Juniors lost in red mist
Wexford 2-14
Mayo 1-12
DANIEL CAREY
THE Irish Times columnist John Waters is nothing if not controversial, but his namesake’s match-winning goal was one of the least contentious aspects of an extraordinary game in O’Connor Park, Tullamore on Sunday.
Substitute Waters’ strike gave Wexford a lead they subsequently never relinquished, but his 52nd minute goal was not high on the agenda among Mayo followers afterwards. Instead, they were discussing just how they finished with only 12 players, after three men in green and red were sent off by Monaghan referee Gerry McCarron.
Individually, perhaps each of the dismissals were defensible, though Mayo manager Billy Fitzpatrick complained that at the very least, Pat Casey should have had a Wexford man for company on the sideline. Taken together, the westerners were left wondering how a game which occasionally sailed close to the wind without ever spilling out into mayhem produced three red cards, each of them for the losing team.
Before the madness of the second half, the opening period saw some fine football and quality score-taking by both sides. The opening 10 minutes were tit-for-tat, decent points by Alan Costello and Paul Doherty negating Wexford efforts from Willie Hudson and freetaker Paddy Sinnott.
The Model County might have goaled after 11 minutes, but Fintan Ruddy did well to keep out Darren Foran’s soccer-style effort. The breakthrough came three minutes later, Willie Hudson punching in Jody O’Shaughnessy’s ‘garryowen’. Centre forward Matthew Flynn-O’Connor tacked on a free and Wexford were four to the good.
However, Mayo were having their moments – Oliver Feeney and Colm Cafferkey pulled off great blocks, while Paddy Barrett managed an acrobatic interception. And when things clicked in the attack, the green and red scored 1-5 in the final 10 minutes of the first half.
The key score among those came from Paul Doherty, who slid in to fist past Anthony Masterson following good work by Noel Connelly. The Kilmaine man also contributed a further two points, while there were successful frees from Ronan McNamara and Alan Costello, as well as a sweet score from Noel Connelly. Only Paddy Sinnott’s exquisite freetaking kept Wexford within touching distance, but Mayo were still 1-8 to 1-6 up by the midpoint.
Things got even better for the Connach champions early in the second half. Alan Costello picked off a point under pressure after good work by James Rafter, while McNamara added a free. Mayo were four up when Sinnott responded with a place kick of his own and from there, things went downhill.
Ronan McNamara became the first player to walk after swinging out at Wexford’s Mark Gahan following the awarding of a free. Mayo’s momentum was well and truly checked, although Doherty exchanged points with Flynn-O’Connor after a foul on substitute Stephen Carolan.
The second half had a couple of unsavoury incidents; James Rafter sent a Wexford player tumbling into a Mayo mentor, and was lucky to escape punishment.
Words were exchanged by members of the respective management teams after Michael Carey required attention. Rory O’Grady appeared to have the contents of a water bottle tossed in his direction. Yet there was no all-out brawl of the kind one assumes would be part and parcel of a game which three players fail to finish.
Back with the football, Mayo were still ahead but things were beginning to slip away from them. Paddy Sinnott kicked a sweet long-range free, and then teed up Darren Foran for a huge score, prompting a cheer which reverberated around the newly-refurbished venue. Then with eight minutes to go, Jody O’Shaughnessy played the ball into John Waters, and the substitute slipped it past Ruddy to put Wexford in front.
Another Sinnott free stretched the Yellowbellies’ lead to three, before Doherty teed up Rory Hannick for Mayo’s first score in 16 minutes. That was as good as it got, however. Darren Foran was left on the ground after an off-the-ball incident, and after the intervention of a linesman, referee McCarron showed the red card to Pat Casey, introduced only nine minutes earlier.
Fintan Ruddy left his goal to attempt a long-range free as six minutes of injury time were announced.
Under different circumstances, it would have been long enough for Mayo to rescue the game. As things were, Mayo just had too many gaps to fill, and Jody O’Shaughnessy might have shot under rather than over the crossbar as Wexford finished strongly. Substitute Peter Hughes put four points between the sides, and Balla’s Alan Costello received his second yellow card for a late tackle. Darren Foran closed the scoring for the Leinster champions, and Mayo’s dozen remaining dozen players trooped off despondent. They won’t be anxious to remember this game, but it’ll be difficult to forget. It’s probably been the subject of a quiz question already.
