Cobh

[ForzaForth]

Very close and well-contested encounter in St. Colman's Park in which the Youths will be pleased to have come away with the three points. This is particularly the case as Graham was the busier of the keepers in the first half and then the Youths had to finish the last ten minutes with only ten players. Not surprisingly, Youths remained unchanged from the win against Shels, with Graham, Craig, Killian, Lasty, Jimmy, Shane D., Eric, Peter, Deano, Craig and with Danny up front. First decent chance fell to the Youths after eight minutes when Danny was sent free down the right but his right-footed effort just went past the far post. A minute later, Graham knocked away a goal-bound shot by Cobh for a corner, and from that corner, produced a better one-handed save to push away a free header by a Cobh defender. Wexford at this stage weren't producing much as Cobh sat deep giving up space and Wexford being unable to unlock the puzzle. On 20 minutes, Graham had to push another Cobh effort on target over the bar. With 25 gone, Lasty had the ball in the net but it was ruled out for offside.

[ForzaForth]

Wexford then finished the half the stronger as Eric forced Birdsall in the Cobh goal to save low down. Both sides then picked up a yellow apiece with Craig being the culprit for Wexford. With two minutes to go in the half, Graham made a fantastic save to just push away a fine Cobh strike from twenty yards out. Then, right on the blow, Shane Dunne had a good run and shot which Birdsall had to turn away for a corner. From that corner, Lasty was able to bundle the ball home from close range to give the away side a 1-0 lead at half-time when the Youths might have been happy going in level. 1-0 to Wexford at half time.

[ForzaForth]

Wexford had more room to create in the second period as Cobh were forced to come out more. Despite this, real chances were scarce enough in the second period, and the first 20 minutes passed virtually without incident. Just on the 65 minute mark, Lasty picked up a yellow for a tackle. A minute later, Danny had a run in on the Cobh goal from a tight enough angle, and his effort whistled past the far post. Skelly then came on for Deano and was able to create space for shots on a number of occasions during the remainder of the game. However, with 10 minutes to go, Craig picked up a straight red with a tackle on a Cobh defender trying to clear, which probably merited only a second yellow. However, Cobh were unable to create much during this last ten minutes, with Graham having only a few routine catches to make and the three minutes of injury-time ended with Wexford holding on for the three points and regaining second spot in the league.

[ForzaForth]

Best for Wexford were probably Graham, whose saves in the first half were crucial, while Lasty and Killian did well in front of him. For Cobh, their forwards looked the best line, but they proved unable to beat a dominant Graham in their better first period. 1-0 to Wexford at full-time.

[cornflakes]

Thanks for the report Forza. Great start to the season, lets hope we don't have any mid-season dips in form like the last couple. Its also good to see a supporters bus going to the game