Wasteful Wexford march on

Squandered opportunities kept Offaly in the running

WEXFORD ADVANCED to the All-Ireland Minor ‘ A’ camogie shield semi-final with a narrow victory over Offaly in Abbotstown on Sunday.

The Slaneysiders completely controlled the game, having 31 attempts at the posts to the opposition’s 13, but they were unable to take advantage of the territorial dominance they exerted, allowing the Faithful girls to hang around.

And hang around they did. Offaly were always likely to have a purple patch with the aiding cross-breeze in the second-half, and when it came they quickly went from four points down to one point up.

In fairness to Wexford they never panicked and went back on the offensive, taking a few nice scores near the end and advancing to the last four by the narrowest of margins.

They will be relieved to get over the line but once again will feel they left a lot of scores out there.

It’s something Wexford will have to clean up going forward, but they made one big positive stride towards that by starting Shauna Mac Sweeney.

There are some intelligent camogie minds in this Minor management team so it’s a little surprising that the Kilrush clubwoman has been used mainly as a substitute so far.

However, she got the start here and it was her quality of ball striking in a really testing breeze that got Wexford over the line.

She scored nine of the 13 points, had 14 of the 31 shots, and gave her county a combative figure in attack, someone not afraid to get involved in the dirty work too.

Overall it was a decent Wexford performance and one that can be a solid foundation to move forward on. Confidence will be a big thing in the next few weeks, and Wexford should take plenty from the way they dominated possession.

There is enough quality in this squad to win this ‘ A’ shield but everyone needs to believe it. While giving up ten scores from 13 shots is not a great percentage, it’s impressive from a minimising of chances point of view. Offaly do deserve credit for not only their quality shooting in the conditions but also their shot selection.

Wexford were cynical when they needed to be and they will have to continue to know when the time is right to give away the foul if they are to emerge with this title.

If they concede a similar tally in the semi-final and a potential final they would expect to win those games, so that should also instil confidence in this pack.

Playing with the crosswind blowing into the right corner of the end they were attacking, Wexford missed three opportunities before opening the scoring with a Mac Sweeney free in the fifth minute.

Karen Hayden got on the scoresheet to make it 0-2 to nil two minutes later, but ten minutes and five misses passed before the Slaneysiders scored again.

Meanwhile, Offaly scored from their first four shots, with two Niamh Sheedy frees followed by points from Isabella Gleeson and Kate Pilkington.

Down by 0-4 to 0-2 early in the second quarter, Wexford hit back with points from Mac Sweeney and Hayden to tie it up.

They went close to a goal when the former flicked an Abbie Doyle ball towards goal, but a composed Sorcha Troy dealt with it with the minimum of fuss.

Sheedy put Offaly ahead in the 20th minute but Mac Sweeney cancelled it out. The eventual victors then pushed on the accelerator as the half moved towards a conclusion, with Katie Bolger, Mac Sweeney and Layla Stafford all on target to make it 0-8 to 0-5.

Given that Wexford made a substitution, it was peculiar that referee Philip McDonald blew up right on 30 minutes, or eight seconds early if going by the time he threw the ball in at the start.

It was even more interesting given the amount of added-time that would be played in the second-half.

Sheedy got the first score of the second-half on the board but Wexford were comfortable after a pair of Mac Sweeney points made it 0-10 to 0-6.

However, the Slaneysiders didn’t score between the 42nd and 55th minutes, in which time Fianait Dooley hit 1-1 to bring the game level before Sheedy gave Offaly the lead.

Wexford responded encouragingly. Mac Sweeney levelled it up with a monster free into the breeze and then knocked over a ’45 after Katie Bolger saw her fizzed shot saved behind by the impressive Troy.

Another sweet strike from Mac Sweeney, this time from play, rounded out the 60 minutes as the message that there was two minutes to be played filtered to the sideline. The two minutes this time seemed correct, given the quartet of substitutions, but that two minutes somehow stretched to five.

There was no good reason to play five minutes, as there were no stoppages in additional time other than for a routine break as Offaly prepared to take a free-in. That close-range free pinged around agonisingly in the Wexford goalmouth for what seemed like an eternity before being cleared.

Despite the referee informing Wexord mentors on the sideline that it was the “last play”, another 90 seconds elapsed, in which time Allie Butler knocked over the bar to halve the deficit.

However, that proved to be the final act and Wexford now go into an open draw with Derry, Dublin and Limerick to determine the semi-final parings, with the games scheduled for April 21.

Wexford: Jane Duggan (Glynn-Barntown); Emma O’Leary (Glynn-Barntown), Leagh Maddock (St. Martin’s, joint-capt.), Kate Flood (Cloughbawn); Róisín McGonigle (Ballynastragh Gaels), Eirin O’Brien (Blackwater), Róisín Egan (Buffers Alley); Layla Stafford (Glynn-Barntown, 0-1), Orla O’Rourke (Kilrush); Katie Bolger (Ballygarrett, 0-1), Robyn Kinsella (Buffers Alley), Lucia Goggins (St. Martin’s); Abbie Doyle (Davidstown-Courtnacuddy), Shauna Mac Sweeney (Kilrush, 0-9, 7 frees, 1 ’45), Karen Hayden (Oylegate-Glenbrien, joint-capt., 0-2). Subs. - Chloe Whelan (St. Ibar’s/Shelmalier) for Doyle (27), Ciara Kavanagh (Buffers Alley) for Hayden (55), Kayla Reddy (Rathnure) for Egan (55).

Offaly: Sorcha Troy; Elizabeth Kilmartin, Sarah O’Rourke, Karla Mannion; Emma Buggy, Róisín Kinsella, Gráinne Kennedy; Sorcha Tierney, Kate Pilkington (0-1); Isabella Gleeson (0-1), Aoife Byrne, Allie Butler (capt., 0-1); Fianait Dooley (1-1), Áine Rigney, Niamh Sheedy (0-5 frees). Subs. - Aideen Queen for Rigney (42), Caoimhe Ginty for Gleeson (51).

Referee: Philip McDonald (Cavan).