Having sat through 74 minutes of a tightly contested Leister Championship clash between Darragh Egan’s Wexford and Mattie Kenny’s Dublin team, Wexford supporters could not help but feel a sense of bitter disappointment and dejection…
Regret:
You would feel that Egan and his side surely could not help but rue the chances missed and lament their missed opportunities. The clash between the two sides who had met previously in the Walsh Cup Final was bound to be a close one, with capable players on both sides. Even though a close encounter was inevitable, the result was not. Wexford were widely considered favourites heading into the match and many would feel this was a game they left behind them.
As a Wexford supporter, these feelings of frustration following a match are not unusual. Similar errors had plagued Wexford in their first-half performance against Galway, their heavy loss to Waterford in the League Semi-Final, and their Walsh Cup Final defeat to Dublin in Croke Park.
There were many costly errors and poor decisions which cost Wexford this close encounter.
Slow start:
Although an electric atmosphere was brewing in Chadwicks Wexford Park before the throw-in, the energy from the crowd in attendance was not reflected in the early performance of the Wexford team. Wexford drew first blood as Rory O’Connor raised the white flag from a free early in the match.
The prolific Donal Burke levelled the match from a free and soon after Dublin full-back, Eoghan O’Donnell, put Dublin in the lead with an inspirational score. Wexford reduced the deficit to two or three points never again drew level with Kenny’s Dublin and never again took the lead. Over the past few years and during the league campaign, part of Wexford’s success was the energy with which they played the game.
However, it seemed that in the opening moments of this vital clash, Wexford lacked the energy which had defined their game in the past.
As the game went on, the Wexford team began to gather momentum but they were never able to close the gap on Dublin.
Dublin domination:
To be entirely fair to Wexford, their performance was not dismal by any means. As mentioned, as the game progressed, they developed a sense of fight and intensity in their game. Wexford’s game did have some positives. Wexford’s loss was not solely down to their own poor performance. Instead, it was in large part due to Dublin’s domination in key areas of the game.
One of the great challenges when facing Wexford is to try and contain Rory O’Connor and Conor McDonald. In essence, if you can contain Rory O’Connor and Conor McDonald, you are in with a much better chance of leaving a game against Wexford with a result. In this task, Dublin partially succeeded both Rory O’Connor and Conor McDonald only scored a point each from play.
Despite not being prolific from play, Rory was one of the stand-out players, creating many chances for others while Conor McDonald remained a physical presence inside the 21-yard line and a constant threat.
One area of the pitch where Dublin were decisively dominant was in their tussle with the Wexford half-forward line. Due to Kevin Foley dropping back into a sweeper role, Mikie Dwyer, Charlie McGuckin and Oisín Foley made up the Wexford half-forward line and between them all, they did not get a single score.
They found it hard to have an effect on the game as they did not win any ball easily from the Dublin backs. Dublin built many of their attacks from their half-back line using it as a launchpad to move up the field. Dublin’s decisive victory in their half-back line was a significant factor in their victory on Saturday.
Wasteful Wexford:
Wexford being wasteful in front of goal is by no means a new flaw in their game. Throughout the Liam Dunne and Davy Fitzgerald era, Wexford’s lack of clinical instinct was a near constant criticism. This is no different in the Egan era as Wexford’s wastefulness in front of goal continues to haunt them.
Inside the first 13 minutes, Wexford had hit 5 wides. Wexford’s talisman Rory O’Connor missed a shot from a difficult angle and missed two frees from opportune positions in the first half. During the match, Rory O’Connor, Lee Chin and Mark Fanning all took frees, with only Fanning maintaining a 100% conversion rate.
Fanning may have had a 100% conversion rate from frees, but was denied from 21 yards by Dublin keeper Sean Brennan.
Charlie McGuckin and Paudie Foley hit two wides in quick succession in the 33rd and 34th minute, albeit Foley’s wide was from a tight angle.
Just before half-time, one of Wexford’s key players, Conor McDonald missed a goal chance. Rory O’Connor showed some exceptional vision to hit a perfectly floated ball across the pitch to McDonald, with Sean Brennan stranded on his line McDonald was unable to convert what was the best goal chance of the game.
Wexford’s accuracy issues continued into the second half. Paudie Foley hit a long-range effort in the 44th minute which failed to hit the target. Two minutes later, Connal Flood took a shot at the posts from long range which simply didn’t have the legs and was collected by Dublin’s goalkeeper, Sean Brennan.
In total Wexford ended the game with 15 wides. Wexford were not only wasteful in front of goal, but were also wasteful in possession. Too often, their decision making was poor, the opportunity for quick handpasses were missed, and poor execution of passes often lead to the visitors turning over possession.
The bright side:
Although the result of the match was very disappointing, Wexford’s performance did have some genuinely positive notes. Despite the fact that Wexford trailed for most of the game, they never gave up. They continued to fight until the end, even though their game was littered with errors you could not criticise them for a lack of effort.
Wexford have struggled to retain the ball from their own puck-outs recently, but against Dublin, Mark Fanning was mostly accurate with his puck outs.
The outfield players consistently won their own puck-out. Rory O’Connor, Paudie Foley and Liam Óg McGovern all gave very impressive performances. Damien Reck and Simon Donoghue contributed to Wexford’s scoring tally with almighty efforts from way out the field. Interestingly, over 1/3 of Wexford’s scores (8 points) came from their goalkeeper and backline through scores from Fanning, Donoghue, Reck and Flood.
Relying on results:
The result was disappointing, but there were some positive points to Wexford’s game. However, Wexford found themselves falling back into old habits and they paid a heavy price for it. Kenny’s Dublin seemed like a well-oiled machine having spent three years perfecting their system under former Cuala manager, Mattie Kenny.
It must be kept in mind that this is Darragh Egan’s first campaign as Wexford manager; he is still experimenting with his team and no doubt, the experience of Kenny’s side who were in last year’s Leinster Final, was a factor on the day.
Wexford now find themselves relying on results elsewhere for them to get a place in the top three. Wexford supporters will watch the Dublin vs Galway game with great interest. With games against Laois, Westmeath and Kilkenny all yet to come for Wexford the season is far from over. However, it must be conceded that Saturday’s loss to Dublin has made progress in the Leinster and All Ireland series all the more difficult.
Value our site? Register NOW for as little as €3 per-year…
For a €3 Subscription, click here.
For a €6 Subscription, click here.
Enjoy our content? Want to keep reading it? By registering, you will have access to all of Wexford Weekly’s content and you’ll also be supporting a growing independent brand. We thank you for your continued support. It costs less than one cent per day to register on Wexford Weekly. If you value our site, we really appreciate it.
– Access to all content
– Improved, premium features
– Discounts on products
– First to know about future buses
– Discounts on future events
Read also:
Remember to submit your news to Wexford Weekly! To advertise on our socials or website, email our team at info@wexfordweekly.com
