Shelbourne

[ForzaForth]

Two late goals secured the points for the home side in Tolka Park tonight in a controversial last ten minutes after the Youths seemed to be on course for the point which they had come for. Wexford stated with a definite 4-5-1 with Graham in goal, a back four of Peter, Stephen, Killian and Jimmy, a midfield five of Skelly, Shane D., Shane N., Ricky and Eric and with Danny up front. First half threw up very few chances with the Tolka pitch looking a bit uneven. After eight minutes, Eric set up Skelly for a shot just outside the box but it was miscued wide. On the quarter-hour, Shels had a speculative volley which went a couple of yards wide. On 25 minutes, Peter picked up a yellow for a tackle on the very impressive Dylan Connolly. With five to go, Sullivan for Shels also got a yellow for a tackle on Danny and Danny got up to take the free which whistled a yard past the post. The half then finished with an acrobatic overhead volley by Shels and immediately after Skelly was put in the clear down the left but his first-time shot was wide. 0-0 at half-time and Wexford deservedly level with the only worry being the isolation of Danny up front.

[ForzaForth]

Wexford had a good spell at the start of the second and Lasty had a flicked header from a free which went straight to the Shels keeper. With almost twenty gone, Skelly had a shot on target which was blocked by a Shels defender. Shels then came back into the game with two chances when a very good corner from Shels was blocked by Graham and it ended up just bouncing the other side of the far post. Two minutes later, the ball fell to the useful Murtagh for Shels inside the Wexford box, and his volley was pushed away by Graham who had to go low down to his left. Looked like a draw at that stage but with ten to go, the linesman flagged for an off-the-ball incident and after consultation, the ref flashed a straight red at Jimmy Dermody for the Youths. Nobody near me saw anything so can't comment.

[ForzaForth]

Shels were then awarded a free about three yards outside the box after a Youths defender had blocked a shot with his body or arm - difficult to say which. More protests from the Youths resulted in a yellow for Daragh who had come on as a sub for Eric who had got a spot of cramp. The free was then sent over the wall and into the net for 1-0 to the home side with Graham rooted. Wexford then applied a bit of pressure with the ten men for the equaliser, but a bad corner from the Youths resulted in a three-man breakaway by Shels which left Connolly with the easy task for knocking it past Graham for a 2-0 final scoreline.

Best for Wexford were Eric whose pace troubled Shels at times, while Lasty and Killian were solid in the middle of the back four. For the home side, Dylan Connolly was outstanding down the flanks and Shels basically fed him the ball repeatedly in the second period in order to unlock the Wexford defence, while Murtagh also looked useful for Shels. 2-0 to Shels at full-time.