Roche gives Wexford a distinct edge

Wexford 4-12 Carlow 0-10:  CARLOW BRIEFLY threatened a quantum leap in their football journey but, when the momentum swung slightly away from them, they capitulated and that's what will be remembered from this mostly forgettable Leinster semi-final.

With the sides level entering first-half injury time it unravelled horribly. Shane Redmond, their usually reliable centre back and captain, cheaply lost possession, presenting a goalscoring opportunity that Shane Roche finished.

It was a day when Roche couldn’t miss. He walked away with a crystal trophy after six shots on target registered a tidy 2-4.

When Jason Ryan got a hold of his men at the interval he insisted on a renewed adherence to some basic principals.

“It was just fundamental mistakes that needed to be tweaked,” said Ryan, having now guided them to a second provincial decider in four seasons.

“Handling – holding onto the ball too long, losing ball in the tackle, shot selection was a little bit out. Carlow dominated their kick outs as well.”

Wexford also needed 30-odd minutes to unburden themselves of the expectations levels created by their recent dismantling of Offaly and Westmeath.

“We are so used to coming to Croke Park as underdogs so it is our first time ever coming here as favourites. And red-hot favourites. That takes a bit of getting used to.

“Maybe that had something to do with the slowness, or lack of slickness in our play at times.”

Luke Dempsey arrived with a coherent and effective game plan that saw Colm Morris’s influence negated, initially anyway, while Ciarán Lyng was largely anonymous as Redmond and Brendan Kavanagh cleverly marked the space Wexford attackers had been ghosting into before yesterday.

That Carlow could frustrate Wexford for 45 minutes means Dublin will expect to do so for the duration. Lyng, Redmond Barry and Ben Brosnan combined for a worrying 0-3 total from play.

Carlow’s 13-man defence, which eventually lost all discipline when it came to covering the overlapping runner, rushed Wexford into long-range shooting that yielded seven first-half wides and another three balls falling short.

A 0-1 return in the opening 18 minutes tells its own story. By then, Carlow had four points.

With the defensive plan working, up the other end Carlow’s Patrick Hickey and Seán Gannon were scampering about, drawing three frees, which were converted by Brian Murphy’s reliable left peg.

It also helped that his younger brother Brendan Murphy was threatening to showcase his brilliance on the main stage. There was a cracking point, on the run from distance, on five minutes, before a massive strike on the half-hour mark.

Perhaps the lack of conditioning from an injury-interrupted National League campaign meant the influence of Murphy, and crucially Thomas Walsh, alarmingly waned during the crucial third period when Wexford gobbled up possession around the middle, thanks to Morris and Rory Quinlivan, to rattle off an uninterrupted 0-4.

Lyng may have been off form but a beautifully angled point on 45 minutes made it 2-8 to 0-7. Carlow shoulders visibly slumped, heads bowed – they had been broken.

To backtrack slightly, the first Wexford goal was a glimpse of how dangerous they can be. A wayward pass by Patrick Hickey was picked off by full back Graeme Molloy deep in his own territory. Quick distribution saw Lyng, Barry and Brosnan combine to send Roche bearing down on Trevor O’Reilly. He took six steps in rounding the goalkeeper before finishing to the net.

The third goal from substitute PJ Banville and fourth by Eric Bradley were mere window-dressing as a flurry of points had already sent a decent Carlow support towards a silent drive home.

The manner in which these late scores were conceded may stall the progress of Carlow in 2011. There was no fight in them by the finish. Or maybe it was just that Wexford were far superior.

Either way, no fairytale here, just a Wexford team nearing their peak after four years under Jason Ryan’s tutelage.

WEXFORD: 1 A Masterson; 2 J Wadding, 3 G Molloy, 4 B Malone; 5 A Flynn, 6 D Murphy (capt), 7 A Doyle; 8 R Quinlivan, 9 D Waters; 13 C Morris, 14 E Bradley (1-1), 12 B Brosnan (0-5, two frees, two 45s); 10 S Roche (2-4), 11 C Lyng (0-2), 15 R Barry. Subs: 19 A Morrissey for A Doyle (42 mins), 27 B Doyle for D Waters (47 mins), 25 P Byrne for R Quinlivan (54 mins), 20 PJ Banville (1-0) for R Barry (57 mins), 23 G Sunderland for C Morris (66 mins).

CARLOW: 1 T O’Reilly; 2 A Murphy, 3 C Lawlor, 4 B Kavanagh; 5 P Cashin, 6 S Redmond (capt), 7 K Nolan; 8 B Murphy (0-2), 9 D Foley (0-1, free); 10 P Hickey, 11 T Walsh, 12 E Finnegan; 13 B Murphy (0-3, all frees), 14 S Gannon, 15 D St Ledger (0-2, free). Subs: 17 A Curran for K Nolan (42 mins), 19 E Ruth for E Finnegan, 18 C Mullins (0-2) for P Hickey (both 54 mins), 21 J Murphy for D Foley (60 mins), 26 W Minchin for T Walsh (64 mins).

Referee: M Collins (Cork).