New faces abound in defeat to Premier side Pat’s
ST. PATRICK’S ATHLETIC 3 WEXFORD F.C. 0
A MUCH-CHANGED Wexford F.C. returned to the scene of last July’s 5-0 quarter-final exit and went down 3-0 on this occasion to Premier Division outfit St. Patrick’s Athletic in their Leinster Senior Cup opener in Richmond Park, Inchicore, on Monday of last week.
Only captain for the evening Owen McCormack, Seán Kelly and Danny Doyle remained from that game seven months earlier as new manager Brian O’Sullivan availed of the opportunity to get an ideal run-out against quality opposition ahead of last Friday’s league trip to Athlone.
The visitors did well to keep the home side scoreless in the opening half, with new goalkeeper Joseph Walshe making a couple of brilliant saves.
Brandon Miele, Pat’s new arrival from Shamrock Rovers, was denied in the 17th minute when his shot looked to be heading for the top corner, while Walshe also kept out an effort from Cian Coleman twelve minutes later.
In between, Miele headed just wide from a Georgie Poynton cross, but the goal the home side had been threatening eventually arrived from a predictable source.
Chris Forrester, who has re- turned to Pat’s after spells in England and Scotland, had tried his luck with an ambitious effort from halfway before Walshe was finally beaten in the 56th minute.
The ex-Peterborough and Aberdeen schemer played a one-two before finishing expertly from the edge of the box, and the lead was doubled eleven minutes later.
It was a proud moment for Jake Walker, an early replacement for the injured Gary Shaw, when he headed home a James Doona cross for his first senior goal.
Walshe made one more excellent save to the frustration of Georgie Poynton, and he was unfortunate to spill an injury-time shot into the path of Paul Cleary who duly sealed a 3-0 victory.
The netminder, who has arrived from non-league Portlaoise, was one of five debutants along with defenders Lee Costello and Torik Adegoke, left winger Nika Arevadze, and Danny Furlong who, of course, was the record goalscorer with the old Wexford Youths club and a real fans’ favourite in Ferrycarrig Park.
Two more new faces, Seán Roche and Jack Doherty, appeared off the bench during the second-half, while it was interesting to see Thomas Croke lining out at right-back after being used almost exclusively in a midfield role during the Damian Locke managerial era.
The only real Wexford chance of the first-half fell to Emmet Nugent whose volley from the edge of the box was comfortably saved by Barry Murphy after a rebound from Furlong’s initial effort fell into his path.
And they had a great opportunity to score before Pat’s got off the mark, but Furlong couldn’t avail of a gilt-edged heading chance from a Nika Arevadze freekick which located him unmarked in the box.
Arevadke, Paddy Cahill and Lee Costello picked up yellow cards on an evening when that scoreless first-half against strong opposition was a positive sign for a club in dire need of an improvement on their second-from-bottom league finishes of 2017 and 2018 respectively.
Wexford F.C.: Joseph Walshe; Thomas Croke, Owen McCormack (capt.), Lee Costello, Torik Adegoke; Danny Doyle, Paddy Cahill, Seán Kelly, Nika Arevadze; Emmet Nugent, Danny Furlong. Subs. - Seán Roche for Kelly (67), Jack Doherty for Furlong (70), Ryan Nolan for Arevadze (84), also Corey Chambers, Darragh O’Connor, Andrew Farrell, Emmanuel Lawal.
St. Patrick’s Athletic: Barry Murphy; Georgie Poynton, David Webster (capt.), Ciarán Kelly, Paul Cleary; Cian Coleman, Chris Forrester, Darragh Markey; James Doona, Gary Shaw, Brandon Miele. Subs. - Jake Walker for Shaw, inj. (4), Kevin Kelly for Forrester (67), Kevin Toner for Webster (75), also Brian Maher, Ian Bermingham, Jamie Lennon, Keith Carter.