Wexford wallop weak Carlow

Louth up next after biggest winning margin since 2010

WEXFORD ARE in a very good place as their Leinster championship campaign moves on to Portlaoise this weekend, but they shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that they beat one of the poorest Carlow teams I can ever recall in this first round mis-match in Chadwicks Wexford Park on Sunday.

It was relatively close up to the 15th minute, when Conor Doyle pointed a free for the visitors whose containment job into the elements had been serving them reasonably well.

Indeed, Wexford’s slender 0-4 to 0-3 lead at that stage wasn’t earth-shattering by any means, and we wondered if the match would develop into a slog before a late scoring burst secured victory – similar to last month’s Allianz League meeting in Netwatch Cullen Park.

However, the game was completely transformed in the second quarter, with a relentless Wexford rattling off eight points without reply to take a 0-12 to 0-3 advantage into the interval.

They only kicked one wide in the process and, in a remarkable display of accuracy and wise shot selection, they added 4-7 on the restart without any further blemishes to leave their extremely poor neighbours longing for the final whistle.

That tally of 4-19 was the highest scored in the championship since the 4-22 to 0-9 victory against London in Ruislip 14 years ago, and it was also the biggest winning margin since that 2010 mis-match.

Carlow, in contrast, added ten second-half wides to the four chalked up before the break, and there was precious little in the way of excitement for the 1,250 attendance who had to pay an exorbitant fee for the privilege of being there.

The importance of moving on quickly from this result stems from the fact that Louth – last year’s Leinster finalists, who recently preserved their Division 2 status – will present such a stiffer test in every facet of the game.

On a day that saw some media commentary advocating a thirdtier of championship football, the fact of the matter is that a team like Carlow would struggle even if a fourth or fifth grade was introduced.

That’s nothing to do with Wexford, to be fair, and the one thing they deserve the highest praise for is the response to that much-publicised late loss in Carrick-on-Shannon.

This was their fifth straight win since, all by a margin greater than nine points and the fourth achieved via a double-digits outcome.

And it was secured despite that slow start by their own recent higher standards, with Carlow trying to kill as much time as possible when facing the wind and largely succeeding until the end of the opening quarter.

Colm Hulton and Seán Nolan exchanged early points from frees, with the latter score following the first of several driving solo runs by the outstanding Kevin O’Grady, who repeatedly burned the opposition with his blistering pace.

Eoghan Nolan intercepted the kick-out and was unfortunate to see his lobbed shot rebounding off the crossbar, but the ball was re-cycled out the field by Seán Nolan for captain Liam Coleman to split the posts.

A Mark Rossiter mark from the edge of the ‘D’, after a neat Eoghan Nolan pass, made it 3-1, although there was a mini-scare for Wexford nearly 90 seconds later.

They rarely looked vulnerable at the back, but John Murphy and Josh Moore did combine on this occasion before Aaron Amond blazed over with a kick that wasn’t too far away from the roof of the net.

A second pointed mark followed for Wexford from Seán Nolan, created by Darragh Lyons, before Conor Kinsella had the misfortune to see a scoring attempt strike the left and then the right post before rebounding into play.

There was still no indication of what would follow when Conor Doyle reduced arrears to 0-4 to 0-3 after a foul on Conor Crowley, but Wexford were about to move effortlessly into the next level.

They prevailed by 4-15 to 0-5 from that stage onwards, and it was exhibition stuff in the second-half in particular as a weak and naïve Carlow defence was repeatedly breached even though the hosts were playing into the wind.

First and foremost, the platform had to be laid, and that arrived in the form of those eight points without reply between the 17th minute and referee Derek O’Mahoney’s half-time whistle.

Midfielder Niall Hughes got the ball rolling, after an Eoin Porter ’45 dropped short before Seán Nolan and Mark Rossiter combined to create the chance.

Seán Nolan’s free-taking was top notch, and he added another four points in that dominant second quarter after fouls on Kevin O’Grady, Eoghan Nolan, O’Grady again and Páraic Hughes respectively.

Conor Kinsella didn’t trouble Carlow netminder Johnny Furey with a shot after a Mark Rossiter pass, before he was replaced by Ben Brosnan at a stage when Wexford only led by 0-5 to 0-3.

Along with that additional Seán Nolan quartet that left him with a six-point haul by the interval, Eoghan Nolan kicked a booming 40-metre point, Liam Coleman added his second from an astute crossfield Darragh Lyons pass, and a hungry and eager Brosnan finished off a surging run by Gavin Sheehan.

Wexford’s one and only wide arrived from play in the 34th minute, courtesy of the otherwise impeccable Seán Nolan.

The frustrated reaction of Carlow’s Shane Clarke – taken off just before the break, five minutes after collecting a yellow card – suggested the visitors weren’t remotely close to a full-on championship mindset.

