Rampant Wexford punish Antrim for lack of direction

WEXFORD SCHOOLS ANTRIM SCHOOLS 7-18 3-8

WEXFORD SCHOOLS encountered no obstacle whatsoever in round one of the Top Oil Leinster Post-Primary Schools group teams Senior ‘A’ hurling section with a resounding 7-18 to 3-8 victory over a struggling Antrim Schools side in Sunday’s one-sided tie at the Craobh Chiaráin grounds in north county Dublin.

The game threw in some 33 minutes behind schedule as the Saffron county’s bus was led astray by Google Maps, which brought them to Craobh Chiaráin’s clubhouse and under-age training facility at Parnell Park as opposed to their secondary home close to the airport.

And they seemed affected by that less than ideal preparation when Wexford found the net four times in the first six minutes as the competitiveness of the game quickly evaporated.

Ben O’Connor had opened Wexford’s account with a point after 90 seconds, and slapped home their first goal not along after when James Byrne had blocked an attempted clearance by Billy Graham.

Oisín McCauley responded with a point for Antrim, only for O’Connor to cleverly flick the ball into his path and bury a fourth-minute goal.

Byrne followed suit when blasting to the top corner one minute later, while Glen Murphy-Butler made room for himself before netting with a low finish to make it 4-3 to 0-1.

Antrim were awarded a penalty on 19 minutes which Darragh Murphy buried with authority, but Wexford responded almost immediately as Murphy-Butler floated a shot to the top corner.

An ill-timed slip inside from a defender allowed O’Connor to progress unimpeded and bring up his hat-trick as the gap mushroomed to 6-7 to 1-2 by the 24th minute.

Ronan Crossan bundled home a scruffy goal before half-time, by which stage Wexford were sitting pretty by 6-10 to 2-3.

Perhaps understandable given the yawning gap, the victors’ scoring rate dropped after the break, and they also conceded a goal 25 seconds into the new half when Crossan tapped in from close-range.

Still, Faythe Harriers club and county Minor colleagues Richie Lawlor (one free) and substitute Josh Shiel registered a brace apiece, and the latter flicked home his side’s seventh goal five minutes from time to seal the most elementary of victories.

Wexford Schools: James Lawlor (F.C.J. Bunclody); Rory Scallan (Enniscorthy C.B.S.), Paddy O’Hagan (F.C.J. Bunclody), Alan Doyle (F.C.J. Bunclody); Kyle Scallan (Wexford C.B.S.), Paudie Hughes (Gorey C.S.), Seán Dowling (Gorey C.S.); Jack Kirwan (Enniscorthy V.C., 0-1), Tadhg O Ceallaigh (F.C.J. Bunclody); Seán Cooper (Meanscoil Garman, 0-1), Niall Murphy (F.C.J. Bunclody, 0-1), Richie Lawlor (Wexford C.B.S., 0-3, 1 free); Glen Murphy-Butler (Wexford C.B.S., 2-2, 0-1 free), James Byrne (F.C.J. Bunclody, 1-3), Ben O’Connor (Gorey C.S., 3-5). Subs. - Josh Shiel (Wexford C.B.S., 1-2, 0-2 frees) for Murphy-Butler (HT), Jack Roche (Enniscorthy C.B.S.) for Kirwan (34), Eamonn Doran (Gorey C.S.) for Cooper (49), Joe Barrett (Wexford C.B.S.) for Doyle (54), Niall Hickey (F.C.J. Bunclody) for Scallan (57).

Antrim Schools: Billy Graham; Caomhín Heaney, Anthony Gallagher, Ciarán McKay; Kealan McKiernan (0-3 frees), Declan McCloskey (0-1 free), Tomás Scally; Paul Boyle, Niall O’Connor; Oisín McCauley (0-1), Connal Broughal (0-1 free), Enda Og McGarry; Ronan Crossan (2-0), Darragh Murphy (1-2, 1-0 pen., 0-1 free), Darren McKeogh.

Referee: David Sweeney (Laois).