Goals give Antrim clear edge
Application was admirable, but trip north ends in loss
THE WEXFORD footballers got full marks for application and effort in Glenavy on Sunday, but they were reminded that it takes more than that to put precious points on the board as a goal-hungry Antrim side defeated them by six points in this Allianz League Division 4 opener.
While one couldn’t fault the workrate of the visitors, particularly during a determined period just before half-time, they were too porous at the back to come away from the well-maintained St. Joseph’s club grounds with anything tangible to show for it.
There wasn’t much between the sides during a competitive opening half, with Antrim shading it at the break by 1-7 to 0-8 after getting a 31st-minute goal that exposed the naivety that is understandable and inevitable given the generally youthful nature of the team.
Wing-forward Eunan Walsh was a long way from the opposition posts when he took over after receiving a pass from Peter Healy on the left flank.
He thundered past a few wouldbe tacklers and really should have been brought to an unceremonious halt, even if it meant conceding a pointed free.
Instead, he kept going and planted the ball in Pa Doyle’s net, giving Antrim a 1-6 to 0-6 lead that was reduced to a two-point gap by half-time.
There was still ample time to re-group and recover from that blow, but the real killer was administered just over two minutes into the new half.
Conor Small and Niall Delargy both had their hands on the ball twice in the build-up before midfielder Marc Jordan split the defence with a well-timed run down the middle.
A pass was popped up for full-forward Rúairí McCann on the edge of the square, and he palmed it to the net to give the home side the tonic of a 2-7 to 0-8 advantage.
While it didn’t ensure that the points were safe, what it did guarantee was that Antrim had a cushion when Wexford fought hard to remain in the game with the next two points.
And just as momentum was building again, a defensive handling error led to a third goal for the northerners which once again afforded them a little bit of breathing space even though Wexford responded with three unanswered points.
The victors closed the scoring with the last two white flags on a day when Turlough O’Brien – manager of Carlow, next Saturday’s opponents in Chadwicks Wexford Park – was an interested observer at the sun-backed venue quite close to the shores of Lough Neagh.
Veteran Brian Malone returned to captain the side, performing as a sweeper, and he was one of six survivors from the starting team for the 1-10 to 0-9 win over Antrim on home soil last February along with his brother, Glen, plus Conor Carty, Martin O’Connor, Niall Hughes and Jonathan Bealin.
Their familiarity with the venue was evident early on as the hosts settled quickly, with the talented Paddy Cunningham marking his return after a long lay-off caused by illness with the opening point after 25 seconds from a Conor Small free.
Full-forward Rúairí McCann then fisted over after a Eunan Walsh scoring attempt dropped short and bounced in front of him, while the first of several turnovers ended with Cunningham slotting over a free in the sixth minute.
Wexford didn’t work the ball into opposition territory with any purpose until an over-hit Ronan Devereux pass resulted in the first of just two opening half wides, from an overall tally of seven, in the eighth minute.
And they opened their account shortly afterwards when an over-ambitious foot pass by centre-back James McAuley was intercepted by Tom Byrne, and he fed Ben Brosnan to split the posts.
However, two more Cunningham frees stretched the Antrim lead to 0-5 to 0-1, before the Wexford players finally started to listen to the demands of manager Paul Galvin.
From an early stage he had been exhorting those around the middle third to fire long deliveries into the path of targetman and full-forward Jonathan Bealin.
And it was clear to see why, as the first such ball kicked by Ronan Devereux in the 16th minute resulted in a push on the Castletown man who got up to knock over the resultant free.
Glen Malone collected a yellow card but Cunningham dropped the free that followed short, enabling Pa Doyle to start a counter-attack that ended with another Bealin point after Niall Hughes was impeded in the right corner.
The Kilanerin clubman has a Sigerson Cup final to look forward to tomorrow (Wednesday) with outsiders I.T. Carlow against D.C.U., and he has clearly benefited from the three big games under his belt against I.T. Tralee, U.C.C. and Letterkenny I.T. already as he looked sharp on Sunday.
Paddy Cunningham, a wily and tough opponent for Jim Rossiter, made it 0-6 to 0-3 from a Niall Delargy pass in the 22nd minute, but that score was followed by a very encouraging period from Wexford when they hunted in packs and gave their rivals no time to settle on the ball.
It resulted in three points on the trot, starting when Cunningham gave the ball away and Tom Byrne off-loaded to wing-back Glen Malone to find the range from distance (0-6 to 0-4).
An attempt screwed off the boot of Ronan Devereux and went wide by a considerable distance before Pa Doyle did well to deny Rúairí McCann a goal after Marc Jordan’s point attempt came back off the right post.
