Leinster SFC First round/Wexford 2-10 Louth 0-8: The phoney war section of the Leinster championship concluded yesterday with Wexford, as expected, progressing to the quarter-finals, where they will face Kildare. They still have plenty to do if they are to rattle the Lilywhites' cage but this match was more about registering their first championship victory in five years.
The proverbial monkey has now been lifted off the backs of Pat Roe's panel.
"It was a game we were very worried about," admitted the Wexford manager. "There was a psychological barrier by not winning a championship match for five years that had to be overcome. We were glad to get past it as it had been a burden that the players had carried around for the last three or four weeks."
The match never really sparked to life. Wexford eventually pulled away 20 minutes into the second half when John Hegarty scored their second goal to leave it 2-9 to 0-5.
By that stage Louth had been reduced to 14 men after the dismissal of Ray Rooney for a second yellow card in first-half injury time, while they also introduced eight new players to championship football in the Donnycarney sunshine. They simply did not have the reserves to respond.
Rooney's sending-off was crucial and debatable. Granted, the second yellow card was warranted but his and at least two other cautions in the opening half hour were unnecessary. The contest was niggly but by no means dirty - though there was no doubt about David Fogarty's straight red early in the second half.
Wexford were far superior; Mattie Forde - without hitting top gear - kicked eight points and was the best player on the pitch. George Sunderland was a menace down the left flank, Paddy Colfer owned midfield, and 19-year-old Darren Foran looks a bright prospect.
Louth stayed the pace with their Division One opponents for all of 27 minutes. Captain Ollie McDonnell even put them in front on eight minutes with a point from a difficult angle, yet their rickety defence coughed up a goal soon after.
Fogarty supplied Foran on the edge of the square. He had his back to goal and two defenders were close by yet he still managed to turn and strike low to the net. Louth responded with an excellent score from Paddy Matthews which was followed up by another from McDonnell to leave just a point between them but that was as close as Val Andrews's side got.
After a lull in scoring Forde kicked three points and Sunderland added another to leave it 1-6 to 0-4 at the interval. Forde really should have added to his tally but Shane McCoy batted away his meek penalty effort, after Redmond Barry had been pulled down by Johnny Clerkin.
Louth can also reflect on chances that got away. Wexford goalkeeper John Cooper made two excellent saves to deny Darren Clarke in the pivotal period before the break. Afterwards, Andrews had no problem admitting his side's shortcomings: "We made a few chances but didn't take them. There are no excuses in sport. Once you cross the white line it's 15 men against 15. We just were not good enough."
The second half lacked any rhythm as both teams ambled along with a sense of inevitability puncturing the game's flow. Forde added two successive points from play to keep Wexford coasting.
After the Fogarty sending-off the Louth contingent did find their voice but Colfer's continued dominance of the aerial duels in the middle third of the park soon silenced them. Without ball there was little chance of a revival. Paddy Keenan did punch to the net but it was disallowed for a square ball, Seán O'Neill appearing to be the culprit.
Louth now must prepare for the path less travelled. To make any progress this summer they will require a miracle. Injuries to key players don't make Andrews's life any easier.
"I think we have five weeks to the next match so we will truck on. If we were playing next Sunday we'd be in trouble. At least we have time to regroup," he added.
Kildare manager Padraic Nolan will not have been too perturbed by Wexford's display. If his defence can curb Forde's influence they should prevail. Significantly, not a single score came from the Wexford half-forward line.
"That has been a source of worry all year," commented Roe "It's frustrating as we got chances but just could not execute them. We did enough to win it but not enough to please me."
WEXFORD: 1 J Cooper; 2 C Morris, 3 P Wallace, 4 N Murphy; 5 D Breen, 6 D Murphy, 7 G Sunderland (0-1); 8 P Colfer (0-1), 17 W Carley; 10 D Fogarty, 11 J Hudson, 12 R Barry; 13 J Hearty (1-0), 19 D Foran (1-0), 15 M Forde (0-8, 3f, capt). Subs: 20 L O'Brien for Murphy (45-47 mins), 24 N Lambert for Carley (48 mins), 23 P Forde for Kelly (61 mins), 25 J Lawlor for Hearty (63 mins), 20 O'Brien for Breen (65 mins).
LOUTH: 1 S McCoy; 2 S Gerard, 3 J Clerkin, 4 J Carr; 5 A Page, 6 P Mallon, 7 R Rooney; 8 D Devaney, 9 P Keenan (0-2); 12 R Kelly, 11 D Clarke (0-1, 1f), 13 O McDonnell (0-3, 1f, capt); 15 P Matthews (0-1), 14 D Reid, 10 R Finnegan. Subs: 20 D Shevlin for Mallon (16 mins), 27 A Hoey for Finnegan (24-27 mins), 22 S O'Neill for Matthews (43 mins), 24 M Stanfield (0-1) for Clarke, 27 A Hoey for Reid (both 46 mins), 17 C Malone for D Devaney (63 mins).
Referee: M Hughes (Tyrone).
