Wexford all out to bring home a trophy

Despite finishing a distant third to champions Peamount United in the league, Wexford Youths are determined not to relinquish another trophy to their rivals in Sunday’s Women’s FAI Cup final.

The side managed by Tom Elmes won the treble last season but had to watch on as the Peas dominated the top-flight.

It was Shelbourne who pushed them hardest, leaving Wexford languishing 15 points adrift from the summit.

Elmes attributes the turnaround in the pecking order to personnel changes.

“After losing a few players from last season, unfortunately it took a while for the new team to gel,” he said ahead of the Lansdowne Road showdown.

“Points were lost early on and it proved very difficult to claw them back.”

There were also the exertions from their Champions League campaign in August.

Not since Raheny United in 2014 have an Irish team reached the knockout stages of the competition but Wexford mounted the closest tilt since.

However, two victories from their three matches in Lithuania weren’t enough to secure top spot in their mini-group.

“It’s been a funny season,” sighed Elmes.

Last year, we won games that we didn’t perform in whereas it’s been different this time.

“We’ve come off the pitch after some matches wondering how we didn’t get a result.

“For example, the girls produced a great performance in our last game against Peamount but still lost 2-1.

“I thought it was a better display than any game from our treble-winning season.

“That’s been the frustrating part but we get a chance on Sunday to finish it with a trophy.”

Elmes will have the country’s top scorer Rianna Jarrett leading his line.

The striker has put a litany of injury problems behind her to take centre stage in the Ireland team under new boss Vera Pauw, scoring in the recent 3-2 Euro qualification victory over Ukraine.

They also have a history of silverware on their side, having won the league in four of the five seasons before Peamount’s revival this term.

“Our history of success speaks for itself,” noted Elmes.

Our only problem in attracting players was the location but we’ve moved the training base to Carlow, making it more accessible to players travelling from all over the country.

“Rianna is one of the Wexford girls in the squad and will be a real threat on Sunday.

“She wasn’t fully fit playing in last year’s final but there’s no concerns now. We’ll be ready for the challenge of Peamount.”