Late Lambert free shatters Dublin’s brave resistance

NOWLAN PARK on Saturday evening, well into the third minute of time added on, and we were within an ace of the first big surprise of this year’s championship.

Five points down with seven minutes to go, the game looked well and truly up for the Dubs, but two points from wing-forward David Curtin reduced the margin to three, and when centre-forward Ros O’Carroll goaled, in the first minute of the three signalled for additional time, it signalled a turnaround of major proportions.

Tails up, Dublin now came looking for the winner and Curtin again, from wide left, had a half-chance. To the relief of the huge Wexford following, however, the ball tailed off left, well wide.

Seconds later, controversy; almost exactly on the halfway line, right on the sideline, several players from both sides were in a desperate tussle for possession. Referee John Sexton – who had done an excellent job overall – could have blown it up, could possibly have blown for a free on a Dublin player. Ultimately, however, and crucially, when his whistle sounded it was for a free to Wexford.

Up stepped Barry Lambert, from fully 75 metres, on the sideline, to strike a magnificent free straight between the posts. It was a score worthy of winning any championship game, and in truth, hard and all as it was on the Dubs’ they really can’t have any complaints.

On the day the better team won, and it was only Wexford’s wastefulness in front of goal, and their lapse in concentration in those final minutes, that left Dublin back into a game that should have been decided much earlier. This too was the opinion of the Wexford manager John Meyler.

“Dublin put it up to us but we should have shut the game out with ten minutes to go,’’ Meyler said. ‘‘We had bad wides at certain times during the game (four in the period before the Dubs struck back), and if we’d taken those scores, it would have been over. Dublin stayed in it, but we were five points up, Mitch Jordan was through, threw the ball to Rory (Jacob, corner-forward) and he made a mess of it, simple as that — we could have been eight points up.

“We had 18 wides – scandalous at this level. That’s the killer. You won’t get away with that at a higher level, against Kilkenny, Tipperary, Cork. We have three weeks to get it right for the Leinster final.”

Centre-back Keith Rossiter pointed out, however, that this was never going to be the kind of cakewalk a lot of hurling people expected. This is a Dublin team of serious promise, with a huge amount of hard work being done at all levels in the county.

“I’m not one bit surprised at the way they came back; they beat Galway and Limerick in the league, drew with Kilkenny, their confidence was high.

“They might even have qualified for the league quarter-final but they finished up with three games in about seven days and lost the last two. I wasn’t one bit surprised, they’re a big strong physical team, high fitness levels, they gave it everything, never gave up. They’re devastated, I know, they really wanted to reach a Leinster final, but we’re there now and we’ll make the most of it.”

In giving credit to Dublin, Keith was spot on. With Wexford having a dream start, 1-3 to 0-1 ahead after nine minutes (Keith Higgins with the goal), Dublin could have thrown in the towel very early on.

They stuck to their task, however, and when Flynn cleverly rounded the tight-marking Mal Travis on the end-line, beat the outstanding Damien Fitzpatrick from close range, it was game on.

There was little between the sides from there to the break, Dublin actually leading into additional time with the help of a second goal, this one from John Kelly in the other corner after a fine catch; a defensive lapse, however, left Wexford in for their second major just before the half-time whistle, Rory Jacob pouncing on a loose ball. That score put Wexford ahead 2-6 to 2-4, neither side having really impressed.

Dublin had the brighter start to the second half, quickly tied it up with points from Curtin and impressive substitute Stuart Mullen.

It took Wexford nearly 13 minutes to register their first score of the half, a point from Rory Jacob, but thereafter they went on a bit of a scoring run. Six points to two they outscored Dublin over the next 15 minutes, giving them the five-point cushion referred to by John Meyler.

“I thought myself it was in the bag,” admitted Keith Rossiter; “I know you can’t take these things for granted, but I thought it was. We made hard work of it, I know, but John said to us going out just to win – a point, ten points, didn’t matter. Just win, get into a Leinster final, that’s where you want to be, and that’s where we are.”

If they’re to win it, however, they’re going to have improve, dramatically.

As for Dublin, into the qualifiers now with the other three provincial semi-final losers, just two to qualify for the All-Ireland quarter-finals – not the most inviting of prospects. “Well sure, we’ve no choice now!” reflected Dublin manager Tommy Naughton.

As for his charges, “We never died, kept going; it looked like we were heading for a draw, everyone thought it was, and everyone would probably have settled for it, but sure that’s part and parcel of it.

“I’m devastated for the players, but I’m very proud of them also, the way they kept going, I’m more than pleased with them. In the second half it looked like it was going away big-time from us but we stayed with it – in fairness, what more could you ask for?”

And the controversial game-winning free, the near miss by Dublin? “We didn’t get a free, they did, end of story, and in fairness to them it was a great point; he (Lambert) was under great pressure but he took it, fair play to him. It’s all part of championship.”

Scorers: Wexford: R. Jacob 1-2; B. Lambert 0-4 (0-3 frees); N. Higgins 1-0; P. Carley 0-2 (0-1 free); M. Jacob 0-2; D. Stamp 0-2; E. Quigley, D. O’Connor, 0-1 each. Dublin: J. Kelly 1-2; R. O’Carroll 1-1; K. Flynn 1-0; D. Curtin 0-4 (0-3 frees); S. Mallon 0-2; R. Fallon 0-1 (free).

WEXFORD: D. Fitzhenry; M. Travers, D. Ruth, P. Roche; R. Kehoe, K. Rossiter, C. Kenny; E. Quigley, D. Lyng; P. Carley, D. O’Connor, M. Jacob; N. Higgins (c), D. Stamp, R. Jacob. Subs: R. McCarthy (Carley 44); B. Lambert (Higgins 49); M. Jordan (Stamp 63).

DUBLIN: G. Maguire; P. Brennan (c), S. Hiney, T. Brady; M. Carton, R. Fallon, D. O’Reilly; J. Boland, D. Qualter; L. Ryan, R. O’Carroll, D. Curtin; J. Kelly, P. O’Driscoll, K. Flynn. Subs: G. O’Meara (Brennan inj. 21); S. Mallon (O’Reilly inj. 25); P. Carton (Kelly 53); E. Carroll (Ryan 64); D. O’Dwyer (O’Driscoll 67).

Referee: J. Sexton (Limerick).