Shelbourne

Wexford probably got the better of the deal with a point apiece in Ferrycarrig last night in a match with started poorly but improved as the game went on. With goalkeeper Danny Bolger sick, Damian Locke gave a debut to Colm Feeney in goal and surprisinglyput Adam O’Rourke up front and went with Colm, Craig, Ross, Owen, Sean, Adam Hanlon, Crokey, Conor, Mikey, Mark and with Adam O’Rourke up front. First half was poor with hardly any chances created but ended with a goal right on the 45 minutes. Shelbourne had a number of corners about 15 minutes in which ended with a Shels shot which went well over the bar. First decent effort on goal by Wexford came on 28 minutes when Mark Slater had a run and shot, but Delany got down low to save. Wexford had a good attacking move a couple of minutes before the end of the half but didn’t threaten Delany’s goal. From a Wexford corner, Shels went on a quick break and the ball eventually reached James Brown who executed a neat lob over the stranded Colm Feeney to put Shels a goal ahead after an undistinguished first half.

Wexford continued to make little impression at the start of the second half and, on the hour mark, Damian Locke brought on Duxey Dunne and Dean Kelly to live things up. On 68 minutes, Shels had a flashing header which went just the other side of thepost. With twenty minutes to go, Adam Hanlon broke free down the left wing but couldn’t keep his effort on target. Wexford then continued to push forward and, Danny Doyle came on in place of Adam O’Rourke. Delany was then fortunate to deflect a Mark Slater effort over his own bar for a corner. From that corner, Wexford won the header at the far post, and Danny Doyle was on hand to nod the second header home from close in to level the game at 1-1. A debut goal from a very honest and industrious player who’s still U19. Shels then tried to regain the advantage and had a shot which crashed off the crossbar and down but not over the line before Feeney got his angles right a block away a one-on-one with a Shels forward who came at him from an angle. So, 1-1 at full-time after a lively last 20 minutes. Best for Wexford were Adam Hanlon, Mikey Byrne and Ross Kenny and Wexford are now guaranteed not to finish bottom. Well done to Shels for bringing a bus-load of fans to a game on which nothing depended to bring the attendance, if I’m right, to 315.

According to statement on the club's website, Wexford have lost the point they gained in this game as their U17 goalkeeper who played in an emergency wasn't registered in time.

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Originally Posted by ForzaForth

According to statement on the club's website, Wexford have lost the point they gained in this game as their U17 goalkeeper who played in an emergency wasn't registered in time.

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I havent a league table in front of me. Ye still need points to get 7th secured dont ye?

Marty

Yes, we're two points ahead of Athlone with a better goal difference, so we theoretically still need a point for seventh.

So Wexford get docked a point for playing one of their own players, as a result of injury problems and a player from the system that is intended to develop first team players for the future? Baffling. Sums up the running of the league

What is astonishing in regard to this case is that, if the rumours going around (Wexford) town are to be believed, the FAI fine which accompanied the docking of points is said to be a very substantial four-figure sum even higher than the four digits in GUFC's name above. There are already a number of tweets in existence which refer to the harshness of the financial penalty incurred by Wexford.

The Wexford statement on its website already admits that the error took place within the club in that the relevant message was not passed on to the Wexford manager. Everybody makes mistakes. Even the FAI couldn't manage to get a team of officials to a very important WNL match within the last week and the match didn't go ahead as a result. But a fine of that magnitude goes well beyond what would be required to have a deterrent effect, in my view, and smacks simply of a money-grabbing exercise.