Wexford Power to win

Wexford 2-16 Down 2-11: As the Wexford fans celebrated on the pitch, manager David Power took to the sanctuary of a spare dressing room to explain the emergence of his new look young charges while just down the corridor his Down counterpart Jim McCorry struggled with the bitter disappointment of defeat.

To understand the elation, one must understand the backstory in Model County football circles with retirements of key players, the defection of outstanding midfielder Daithi Waters to the senior hurlers and the absence of so many other players for varying reasons.

The provincial championship defeat to Westmeath - having conceded 1-9 in the closing ten minutes in a game they seemed on their way to victory - meant their stock couldn’t plummet much lower.

Little wonder then why Power and his players were in such jubilant mood in the aftermath of this momentous result.

The manager explained: “I don’t think there is a younger team playing championship football but that is the reality of the situation. The young players coming on have been exceptional, they just want to play for Wexford, they just want to wear the purple and gold. This was a super display from start to finish - it was an extraordinary display.

“This game is all about confidence. We may have lost to Westmeath but the players took so many positives out of that game. We learned from our mistakes, worked on both the negatives and positives from that game.

“This all started on Thursday evening, just 48 hours earlier, with the winning of the Leinster junior title. Both sets of players have been training together, they have bought into the system which is important, and now we are getting the results. This week has been wonderful for Wexford football and I would like to thank county Chairman, Diarmuid Devereux, for his support, help and encouragement.

“We will not get carried away. We look forward to the second round draw, see who our opponents are, and hopefully build on this victory. The redevelopment of Wexford football will continue.”

Two goals from the Rossiter brothers in a one-minute second half spell capped a marvellous display from Wexford. The clash saw the latest Ulster superpower crushed as the once mighty Down bowed out of the title race without a single championship victory to their credit, despite hopes having been raised following promotion to Division 1.

But there was a sense of expectation in the home crowd that their young side could deliver on a promising opening round display against Westmeath. They opened the scoring after two minutes through a Ciaran Lyng pointed free, after Kevin O’Grady had been fouled. Down responded with points from a Donal O’Hare free and Mark Poland to lead 0-2 to 0-1 after eight minutes.

There was a real spark about the football of both sides as a Ben Brosnan free levelled the scores, while at the opposite end it took superb defending from Graeme Molloy to deny Paul Devlin a goal. Brosnan and Devlin exchanged points, before Adrian Flynn got on the end of a sweeping move only to see his rebound off the bottom of the post fly across the goal before being cleared to safety after just 14 minutes.

Down showed their experience around the middle of the park winning clean kick-out possession culminating in a fine move ending with Jerome Johnston shooting low to the net from an acute angle to give his side a 1-3 to 0-3 lead after 16 minutes while one minute later Wexford lost defender Adrian Flynn to a black card.

It was evident that both sides looked capable of picking off points with Lyng (two) and Michael O’Regan responding for the home side. After Conor Laverty had bounced back with a Down point, Wexford finished the half impressively with three unanswered points through Graeme Molloy, Kieran Butler and Tiernan Rossiter, to lead 0-9 to 1-4 at the interval.

In a dramatic second half, Wexford absorbed the Down pressure while counter attacking at speed resulting in the visitors’ defence being stretched all over the pitch. Wexford, through two Ciarán Lyng pointed frees, stretched their lead while Kevin O’Grady followed with a further point, before Down managed their opening second half score, a Paul Devlin pointed 43rd minute free.

Wexford were keeping Down at arm’s length with some brilliant defending from Neamhan Rossiter, Graeme Molloy and Simon Donohoe. Leading 0-15 to 1-10, Wexford got the crucial breakthrough when a Neamhan Rossiter shot was deflected to the net by his brother Tiernan. 60 seconds later Neamhan found the net giving his side a 2-15 to 1-10 lead after 58 minutes.

Nine minutes from the end, Down gave themselves a real chance when sub Arthur McConville goaled after a Mark Roland shot had been saved by sub keeper Anthony Masterson, but it was Wexford who continued to take the game to Down with some splendid attacking football, leading to a a deserved five point victory in the end, with Down’s Conor Garvey red carded late on.

Scorers for Wexford:

N Rossiter (1-0), G Molloy (0-1), T Rossiter (1-1), B Brosnan (0-3), K Butler 0-1; C Lyng (0-6, 5 frees), M O’Regan 0-3, K O’Grady (0-1).

Scorers for Down:

C Mooney (0-2); P Devlin (0-2, 1f), M Poland (0-1), D O’Hare (0-4, 3f), C Laverty (0-2), J Johnston (1-0), A McConville (1-0).

WEXFORD:

S Roche; J Wadding, S Donohoe, N Rossiter; R Tierney, G Molloy, A Flynn; S Byrne, B Malone; K Butler, C Lyng, T Rossiter; B Brosnan, M O’Regan, K O’Grady.

Subs for Wexford:

E Nolan for Flynn (B.C. 17); A Masterson for Roche (inj. 30); J Tubritt for Butler (59); J Breen for N Rossiter (inj. 64); P Byrne for O’Regan 70).

DOWN:

S Kane; L Howard, D Turley, D O’Hagan; P Devlin, C Garvey, R Boyle; P Fitzpatrick, K McKernan; C Maginn, M Poland, J Johnston; C Mooney, C Laverty, D O’Hare.

Subs for Down:

R Johnston for Maginn (43); P Downey for Fitzpatrick (47); A McConville for O’Hare (58); R McGarry for Poland (59).

Referee:

C Reilly (Meath).