A flowing move featuring Shelmaliers trio Glen Malone, Eoghan Nolan and Brian Malone ended with Niall Hughes kicking a fine point off his left peg, and Ben Brosnan then nailed a free off the ground from 47 metres for the leveller after a foul on Jonathan Bealin.
Unfortunately, that solid momentum was broken with the first Antrim goal from Eunan Walsh, with Niall Hughes and Tom Byrne swapping wings before the value of kicking long to Bealin was underlined once more.
Eoghan Nolan looked to have skyed the ball too high for the attacker to claim the mark, but he did just that in fine style before splitting the posts inside the required 15 seconds.
Paddy Cunningham replied from a free for Antrim, but Wexford had the last say before the break as a Martin O’Connor mark from the kick-out led to a sweet left-footed Tom Byrne point to narrow the deficit to 1-7 to 0-8.
That second Antrim goal on the re-start represented a serious setback, but the initial response was good.
Ben Brosnan did drop a shot short, but he had the required length at the second time of asking after latching on to a Jonathan Bealin delivery.
And after Antrim corner-back Patrick Gallagher was blocked as he sought a score on his home ground, the ball moved downfield for Tom Byrne to pick out Glen Malone whose left-footed curler made it 2-7 to 0-10.
Midfielder Colum Duffin steadied Antrim with a point, and their goal arrived in unfortunate circumstances in the 49th minute.
Conor Small’s long kick was under the nose of sweeper Brian Malone who had read the flight of the ball from the right flank towards the left corner.
However, it struck his hand as he attempted to bring it under control, with the low-lying sun a likely factor.
Full-forward Rúairí McCann pounced on the break and, although Pa Doyle did get a hand to his shot, the Aghagallon clubman’s second goal left Antrim very much in the driving seat (3-8 to 0-10).
The fresh faces started to arrive off the bench, starting with two league debutants in John Dunne and Seán Nolan respectively, and Wexford made another determined effort to get back into the game.
Ben Brosnan (’45) and Tom Byrne kicked wides, while Niall Hughes was unfortunate not to be awarded a free in a menacing position, before a run of three points on the trot between the 59th and 62nd minutes.
Bealin tapped over a free after a foul on Seán Nolan, and the Horeswood youngster then registered his first point at this level following a build-up involving Tom Byrne and Eoghan Nolan.
A missed Bealin free from a good position was an unexpected blow, with Wexford coming very close to the goal they needed from the kick-out that followed.
Eoghan Nolan broke it to Niall Hughes who placed Ben Brosnan in the left corner, and he turned and beat his marker before unleashing a venomous drive that was turned over the bar acrobatically by netminder Oisín Kerr (3-8 to 0-13).
That proved to be their last score, though, with Glen Malone hitting one short while Brian Malone and substitute Mark Rossiter posted late wides.
A fisted Colum Duffin point settled any Antrim nerves and widened the gap to five, and Patrick McBride closed the scoring from a free in the seven added minutes after Glen Malone was dismissed for a second booking.
The only sin-binning had no impact on the game, as it came seconds before the end when the numbers were evened up to 14 after goalscorer Rúairí McCann crashed into late substitute Liam Coleman.
This wasn’t a demoralising display by any means, and if truth be told there was a lot to admire about certain aspects of the performance.
However, it goes without saying that a home win over Carlow – who accounted for Wicklow last Saturday – is now absolutely essential if Wexford hope to be involved in the promotion shake-up.
Wexford: Pa Doyle; Martin O’Connor, Gavin Sheehan, Jim Rossiter; Ronan Devereux, Conor Carty, Glen Malone (0-2); Eoghan Nolan, Rory Heffernan; Niall Hughes (0-1), James Stafford, Brian Malone (capt.); Ben Brosnan (0-4, 1 free), Jonathan Bealin (0-4, 3 frees, 1 mark), Tom Byrne (01). Subs. - John Dunne for Heffernan (49), Seán Nolan (0-1) for Stafford (53), Mark Rossiter for Bealin (67), Conor Devitt for Byrne (70), Liam Coleman for Nolan (70+6), also Ivan Meegan, Oisín Foley, Robbie Barron, Ríoghan Crosbie, Michael Molloy, Shane Doyle.
Antrim: Oisín Kerr; Patrick Gallagher, Ricky Johnston, Mark Gardiner; Declan Lynch (capt.), James McAuley, Peter Healy; Colum Duffin (0-2), Marc Jordan; Niall Delargy, Patrick McBride (0-1 free), Eunan Walsh (1-0); Paddy Cunningham (0-6, 4 frees), Rúairí McCann (2-1), Conor Murray. Subs. - Conor Small for Cunningham (54), Eoin Nagle for Jordan (60), Adam Loughran for Delargy (70), Dermot McAleese for Duffin (70).
Referee: Barry Tiernan (Dublin).