Stubborn Sligo earn reprieve

Div 1B/Sligo 2-13 Wexford 1-15: "NO! NO!" The cry, from somewhere in the stand, rang plain all around Markievicz Park and seemed an apt note on which to close the afternoon. Keith Duggan reports from Markievicz Park

After a stubborn and at times heroic performance by Sligo, it came down to the sight of Mattie Forde, ball in hand, speeding towards the goal. Trailing 1-15 to 1-12, three minutes left in the game and Sligo were about to be put to the sword by the most exquisite finisher in the game.

Forgotten in that moment was the joy and sheer relief with which the local crowd responded to Sligo's first-half effort, when they piled 1-9 on the southerners and kept Forde corralled in a circle of all black jerseys. With the game about to be killed off, it was to be a case of the same old story for Sligo and perhaps the onset of a period of genuine crisis for a grassroots football county.

Winless in the league and shocked by the severity of the drubbing they took in the thankless mausoleum of Tuam stadium, the early signs had been bleak for Sligo. Perhaps that is why the attendance in Markievicz Park was so terribly small, with 2,000 people at best watching on and a significant minority having travelled cross country from Wexford.

We waited for Forde's coup de grace. He fired two goals against Sligo on his way to last year's virtuoso season and this was surely a formality. But goalkeeper Philip Greene scrambled out to narrow the angle and Mattie was moving at speed and the ball skidded off his foot and somehow it spun wide.

Out of nothing, then, came three minutes that brought Sligo back from the edge of a black hole. A broken ball around the middle, a hoof forward and suddenly substitute Tommy Brennan was at the heart of a three-on-one break. John McPartland to his right, Seán Davey to his left. He flicked a pass to Davey, who had enjoyed a storming game, hitting 1-6. He did everything right, palming first time over goalkeeper Anthony Masterson. With classic Sligo luck, he hit the crossbar.

Following up was Brian Curran, who drove home a no-frills goal.

Sligo, ablaze with hope again, had the next two chances. John McPartland missed badly with the first, but then atoned with a brave and improbable winning point, practically the last kick of the game. The tight crowd gathered under Ben Bulben was ecstatic.

"It was like beating Leitrim in Carrick-on-Shannon," beamed manager Dominic Corrigan. "Three points down, it would have been easy to just walk away at that stage. But the boys turned in a great last five minutes. These boys have worked tremendously hard and they were very hurt after Tuam and they responded well to what was a difficult enough week in Sligo."

Whatever the northern man goes on to achieve with Sligo will date back to this game. It was not the smoothest afternoon from the visitors, but they reeled Sligo in like the mercenary performers they are slowly becoming. The late withdrawal of Philip Wallace upset the defence and they played second fiddle as Sligo, spearheaded by Seán Davey, ran riot early on. Noel McGuire, Patrick Naughton, debut man Ross Donovan and Dara McGarty were notably fired up as they worked up a 0-7 to 0-2 lead after 17 minutes.

A Seán Davey penalty after 27 minutes gave them a nice half-time lead, but Wexford were patient and watchful, biding their time. It came. Donovan was carded for hauling down the impressive John Hudson, whose conversion of the resultant penalty was masterful.

Sligo stayed honest but Wexford kept closing in, with a fine score from the excellent Diarmuid Kinsella giving them their first lead with 10 minutes left.

Then things fell apart on Sligo. Forde clipped two points without reply and even though his brother Pat was sent-off, the visitors seemed out of sight. The ground fell silent. Out of nothing, Forde broke away from the black jerseys and as he prepared to strike, we seemed to be about to bear witness to a conclusion that could have damaged Sligo deeply. But suddenly came the fairy-tale stuff.

Wexford won't let many teams off the hook like this. Sligo can breathe a little easier, at least until Sunday when Armagh come to town.

SLIGO: P Greene; P Naughton, B Phillips, B Kirrane; R Donovan, N McGuire, J Martyn; T Taylor, E O'Hara (0-1); B Egan, M Breheny (0-3, 1 free), D McGarty (0-1); D McTiernan, S Davey (1-6, 1 pen, 1 free), J Davey (0-1). Subs: B Curran (1-0) for T Taylor (45 mins), T Brennan for M Breheny (50 mins), G McGowan for D McTiernan (55 mins), K O'Neill for D McCarty (65 mins).

WEXFORD: A Masterson; C Morris, R McGeann, N Murphy; G Sunderland, D Murphy, S Cullen (0-1); D Kinsella (0-2), N Lambert; K Kennedy, P Colfer, J Hegarty (0-1); D Fogarty (0-2), J Hudson (1-1, pen), M Forde (0-8, 6 frees). Subs: P Forde for K Kennedy (32 mins).

Yellow cards: Sligo: R Donovan (39 mins) replaced by M Langan, B Egan (65 mins) replaced by J McPartland (0-1). Wexford: C Morris (26 mins) replaced by T Byrne, N Lambert (56 mins) replaced by J Lawlor, P Forde (65 mins) replaced by B Doyle).

Referee: R Ó hIcí (Clare).