Report on the All Ireland Qualifier 2B from www.gaa.ie
ALL-IRELAND SFC QUALIFIERS ROUND 2B: DERRY 1-16 WEXFORD 0-10
Derry secured their place in the third round of the Qualifiers with a straight-forward win over Wexford at wet Owenbeg on Saturday afternoon.
The throw-in at the Derry Centre of Excellence was delayed by 10 minutes, and the large home crowd were rewarded with a solid performance by Brian McIver’s side, who now have the wind in their sails after a second successive win in the Qualifiers.
Derry had the better of the opening exchanges and led by 0-6 to 0-4 after 25 minutes, but the game turned on its head when the Oak Leafers pinched a lucky goal on the half hour mark.
Caolan O’Boyle fisted a shot off the crossbar, but the rebound fell unkindly for visitors, the ball striking Wexford defender Brian Malone and deflecting to the back own his own net.
Prior to the goal, it had all been fairly routine stuff, Eoin Bradley (free) and Enda Lynn putting Derry ahead before Ben Brosnan’s well-struck placed ball got the Model County off the mark in the ninth minute.
Ciaran Lynch and Flynn chipped in with scores for Wexford, but Derry moved two clear through Mark Lynch when the hosts struck for that lucky goal.
In fact, Derry had another great chance to wrap the game up before the beak, but Wexford goalkeeper Anthony Masterson made a stunning save from Bradley, before Benny Heron and Danny Heavron put the Ulster side 1-8 to 0-4 ahead at half-time.
Within 10 minutes of the restart, Derry had that lead out to eight points, Lynch fisting over and Liam McGoldrick knocking over another.
The gap was out to 10 before Ciarán Lyng gave Wexford hope with a fine score in the 49th minute.
However, David Power’s side looked tired after the 400km trip from the south east coast and a comeback never materialised in a disappointing final quarter, Derry holding out for a deserved nine-point win.
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Scorers for Derry: M Lynch 0-6 (0-5f), C O’Boyle 0-3, B Heron 0-2 (0-1f), E Bradley 0-1, L McGoldrick 0-1, E Lynn 0-1, E Bradley 0-1 (0-1f), C McAtamney 0-1, D Heavron 0-1.
Scorers for Wexford: A Flynn 0-1, B Malone 1-0 (OG), B Brosnan 0-3 (0-3f), C Lynch 0-5 (0-3f), E Nolan 0-1.
DERRY: T Mallon; O Duffy, C McKaigue, D McBride; L McGoldrick, B Rogers, SL McGoldrick; N Holly, F Doherty; B Heron, M Lynch, E Lynn; D Heavron, E Bradley, C O’Boyle. Subs: T O’Brien for Doherty (60), K McKaigue for Rogers (60), C McAtamney for Lynn (66), C Murphy for E Bradley (67).
WEXFORD: A Masterson; R Tierney, N Rossiter, J Wadding; S Donohoe, G Molloy, A Flynn (0-1); S Byrne, B Malone (own goal, 1-0); T Rossiter, B Brosnan (0-3f), K Butler; C Lyng (0-5, 0-2f), M O’Regan, K O’Grady. Subs: J Breen for Wadding (HT), E Nolan (0-1) for Byrne (HT), C Kehoe for Malone (HT), J Tubritt for O’Grady (61), P Byrne for O’Regan (61).
