[Match Report] Wicklow’s late rally sees them victorious over Wexford in u-20 Leinster Championship

It was a late show from Wicklow that saw them come out victorious in Blessington on Tuesday night….

Wicklow defeated Wexford on a score-line of 0-12 to 1-07.

In the battle of the local rivals it was Wexford who struck first through Sean Hughes who was late replacement just before the throw in. Within minutes Wicklow had taken the lead with a quick fire double from Paidí Kavanagh, the first a free from an angle before slotting over a second from play.

As the game developed it was clear that both defences were standing strong this was until Morgan Ellis levelled the tie ten minutes into the opening half. As the midway point of the half beckoned Naomh Eanna’s Dylan Cooke Leonard split the posts from range to give his side the lead.

This was the Yellow Bellies last score up until five minutes to go as the Garden county took complete control. The home side hit four scores unanswered with wing back James Boland emulating his Wexford counterpart . The home sides full forward line raised the next three white flags with Conor Fee adding two to his tally with a Brian Hurley effort in between the double . It looked like Wicklow would go in three points up at the break but Cooke Leonard and Liam Donoghue had other ideas leaving only a point in it at the interval.

Once the whistle blew for the second half the scores were level within minutes with Donoghues adding to his tally. Wexford then managed to take the lead within a couple of minutes. The home side then wrestled back the lead with scored from the two Kavanagh’s first up was Paidí adding a third to his tally before Alex drove over an effort from an outrageous angle.

It looked like Wicklow were in control until a long ball in from Cooke Leonard was fisted into the net through Jack Morris. Both sets of wing backs were controlling the game at it was Boland who doubled his tally for the home side before A Kavanagh slotted a second free to level the tie with eight minutes to go.

Both sides were finding difficult to fine that winning scored. This was until that man Boland added his third score of the game. The final score of the game came through Éanna Nolan to ensure victory for the home side.

In the next round, Wexford will be looking forward to a home clash against Laois. This match takes place on Tuesday April 2nd at St Patrick’s Park in Enniscorthy.

All the scorers:

Scorers Wicklow: P Kavanagh 0-3 2fs, J Boland 0-3, C Fee 0-2 1f, A Kavanagh 0-2, E Nolan, B Hurley 0-1.

Scorers Wexford: D Cooke Leonard 0-2, J Morris (1-0) L Donohue 0-2, M Ellis 0-1, S Hughes 0-2.

Teams:

Wicklow :A O’Leary, C O’Brien, L Smyth ,P Bermingham, J Boland, J Fleming , A Kinsella, A Brennan, J Hardy, C Deering , A O’Brien, P Kavanagh, C Fee, B Hurley , A Kavanagh.

Subs: A Byrne, S Byrne, E Nolan, J Heatly.

Wexford: W Foley, S Nunan, C Kelly, J Doyle, A Smyth, A Kirby, D Cooke Leonard, J Morris, C Kehoe, C Twomey, S Hughes , M Kavanagh, M Ellis L Donoghue.

Subs: C Mackey, J Lawless, M McGonigle, R Gilbert.

Referee: Dan Stynes.