Dublin dig in as Wexford wilt

The one that got away.

Actually, scratch that.

The third one that got away.

As was the case in 2010 and again last year, Wexford had Dublin in dire straits in a Leinster Championship fixture in Croke Park yesterday and, for the third time, they found themselves unable to apply the killer blow.

Two years ago, they were caught on the line and then put to the sword in extra-time. Last year it was Anthony Masterson’s error in the provincial final. This latest collapse will spawn as many regrets as either. Perhaps even more.

With 41 minutes played, they were three points to the good and Diarmuid Connolly had just been sent off, yet they lost by four points and the final deficit could have been twice that such was their disintegration as the last minutes ticked by.

It was a baffling contradiction on a day where the All-Ireland champions were begging to be punished for a performance that lacked aggression and conviction as long as they were at full strength and where only Kevin McManamon really shone throughout.

And yet.

For all their faults, Dublin showed enough character and appetite to dig themselves out of a considerable hole. This in a game and, let’s be honest, a segment of the competition which means little to them in the long game that is the pursuit of Sam Maguire.

Maybe the thoughts of a Leinster final against Meath – the first between the counties in 11 years – provided the necessary spur and a meeting with the old enemy should certainly focus the mind for the remedial work needed between now and then.

It may be that this was exactly the game Dublin needed: a root and branch, surgical examination of their status and a timely kick up the rear end to boot. Pat Gilroy seemed to acknowledge as much with his first pair of switches yesterday.

Cian O’Sullivan replaced Ger Brennan at centre-back four minutes before the break and when the sides trotted out for part two Michael Darragh MacAuley had been promoted at Eamon Fennell’s expense. Both men made – and make — them a better team.

Bernard Brogan typified his side’s troubles with a display of shooting that defied his status as a former Footballer of the Year but the corner-forward is more likely to kick 2-5, as he did against Louth, than suffer such a repeat of the yips.

It was Wexford’s misfortune that their own shortcomings reduced the impact of their opponents’. Take, for example, Ben Brosnan who was sublime with shots from play in the first-half yet finished the afternoon with nine wides from dead balls.

By the end, he was hearing the catcalls from the Hill even before his run-up began and it seemed strange that Wexford failed to assign someone else the duties as his radar continued to malfunction.

Then there was full-back Graeme Molloy who defended excellently for long spells but whose pair of mistakes led directly to the concession of 1-1 at a time when Dublin were still building momentum brick by laborious brick in that second-half.

By then, the game was finally beginning to generate a buzz that was completely absent in a first-half where the trains passing by the gap between Hill 16 and the Cusack Stand caught the eye as much as anything going on out on the field.

Meath’s surprise defeat of Kildare shortly before seemed to have sapped the grand old theatre of its intensity and the game drifted aimlessly along for what seemed like an age with the paucity of frees speaking volumes for the lack of bite.

In fairness, Wexford had a bit to do with that too.

Redmond Barry fired the first serious salvo with a shot fired under Stephen Cluxton nine minutes in while four Brosnan points — all from play — buttressed a lead that stood at three points by half-time.

Wexford were defending in numbers and coping well with Dublin’s forays for long spells but, in hindsight, there were worrying signs of emerging cracks and the damage to come in that 35 minutes which were only papered over in part by Dublin’s stutterings.

Masterson was forced to pull off two superb saves, in the seventh and 25th minutes from Alan and Bernard Brogan, but conceded a green flag to Connolly in between when the St Vincent’s player was put through by the excellent McManamon.

How it would have ended had Dublin managed to end the game with 15 players is anyone’s guess but Wexford manager Jason Ryan explained later that the sending-off had a liberating effect on the eventual winners – as it so often does.

Wexford utilised the spare man in front of Dublin’s full-forward line but the blue wave was soon enveloping them. Whether it was the team energising the fans or vice versa was impossible to tell but both were visibly lifted by Connolly’s red card.

The sight of Cluxton trotting upfield to send over a ‘45’ elicited memories of last September’s comeback against Kerry and, while Masterson pulled off another stop, he was powerless against the drip of points starting to spill over his crossbar.

Wexford’s replies were brief and mostly feeble: a pair of points from Adrian Flynn and Roche inside one three-minute spell that were reduced in worth by a litany of dispiriting wides at one end and an escalation of alarm bells at the other.

Most damaging was Molloy’s misjudgement of a long ball that allowed Bernard Brogan set up McManamon for Dublin’s second goal and one that gave them the lead for the first time since the 10th minute.

Stoppage time included, there were another 20 minutes to go and yet Wexford’s race was already run. Wides kicked after 54, 58, 59, 65 and 69 minutes attested to that. As did Dublin’s last three points.

Another ten minutes and it would have been a rout.

A strange, strange game.

Scorers for Dublin: K McManamon (1-4); D Connolly (1-1); B Cullen (0-2); K Nolan (0-2); A Brogan (0-1); B Brogan (0-1 free).

Scorers for Wexford: R Barry (1-1); B Brosnan (0-4); A Flynn (0-2); S Roche (0-2 frees); PJ Banville (0-1).

Subs for Dublin: C O’Sullivan for Brennan (31); MD MacAuley for Fennell (35); E O’Gara for B Brogan (62); C Kilkenny for McManamon (70); R McConnell for Bastick (70).

Subs for Wexford: P Byrne for Lyng (51); J Leacy for Morris (60); N Murphy for Doyle (64); J Wadding for Molloy (70); J Holmes for Malone (70).

Referee: R Hickey (Clare).