The Wexford u-20 hurlers faced an away trip to Parnell Park on Saturday where they took on Dublin…
The Keith Rossiter managed Wexford side were hoping to make it two from two, having defeated a depleted Kilkenny side in the first round of the Leinster Championship last weekend. Dublin had the same desire though, who defeated Galway in the opening round of their campaign.
It wasn’t to be for the Wexford u-20 hurlers this time, with Dublin winning the game on a score-line of 1-20 to 0-15.
Quicker start needed:
Wexford were four points to one down after the first ten minutes of the game. They failed to get into the game as quickly as they would have liked. Their slow start was not helped by a Wexford free hitting the post, while another sailed wide. In this period, Wexford seemed to lack the intensity and were shocked with the level that Dublin brought. The slow start to games was mentioned as a criticism by their manager, Keith Rossiter, following last weekend’s game whereby Kilkenny were 0-06 to 0-01 up after eleven minutes.
“We started slow and we finished slow. A lot of stuff to work on. We may do something about it; giving teams that little bit of a start and trying to get back into it is not good enough either, and we need to work on that moving forward,” Rossiter said last week following the Kilkenny match.
When games are just 30 minutes per half, it’s absolutely vital that the team starts quickly. Otherwise, the team are not performing for over 15% of the whole game.
Wexford’s potential penalty:
There were calls for a Wexford penalty on the 22nd minute mark. It was something Wexford probably needed at the time too, as they still did not get fully going. JJ Twamley’s shot on target dropped just short of the goal. The ball was retrieved in the square by Wexford’s number 9, Luke Murphy, and he was taken down by the Dublin goalkeeper just as he was about to strike. Simultaneous calls for ‘ref’ and ‘penalty’ could be heard from the stands, and Wexford fans couldn’t believe the referee’s decision to play on.
This was Wexford’s only real goal-scoring opportunity which will come as a concern for the managerial set-up.
Wexford’s day?
In the first half, Wexford were playing against the wind. The score at half-time was 0-10-0-07 in favour of the home team, Dublin. But it could have been a lot more too if not for Dublin’s wayward shooting, hitting eight wides in the first half. Likewise, three of Wexford’s scores came from mistakes from the Dublin goalkeeper, who just hit a short puck-out directly to one of the Wexford players who then just tapped it over the crossbar.
With Wexford not performing well in the first half, being handed some easy points, and with having the wind in the second-half, one could start to believe that it could be Wexford’s day if they upped their game in the second-half. That wasn’t the case though and they were out-performed in every aspect of the field of the second half too.
Dublin’s goal:
The Dublin goal on the 49th minute mark was really the killing point. It meant that Dublin’s lead stretched into double figures, going ten points up on a score-line of 1-17 to 0-10. Dublin would emerge as 1-20 to 0-15 winners in the end, but that score-line was actually quite flattering for Wexford. Wexford were never in the game and the goal that they conceded showcased how easy it was from Dublin’s point of view. The Dublin full-forward, Jamie Conroy, who was isolated on Wexford’s full-back, got the ball in front, easily turned his marker, and placed the ball into Derry Mahon’s net. Although Conroy is a Dublin talent that is certainly one to watch, it all looked all too easy for the Dublin attacker.
No bright Wexford sparks:
It was said earlier in this column that Wexford were out-preformed all over the pitch. Unlike last week’s performance against Kilkenny, Wexford did not seem to have any bright sparks, with most players throughout the pitch losing their one-on-one battles. An argument could potentially be made that both Dylan Purcell and Darragh Carley hurled well in the first-half specifically, but other than that, it’s hard to take the positives. Up front, Fethard’s Cian Byrne showed some moments of excellence before being side-lined due to injury, while substitutes Shamey O’Hagan and Tadhg Brohan (50 min) scored excellent points respectively.
The Wexford team and the travelling supporters will be disappointed with the performance overall, knowing full well that this Wexford team did not perform today whatsoever. They were second-best to most balls, passes were way-ward, and they did not match Dublin’s intensity. It’s now back to the drawing board for Wexford u-20 manager, Keith Rossiter, as they look forward to an encounter against Galway next Friday evening at Dr Cullen Park.
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