Wexford FC Women v Shelbourne

Very rough day at the office for the home side, as needing a win to maintain their title aspirations in a game which featured third against second, they got demolished by a rampant Shels in a very one-sided game in Ferrycarrig Park this evening. Indeed, only for a fine performance by Wexford’s keeper, Maria O’Sullivan, the final scoreline could have been even worse on the part of Wexford. However, in Wexford’s defence, I can’t remember a better performance in recent times by a domestic side than the one given by Shels this evening. Wexford started with Maria, Lolly, Della, Lauren D, Kylie, Becky, Aoife, Lauren K, Freya, Ellen and Charlotte. Wexford started reasonably brightly and had early attempts on the Shels goal with a decent cross by Lauren Kelly which nobody could get on the end of, and a sighter by Wexford’s Ellen Molloy which went a couple of yards wide. However, Shels first attack led to a goal as a ball over the Wexford defence allowed Kate Mooney to volley home off the inside of the far post. 1-0 to Shels. A few minutes later, it was 2-0 when the ball broke outside the Wexford area to former player, Aoibheann Clancy, and she drilled it home for 2-0. At this stage, it was clear that Shels were operating at a different level both technically and in terms of fitness than the home side. Within a short time, a peno was awarded to Shels for handball following a corner but Maria O’Sullivan did well to push away Alex Kavanagh’s spotter for a corner and to keep Wexford within reasonable touch. Mackenzie Anthony then side-footed wide with her left when put through. However, Anthony was putting ferocious pressure on the Wexford defence with her tenacity and Maria O’Sullivan had to make two unbelievable saves to keep Shels from adding a third after Anthony had won the ball inside the Wexford area with her hard work. Maria O’Sullivan then denied Kate Mooney in a one-on-one situation and it was Wexford who were blessed to go in at halftime with the gap at only two goals behind and with the home side basically fire-fighting to keep Shels at bay for much of the half.

Wexford needed a goal at the start of the second period to get back into the game and had a good effort with a volley on target from a Freya De Mange free but the shot was pushed away by Amanda McQuillan in the Shels goal for a corner. Kate Mooney then shot a yard over for Shels and Bambi Cooke had a shot deflected for a corner as Shels threatened to increase their lead. The third goal soon came for Shels with a near post header from a corner to make it 3-0. Ellen Molloy was posing Wexford’s only real threat but was being left to do it all on her own – could other players help her out? – as she had two efforts on the Shels goal. Leah McGrath was introduced by Wexford and Shels increased their level of control as their subs came on and the home side’s shape became even more fractured. It was 4-0 to Shels when Shels sub, Noelle Murray, headed home at the far post. However, Ellen Molloy got the goal her performance deserved when she beat the Shels defence on her own with a mazy run and finished past McQuillan for 4-1. Late subs for Wexford were Siun Murdiff and Millie Daly but Shels were still moving quicker around the pitch than the home side as the game neared its end and got further goals through Pearl Slattery and Jess Gargan. Aoife Kelly, who tried hard to stem the red tide, had the ball in the Shels net very late on, but it was ruled out for a foul on McQuillan. So, 6-1 to Shels at fulltime as the home side will have to go back to the drawing board. In addition to Aoife Kelly, Maria O’Sullivan and Ellen Molloy, best for Wexford were Becky Cassin and Charlotte Cromack who tried to match the away side physically while, for Shels, Lucy O’Rourke, Mackenzie Anthony and, unfortunately for a Wexford supporter, Aoibheann Clancy, were exceptional.