WExford FC v Shelbourne

[ForzaForth]

Shelbourne got the three points their performance deserved in Ferrycarrig last night, but Wexford will rue the concession of an extremely soft second goal which meant that the late consolation from a hard-working Jack Doherty did not garner a point for the home side. Wexford started with Corey, Paddy, Hopper, Sean, Darragh, Nika, Ryan, Crokey, Emmet and with Danny and Jack up front. First decent chance fell to Shelbourne on six minutes and it showed off Shelbourne’s power in the air as the ball broke from a corner to a Shelbourne attacker but Corey Chambers in the Wexford goal saved with his legs. The rebound was then returned by Shelbourne and it just clipped the top of the bar. Shels then headed another corner over the bar and, on 14 minutes, Danny Furlong had the ball in the Shelbourne net after a good Wexford move but it was ruled out for offside. On 16 minutes, Shels best player and former Wexford player, Aidan Friel, galloped down the right wing and put in a cross/shot which smacked the far post and went in for 1-0 to Shels. Shels then had a good spell of domination but couldn’t add to the scoreboard while Hopper Kenny had a rare Wexford chance when he put a free header from a corner over the bar. English for Shels then put his chance over the Wexford crossbar and Jack Doherty of Wexford drilled a free a yard wide of Shels goal. 1-0 to Shels at half-time which fairly reflected the state of the game.

[ForzaForth]

Shels seemed to sit back in the second half with only Kilduff up front but Wexford found it hard to create much with Friel doing a good job on our usual attacking outlet, Emmet Nugent. Subs for Wexford as the half progressed were Danny Doyle and Lee Costello with Sean Roche following onto the pitch later on. A rare Wexford chance fell to Hopper Kenny on his left with about twenty minutes to go, but it was straight at McCabe in the Shels goal. With fifteen to go, a back-pass in the Wexford defence fell very very short, and it enabled Dayle Rooney to slot into an empty net for 2-0 to Shels. Looked like game over at that stage, but with eight minutes to go, Wexford pulled a great goal back when Danny Doyle whipped in a great cross to let Jack Doherty head home past McCabe for 2-1 to Shels. Wexford didn’t look like getting a second, however, with the Shels defence looking strong and McCabe looking very capable with the gloves on behind them. Best for Wexford were Doherty, Paddy Cahill and Ryan Nolan. Crowd was reported to be 319.