ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 4 FINAL - WEXFORD Wexford wilt as Westmeath
GAA Defensive frailties cruelly exposed as midlanders
A MALFUNCTIONING defensive system laid the unfortunate foundations for a disastrous outing in Croke Park on Saturday as the Wexford Senior footballers were subjected to the second thrashing by Westmeath in the space of a fortnight, losing this Allianz League Division 4 final by 13 points.
Eyebrows were raised at the positions taken up by the Model county men for the throw-in, with long-time attacker Kevin O’Grady at left half-back and Brian Malone in the right half-forward slot.
However, when the action began the intentions became clear as Malone moved to a more familiar right half-back role to police David Lynch, with Eoghan Nolan picking up Paul Sharry on the ’40. This left John Leacy to double up on dangerman John Heslin with Jim Rossiter, and John Tubritt drifted out to the number 10 position while Ciarán Lyng and P.J. Banville formed a two-man full-forward line.
And while O’Grady remained in his unfamiliar defensive spot, that was one of the sole success stories of a forgettable afternoon as he repeatedly bombed forward to win frees and also scored 1-1 in the opening half.
Banville tried all he knew to worry Westmeath and was one of very few players to perform with any degree of consistency. Otherwise it was a real eye-opener though as the midlanders burst forward at their ease, with the ongoing failure of Wexford men to track back giving their rivals ample time on the ball.
In addition, the losers’ backs struggled for the most part in the physical stakes, with their tackles repeatedly swatted aside by stronger opponents who only dropped one point in the entire campaign, on day one when they drew at home to our first championship opponents, Carlow.
Sharry, Kieran Martin, John Heslin and Tommy McDaniels ensured Eoghan Nolan, Michael Furlong, Jim Rossiter and Ronan Devereux respectively had a torrid time of it in the first-half, while John Leacy struggled to stop the wave after wave of Westmeath attacks too.
The winners also held sway in midfield, nothwithstanding the fact that Daithí Waters did have occasional bright spells. It was a rude awakening on the whole, highlighting the reality that Carlow will prove very difficult opponents to overcome on their home soil next month.
Wexford won the toss and opted to play into the Hill 16 end first, but they conceded an opening score after 30 seconds when Westmeath captain Ger Egan pointed after an initial good tackle by Leacy.
However, the first 15 minutes were reasonably encouraging as the sides were level three times.
Michael Furlong came forward from corner-back to finish a good move involving Jim Rossiter, Ciarán Lyng and Ben Brosnan, but a Brosnan ’45 in the fifth minute was kept in play by Lyng and delivered to Paul Curtis whose kick was blocked and cleared.
It was apparent from that early stage that all three of Westmeath’s inside attackers were capable of regularly beating their individual opponents.
John Leacy fouled Kieran Martin as he cut inside menacingly from the left, with John Heslin restoring his side’s lead from the free before Kevin O’Grady showed his first signs of settling into that new role.
He spotted a gap in the ninth minute after receiving a John Tubritt pass and darted into the ‘D’ before steadying himself and splitting the posts.
Tommy McDaniels fisted the ball over the bar in reply before the old guard were involved in Wexford’s third equaliser, finished by an otherwise quiet Ciarán Lyng after good work by Brosnan, Malone and Banville.
A foul by Colm Kehoe, already booked, led to John Heslin making it 4-3, and it all started to go extremely wrong for Wexford when they conceded a goal in 17th minute.
James Dolan surged forward from wing-back to join an attack and was taken down by Paul Curtis after a Kevin Maguire handpass put him clear.
It was surprising that referee Paul Faloon didn’t deem it worthy of a yellow or even black card, but enough punishment was meted out as Ger Egan calmly sent Shane Roche the wrong way from the spot kick (1-4 to 0-3).
Three more points were added by the rampant trio of Heslin, Martin and Sharry before a chink of light emerged in the 22nd minute. P.J. Banville and John Tubritt combined, with Kevin O’Grady accepting a pass from the latter in an advanced position and jinking one way and then the other before planting a left-footed piledriver past Darren Quinn (1-7 to 1-3).
That goal could have been cancelled out on the next Westmeath attack, but Shane Roche made a stunning point-blank save to deny Martin who was put clean through by Sharry.
Tommy McDaniels created another good opening less than 60 seconds later but, no doubt mindful of the netminder’s heroics, opted to fist the ball over the bar rather than shooting low.
Wexford did create another goal chance in the 25th minute when Paul Curtis and Daithí Waters combined to release P.J. Banville, but his shot with his left across the body of netminder Darren Quinn was well saved by the number 1.
The deadly duo of Sharry and Martin widened the gap to seven beat three men down fisted a point from a the 32nd minute.
Westmeath had the though, with Sharry’s coming after David Lynch acres of space down
Wexford trailed by break, and the fact tally came from a forward their difficulties all over
Adrian Flynn and came in at half-time, and full-forward respectively moving to the full-back Rossiter and Michael
Flynn, Eoghan Nolan completed the defence, had already come into expense of Paul Curtis first-half. There was some a pointed free for Lyng Banville, but it was shortlived.
Westmeath chalked