack Kelly close to the sideline under the stand. However, Ross King’s free tailed off to the left for the tenth Laois wide, and Wexford finally managed to make sure of a win that was a lot more hard-earned than most expected with the closing three points in added time.
Diarmuid O’Keeffe posted the last of those 18 misses before his handpass led to a relieving score from distance by substitute Kevin Foley.
The subsequent Laois puck-out from Eoin Fleming was caught superbly by Matthew O’Hanlon who was fouled, with Jack Guiney planting the free between the posts from his own 65-metre line.
And it was another fine fetch under pressure, this time by Guiney, that created the opening for David Dunne to leave four between them in the third added minute.
For some reason, games between these counties often develop into shoot-outs, and the Wexford management won’t be pleased by their side’s high concession rate against a team now destined for a Division 1B relegation play-off with Kerry.
Laois captain Ross King won the toss and not surprisingly opted to avail of the wind blowing towards the Clonard end. In one respect this was a carbon copy of the last home tie against Kerry, as Wexford had been level at the break on that occasion too after facing the elements first.
However, there was a big difference too, since the Kingdom were then overcome with the minimum of fuss in the second-half. That certainly wasn’t the case this time around though, and a repeat display simply wouldn’t suffice in the quarter-final with Kilkenny, a match-up that both counties would probably have preferred to avoid ahead of their expected big meeting in June.
Signs that it could be a wayward afternoon in front of the posts arrived early, with Conor McDonald (free) and Harry Kehoe posting wides before the prolific Patrick Purcell got Laois off the mark in the third minute.
Jack Guiney was next to miss the target before Wexford moved ahead with a calmly-taken goal from a low shot by David Dunne after Lee Chin cut in from the left and delivered a long, looping handpass to the corner-forward at the far post.
McDonald added a brace of pointed frees after fouls on Eanna Martin and Harry Kehoe respectively, but those wides were mounting too as Dunne and Martin added to the tally.
A point and a miss followed from Chin before Cian Taylor hit the first Laois score from play in the twelfth minute. McDonald widened the gap to five but Patrick Purcell and Charles Dwyer reduced it to 1-4 to 0-4, with the latter lining out at centre-back rather than his normal attacking role but ultimately playing as a sweeper after Cahir Healy moved to the middle on McDonald and Dwane Palmer came out from corner-back to keep tabs on Chin.
Meanwhile, Wexford were in the formation supporters have grown accustomed to at this stage, with Shaun Murphy moving back as an extra defender as soon as the ball was thrown in.
McDonald ensured the wides count rose to seven by the 14th minute before Chin knocked over a free and then set up the Gorey attacker to restore that five-point gap.
Laois enjoyed a bright spell next though as unanswered points from Willie Dunphy and Ross King (two frees) made it 1-6 to 0-7, with Chin chalking up another wide in that period while the midlanders had two.
Aidan Nolan pointed, with Diarmuid O’Keeffe supplying the pass, with frees missed by Charles Dwyer and McDonald respectively before Ross King enjoyed better luck from a placed ball.
David Dunne cancelled that score out though, but the frustration grew as the wides figure rose to twelve courtesy of Liam Ryan, Jack Guiney (free) and Lee Chin.
Ben Conroy pulled back a Laois point, with Dunne then denied a second goal by a decent save from Eoin Fleming which led to a converted ’65 from Jack Guiney (1-9 to 0-9).
Dwyer and Aidan Nolan swapped points, but the likelihood of Wexford holding on to that lead up to half-time was discounted as Laois grabbed three late scores from Ross King (free and play) and Willie Dunphy.
Perhaps the relative ease in dismantling Kerry in similar circumstances led to a degree of complacency among the home players, as they spent most of the second-half coasting along without ever putting the Laois challenge to bed. And, naturally enough, the longer the game continued in that fashion, the more the unfancied visitors believed that a surprise was on and upped their efforts accordingly.
King edged them ahead from a free on the re-start before Jack Guiney, who was very prominent after the break, levelled from a Shaun Murphy pass.
Eanna Martin then made it 1-12 to 0-14 after being picked out by Chin with a crossfield ball, and the goal that should really have ended the contest arrived next.
Diarmuid O’Keeffe has got into the very welcome habit of turning up when least expected in advanced attacking positions, and it was a similar story this time around as a lovely long handpass by Guiney took Dwane Palmer out of the game, with the St. Anne’s man cutting in from the left and firing low across Eoin Fleming into the far corner of the net (2-12 to 0-14).
Laois were persistent though, despite the absence of arguably their best forward in Stephen ‘Picky’ Maher. Midfielders King (free) and Purcell continued their impressive scoring contributions although Matthew O’Hanlon replied with a beauty from the left sideline after he had pushed upfield to negate the extra Laois defender.
Guiney added another point before the Rathnure man converted a free in between two more efforts off target from placed balls.
A brace of King frees left the score at 2-15 to 0-18 before the arrival of Barry Carton and Paul Morris to the fray, and the latter made a telling impact.
Guiney fired a low free to the left of the posts, but Laois substitute John Lennon had been too close to the ball and the big attacker tapped it over with his second attempt.
Morris then latched on to a Shaun Murphy delivery to make it 2-17 to 0-18 before doing superbly to keep an over-hit Aidan Nolan pass in play tight to the right corner and venturing outfield to make a better angle prior to splitting the posts again.
With a two-goal cushion at that stage, Wexford really should have forcibly ended the game as a contest. They laboured instead though, leaving much food for thought and the realisation that, while it has been a tremendous league campaign on the whole, the work that remains to be done before the big teams can be tackled is considerable.
Seventeen of the 33 frees were awarded to the home side, and yellow cards were picked up, all in the second-half, by Lee Cleere, Charles Dwyer, Matthew O’Hanlon and Shaun Murphy in that order.
Wexford: Mark Fanning; Willie Devereux, Liam Ryan, Andrew Kenny; Aaron Maddock, Matthew O’Hanlon (joint capt., 0-1), Diarmuid O’Keeffe (1-0); Eanna Martin (0-1), Aidan Nolan (0-2); Jack Guiney (0-7, 3 frees, 1 ‘65), Conor McDonald (0-4, 2 frees), Lee Chin (joint capt., 0-3, 1 free); David Dunne (1-2), Harry Kehoe, Shaun Murphy. Subs. - Damien Reck for Maddock (39), Barry Carton for Martin (49), Paul Morris (0-3) for Kehoe (49), Kevin Foley (0-1) for McDonald (56), David Redmond for Nolan (68).
Laois: Eoin Fleming; Dwane Palmer, Leigh Bergin, Lee Cleere; Cahir Healy, Charles Dwyer (0-2), Seán Downey; Ross King (capt., 0-10, 8 frees, 1 ‘65), Patrick Purcell (1-4); Ben Conroy (0-1), Ryan Mullaney, Cian Taylor (0-1); Aaron Dunphy, Neil Foyle (1-0), Willie Dunphy (0-2). Subs. - Paddy Whelan for Mullaney (35), John Lennon for A. Dunphy (HT), Eric Killeen for Downey (41), Jack Kelly for Whelan, temp. (65-68), Aidan Corby for Taylor (69), Stephen Bergin for Conroy (70).
Referee: Diarmuid Kirwan (Cork). Wexford Galway Limerick Offaly Kerry Laois DIVISION IB TABLE P W D L F A Pt 5 5 0 0 118 89 10 5 4 0 1 152 86 8 5 3 0 2 153104 6 5 1 0 4 101140 2 5 1 0 4 86 134 2 5 1 0 4 110167 2