Wexford FC v Cobh

[ForzaForth]

A goal apiece for our deadly duo, Danny and Dobbsy, did for Cobh this evening but in fact there wasn’t a cat’s whisker between the two sides as you’d expect from two teams aiming for the play-off spots. Wexford began with Charlie, Ben, Ethan, Karl, Brandon, Dobbsy, James, Danny, Corban, Kian and Reece. There was a lot of graft from both sides in the first half but chances at either end were at a premium. Wexford probably started the better early on and Dobbsy had a volley over the Cobh bar from a Wexford corner. Cobh had a tame effort on goal which was easily saved by Charlie Heffernan in the Wexford goal before a Cobh volley from thirty yards out whistled narrowly just wide of the corner of the Wexford goal. The lead goal from Wexford came on 17 minutes when a low cross from the right was tapped home at Cobh’s near post by Danny Furlong and the type of finish that he could probably do in his sleep. 1-0 to Wexford. On twenty minutes, Wexford looked to be a bit lucky when they were awarded a free out for interference with Heffernan after a Cobh corner nearly ended up in the back of the Wexford net. Cobh then finished the half reasonably well when they won a couple of corners and had an attempted chip over a struggling Heffernan but it went a couple of yards over the Wexford bar. Wexford then had a really good effort on target right before the break but Steacy in the Cobh goal managed to push it around his post for a corner. 1-0 to Wexford at half-time.

[ForzaForth]

Second half continued in much the same manner as the first with few chances for either side. Cobh’s Connell had two efforts on the Wexford goal from free kicks but both went a yard over. The introduction of Wilson Waweru and Jack Doherty by Cobh, however, transformed Cobh’s attacking threat and Jack had an early effort on the Wexford goal which flashed just wide of the post. On 27 minutes, however, Jack wasn’t to be denied an equaliser against his old club when he buried a left-footed effort from just outside Wexford’s penalty area for 1-1. Did his celebrations in front of the Wexford dug-out suggest that Jack wasn’t too happy at the way in which he was let go by Wexford? Looked like being an equitable 1-1 draw at that stage but, with eight minutes to go, a thunderous challenge by Wexford to win the ball in Cobh’s own third led to the ball being fed to Dobbsy and he drilled a low effort into the far corner past Steacy for 2-1 to Wexford. Subs for Wexford as the half progressed included Matthew Dunne and the two Levingston brothers, Darragh and Conor. In the final minute of injury-time, Cobh were awarded a free-kick in Wexford’s half and Steacy came up to the Wexford penalty area. A general melee ensued before the Cobh free was taken involving nearly all the players but nothing too serious appeared to occur. However, the referee showed two reds to Wexford’s Ethan Boyle and Ben Lynch and reds or second yellows to what looked like two Cobh players as well as a red to Wexford manager, James Keddy, who’s one of the quietest managers around. When the ball eventually did arrive in the Wexford box, it was punched clear by Charlie Heffernan in the Wexford goal and the game was safe for Wexford. 2-1 at full-time. One player who deserves particular credit for Wexford is Corban Piper who’s really making a name for himself with the amount of ball he wins both on the ground and particularly in the air. Crowd was believed to be 585. In other football news, Gorey Rangers won the top division of the Wexford League when they defeated North End in a league play-off on Thursday night.