Wexford...3-17 Sligo...0-13: This was the Matty Forde show as he gatecrashed the Sligo defence to score 2-10 as Wexford well and truly ended the westerners' unbeaten run at Wexford Park yesterday.
Sligo, with two wins, and a draw with Galway from their last outing, were left chasing shadows as they were overrun by a sharper and more committed Wexford outfit. The result was a foregone conclusion at the break by which stage Wexford led by 10 points.
There were no excuses from Sligo manager James Kearins. "Wexford never allowed us to settle, a tactic which we successfully employed against Galway. They were much sharper, quicker on the breaks. We struggled in midfield while we simply could not cope with their two-man inside forward duo of Matty Forde and Scott Doran," was his summing up.
His Wexford counterpart, Pat Roe, observed: "These lads are capable of playing good football. They are working hard while on this occasion the execution of the forward line was emphatic. Now we must regroup and give a repeat display against Cavan, if we're to stay in Division One, which is our aim."
Wexford were in free-flow up front from the outset. After Forde and Pádraig Doohan had exchanged opening points, they opened up a 0-3 to 0-1 gap through points from George Sunderland and David Fogarty.
Wexford led 0-7 to 0-3 after 19 minutes when Forde crashed home his first goal, availing of a lucky break off Doran as he went to gather a long Robert Hassey ball. Then Forde struck for his second goal, pouncing on a loose ball after Sligo goalkeeper Philip Greene had excellently saved from John Hudson.
Wexford were not flattered to go in with a 2-10 to 0-6 half-time scoreline in their favour.
After the break Sligo hit two quick points through Dessie Sloyan and Adrian Marren, but with Forde continuing to feed off a splendid supply of ball, he responded with a pointed free.
But Sligo were just not clicking and when substitute James McPartland had a goal-bound shot saved by John Cooper after 50 minutes it was clearly not going to be their day. Kearins introduced a number of substitutes in an effort to stem the Wexford dominance but the home side continued to open up huge gaps in the visitors' defence.
With 17 minutes gone in the half, Wexford made sure the final stages were going to be a foregone conclusion, when Paddy Colfer fielded a high Forde centre and turned his marker before crashing a great low drive to the net, for a third Wexford goal.
WEXFORD: J Cooper; C Morris, P Wallace, N Murphy; D Breen, D Murphy, G Sunderland (0-1); R Hassey, K Kennedy (0-2); D Fogarty (0-1), P Colfer (1-0), J Hudson; S Doran (0-2), G O'Grady, M Forde (2-10, three frees, '45). Subs: J Hegarty for O'Grady (46 mins); D Foran (0-1) for Hassey (52); D Browne for Hudson (64); LK O'Brien for Kennedy (66); N O'Sullivan for N Murphy (70).
SLIGO: P Greene; P Gallagher, P Naughton, B Phillips; P Doohan (0-2), M Langan, D Durkin (0-1); N Clancy, S Davey; P McGovern, M Brehony, B Curran (0-1); D Sloyan (0-3, two frees), P Taylor, A Marren (0-5, two frees). Subs: E O'Hara for Clancy (15 mins); K Quinn (0-1) for Taylor (41); P Durcan for D Durkin (43); J McPartland for Curran (48); K O'Neill for Brehony (59).
Referee: M Collins (Cork).
