Wexford vs DIT Match Report by Michael Dwyer
The first round of the “Bord Na Mona” O’ Byrne Cup was held in Kilanerin today in front of a large crowd. Wexford started out with a two point advantage thanks to regular sharpshooter Adrian Flynn. DIT soon replied when Jason Doherty pointed a 13 metre free in the 10th minute. The Wexford defence was active in the opening half with Joey Wadding and Brian Malone showing great dexterity. After Flynn and Doherty exchanged points once again, Jack Kelly kicked a stylish point for Wexford with thirteen minutes passed. After the first quarter, Jason Doherty’s two points made the sides level with four points apiece. Mark Collins capitalised on this DIT attack with another point seconds later, however his efforts were negated by 2 PJ Banville’s pointed frees. Banville continued to attack fiercely when he sprinted through and rifled the ball to the net with half an hour played. Disappointing Wexford wides meant that the halftime scoring difference could have been much larger as Wexford led at the break; 1:07 to 0:05.
PJ Banville reopened Wexford’s scoring account first with a pointed free. Nevertheless, DIT were soon to become dominant as the speedy college outfit added nine points with a silenced Wexford side. Ciaran Reddin, Alan Nestor, Jason Doherty and Bernard Allen were the catalysts for this scoring turnaround. PJ Banville managed to reply with a pointed free in the 23rd minute. Seconds later, DIT’s captain, Colin Walsh was dismissed by referee Brendan Cawley. This was followed by a penalty for DIT when Aindreas Doyle illegally halted Jason Doherty’s attack. Cork native, Mark Collins blasted the ball past ‘keeper Brendan Redmond. Wexford points from PJ Banville and Adrian Flynn sandwiched the single score of Conor Walsh. Poor wides tolled up for Wexford and referee Brendan Cawley ended the game with a four point advantage for Dublin. While Wexford had some streaks of play, the agile and speedy DIT performance in the second half was immense. With improved teamwork and communication, Aidan O’ Brien’s men will fancy their chances against Carlow IT this Wednesday in Bunclody at 7:30pm.
Final Score: Wexford 1:11; Dublin IT 1-15.
WEXFORD : B Redmond; J Wadding, G Molloy, B Mulligan; J Kelly (0-1), A Doyle, B Malone; D Waters, D Murphy; C Carthy, S Roche, A Flynn (0-3, one free); K O’Grady, C Doyle, P J Banville (1-7, 0-5 frees). Subs : R Tierney for Kelly, R Quinlivan for Murphy (both h-t), S Culleton for Carthy (45 mins), K Kehoe for C Doyle (55 mins).
DIT : R Whelan; Colin Walsh, B Menton (0-1), G O’Hara; A Nestor (0-1, 45), N Devereux, R Sheridan; A O’Shea, R Hazley; J McGrath, M Collins (1-3, 1-0 pen, 0-2 frees), C Reddin (0-1); H Dawson, J Doherty (0-7, four frees), P Maguire. Subs: B Allen (0-1) for Dawson (h-t), K O’Brien for McGrath (48 mins), S O’Connor for Maguire (55 mins), Conor Walsh (0-1) for Doherty (62 mins), D Reilly for Reddin (64 mins).
