Midfield stars finally drive Model men into promised land

O’MOORE PARK was a scene of delight as much as it was a vista of dejection last night as Wexford celebrated their first Leinster U21 FC title at the fifth time of asking.

Quelling a driven Longford rally in the third quarter, points from Emmet Kent and Michael O’Regan (a long-range free) in the last eight minutes were enough to get James Breen’s hands on the Seamus Flood Cup.

Watching him from below were his jubilant team-mates and their supporters but also the broken Longford opposition who lacked nothing in terms of effort.

In the end, it was the stellar performances of O’Regan and Matthew O’Hanlon in midfield which put Wexford on their way to this historic victory.

Paudie Kelly fired over three points, the second of them a dubious one as he had fouled the ball, but they were deserving winners.

On the basis of the first half, Longford had the arsenal to beat Wexford but mislaid the trigger. And in the early stages of the second half it remained lost.

Trailing 1-5 to 0-5 at the break, they went further behind when Kelly shot over, although he had hopped the ball twice in succession before doing so.

A JJ Matthews point in the 35th minute brought Longford to within three points again before Kelly and John Keegan exchanged scores.

Keegan’s point turned out to be the first of three unanswered scores for Longford, James McGivney and Robbie Smith making it a one-point game.

After substitute James Noonan was fouled and Smith pointed the close-range free, the Longford supporters in the 3,123 crowd found their voices and sensed glory.

Wexford, on the other hand, found their feet again. Kent and O’Regan pointing.

Kevin Diffley hauled back their lead to one straight after but the Model County men had their heads about them to operate some fine keep-ball tactics and claim the title.

It was heart-breaking for Longford who had come into the game as favourites having seen off a fancied Meath at the quarter-final stage. But they looked a nervous team for long periods.

Even if both counties had enough knowledge of this stage of the competition, it was learned the hard way.

Longford had come to this particular well on five previous occasions only to find it dry, their last vain visit coming in 2006 when they went down by two points to Laois.

Wexford’s anguish was fresher in the mind, their four-point defeat to Kildare in 2008 the latest in a string of four failed final flings.

But getting back to those nerves and despite a fine score from Matthews after 20 seconds Longford made the more tentative start.

That score was cancelled out in the fourth minute when Kehoe fetched and fed Kelly. Longford’s second score, a Smith effort, didn’t come until the 13th minute and by that time Wexford had stamped their authority on proceedings.

Even if Matthews and Smith looked in the mood to pulverise the Wexford full-back line, their midfield team-mates were being overshadowed by O’Hanlon and O’Regan.

Their dominance kept Longford in check and provided the momentum for Kehoe’s 11th minute goal. For the second time in five minutes, Longford goalkeeper Patrick Collum moved cat-like to deny a point-blank shot but the totemic full-forward beat him in the follow-up to palm the ball to the net.

A second Smith point in the 16th minute reduced Longford’s arrears to one but the gap was soon widened to three when Kevin O’Grady returned fire with a brace himself.

Matthews and Conor Carty swapped scores before McGivney pointed Longford’s first free. It was O’Regan who finished off the half’s scoring.

He finished off his team’s winning tally too, booming that late free kick between the sticks in what was a man-of-the match-display.

Scorers for Wexford: P Kelly 0-3, K Kehoe 1-0, K O’Grady (f), M O’Regan (f) 0-2 each; C Carty, E Kent 0-1 each.

Scorers for Longford: R Smith 0-4, JJ Matthews 0-3 (1f), J McGivney 0-2 (2f), J Keegan, K Diffley 0-1 each.

WEXFORD: R Farrell; M Furlong, S Gaule, C Carty; D Butler, J Leacy, J Breen; M O’Hanlon, M O’Regan; L Óg McGovern, E Kent, P Kelly; K O’Grady, K Kehoe, B Halpin.

Subs for Wexford: M Roche for Farrell (temp 8-11), D Murphy for Halpin (41), T Rossiter for Kehoe (55), B O’Gorman for O’Grady (60).

LONGFORD: P Collum; J Carroll, F Battrim, A Quinn; S Mahon, C P Smyth, D Cooney; K Diffley, J Keegan; P McCormack, J McGivney, M Mulvey; R Smith, D Gallagher, JJ Matthews.

Subs for Longford: J Noonan for Gallagher (21), F Reilly for Mahon (53).

Referee: Gary McCormack (Dublin).