One question did remain, and that was if they could make any inroads with the wind now backing them, but the answer was a most emphatic “no”.

While an early Colm Hulton free marked their first point in more than 25 minutes, Wexford responded with a superbly-worked goal and already thoughts were turning towards the winding road to Portlaoise next Sunday.

Darragh Lyons, Kevin O’Grady, Eoghan Nolan and Páraic Hughes all featured in a move finished emphatically with a shot low into the left corner at the Clonard end by Seán Nolan (1-13 to 0-4).

Brosnan teed up O’Grady for the next point, with the pair running riot and making a mockery of their shared tag as veterans.

It took a fine block by Josh Moore to keep out a Seán Nolan piledriver, although the attacker was penalised for an early incursion into the square at any rate.

Nolan ended his haul for the day, a far from shabby 1-7, via a free before championship debutant Rory Tubritt made a save from Carlow captain Jamie Clarke in the 50th minute.

Wexford’s thirst for more goals was sated after an exchange of points between Ross Dunphy and Glen Malone, with three tacked on after the 57th minute.

Jonathan Bealin had only spent three minutes on the field when his shot squirmed under the body of Johnny Furey to make it 2-16 to 0-5, with Dylan Furlong supplying the final pass.

In a rare occurrence, Carlow replied with three successive points from Colm Hulton, Conor Crowley and Hulton again, only for Wexford to produce a 63rd-minute goal in response.

Furlong, Seán Nolan and O’Grady featured before Mark Rossiter hammered home (3-16 to 0-8), and the Gusserane marksman wanted more.

He hit a point after O’Grady did the same, before Carlow – who lost Mikey Bambrick to a late second yellow card – squandered a consolation goal chance when former Wexford Youths winger Eric Molloy fired low to the right and wide.

Just over three of the four additional minutes announced had elapsed when Rossiter rattled the net again, this time after Malone, Brosnan and captain Coleman – who excelled throughout at midfield – carved the Carlow defence wide open for the umpteenth time.

It was left to Brosnan – the man who seems destined to go on forever – to close the scoring from an Eoin Porter handpass, with his continuous appetite for the ball long after the outcome was decided serving as a fitting example to his less experienced team-mates.

Louth manager Ger Brennan, the former All-Ireland winning Dublin defender, was keeping a watching brief, and he will no doubt have been impressed with a lot of what he saw from Wexford.

His side will represent a notable step-up in ability, with Sunday’s game in Portlaoise (4 p.m.) following another quarter-final clash of Kildare and Wicklow – surprise victors over Division 3 league champions Westmeath – at 1.45 p.m.

Wexford: Rory Tubritt (Naomh Éanna); Darragh Lyons (St. James’), Gavin Sheehan (Gusserane), Eoin Porter (Rathgarogue-Cushinstown); Glen Malone (Shelmaliers, 0-1), Páraic Hughes (Kilanerin), Dylan Furlong (Sarsfields); Liam Coleman (Castletown, capt., 0-2), Niall Hughes (Kilanerin, 0-1); Kevin O’Grady (St. James’, 0-2), Eoghan Nolan (Shelmaliers, 0-1), Mark Rossiter (Gusserane, 2-2, 0-1 mark); Graeme Cullen (Gusserane), Seán Nolan (Horeswood, 1-7, 0-6 frees, 0-1 mark), Conor Kinsella (Kilanerin). Subs. - Ben Brosnan (Carnew Emmets, Wicklow, 0-3) for Kinsella (22), Cathal Walsh (Monageer-Boolavogue) for Cullen (54), Jonathan Bealin (Castletown, 1-0) for E. Nolan (54), Liam O’Connor (St. Mary’s, Rosslare) for Sheehan (59), Graham Staples (Shelmaliers) for Lyons, inj. (67), also Conor Carty (Castletown), Shane Doyle (Ballyhogue), Liam Doyle (Ballyhogue), Dean O’Toole (Kilanerin), Tom Byrne (Kilmore), Shane Pettit (St. Fintan’s).

Carlow: Johnny Furey; Mark Furey, Mikey Bambrick, Josh Moore; Paddy McDonnell, Colin Byrne, John Murphy; Conor Doyle (0-1 free), Niall Hickey; Conor Crowley (0-1), Jamie Clarke (capt.), Shane Clarke; Ross Dunphy (0-1), Colm Hulton (0-4, 2 frees), Aaron Amond (0-1). Subs. - Dara Curran for S. Clarke (35+1), Cormac Lomax for Moore (50), Eric Molloy for Murphy (54), Kevin Murphy for Hickey (59), Bryan McMahon for McDonnell (67).

Referee: Derek O’Mahoney (Tipperary).