Wexford C.B.S. ...5 Arklow C.B.S. ...3
On Thursday 17th of January the Wexford CBS produced a
breath-taking display to beat a very highly fancied Arklow CBS in the ¼ final
of the Senior Wicklow/Wexford league competition. The senior side of Wexford
CBS had not quite played up to their level yet this season having struggled to
qualify from their group relying on Enniscorthy to get a result against
Bridgetown to ensure qualification to the knockout stages as runners up.
However this team has a lot of ability with the majority of the squad having
played in the last two campaigns reaching the final both years, and they
finally played to their potential against a very good Arklow CBS team. The
opening exchanges saw Wexford trying to ensure they took a foothold in the game
by moving the ball around nicely. It was Arklow CBS who drew first blood, a
long ball over the top was chased down by Arklow attackers and Wexford
defenders, Dale Scallan attempted to head back to keeper Jamie MacDonnell but
he under-played it and an Arklow forward nipped in to finish past the helpless
keeper to give Arklow a 1-0 lead inside 5 minutes. Wexford responded with some
good attacking football as they retained the ball very well and John Bridges
came close to finding an equaliser. The Wexford side soon managed to get
themselves level, Cian Doyle was taken down on the left wing and Dale Scallan
stepped up to take the resulting free kick, he fired an effort goal wards which
was flicked on by John Bridges and an Arklow defender but did not change
direction before finding the top corner of the net 1-1.
Wexford CBS continued to press but Arklow CBS came back into the
game and put some pressure on the Wexford CBS defence who were defending very
well. The Bokerboys will be disappointed that they conceded a soft free kick on
the edge of the area, from the resulting free Arklow hit a well drilled effort
which was save by MacDonnell but he didn’t hold onto it and the rebound was
tapped into the net by an Arklow forward on the half hour mark 2-1. Wexford CBS
began to look for an equaliser and were enjoying the majority of possession
with Conor Clancy and Evan Dunbar really beginning to enforce themselves in
midfield as they dominated the centre of the field winning a lot of ball in the
air and on the ground as the Wexford side really began to get on top. Full back
Richie Kearny took the ball on the edge of the area and forced a good save from
the Arklow keeper, the home side counter-attacked and Jamie MacDonnell made a crucial
save from a one on one to keep the Bokerboys within one goal of their
opponents. CBS responded well and soon levelled; Conor Clancy won the ball in
the centre and played a lovely ball out wide to Cian Doyle who gave a neat pass
into John Bridges who turned one defender before squaring the ball to Danny
Fitzpatrick who placed a lovely shot into the bottom right corner of the net
2-2. Wexford continued to press but didn’t manage to take the lead before the
half-time whistle.
The second half saw Wexford CBS really step up their performance as
they really took the game to their opponents. Dylan Walsh and Cian Doyle were
posing a real threat from the wings and John Bridges and Danny Fitzpatricks
link up play was causing real problems for the Arklow defence. Wexford soon
took a deserved lead, after Dylan Walsh and John Bridges combined well before
switching the play to Cian Doyle who with some fancy footwork took the ball
around two opponents before giving a pass to Bridges who again squared a neat
ball to Danny Fitzpatrick who once again placed a shot to the corner of the net
3-2. Wexford continued to press and were enjoying the majority of possession
with Danny Fitz really giving the Arklow backline a nightmare as he looked to
run at them every time he received the ball. The Bokerboys doubled their lead
after about 55 minutes in the game, Dylan Walsh scoring with a wonderful
strike. Wexford had a corner and John Bridges was sharp enough to give a short
pass to Walsh who had a little bit of time before looking up and unleashing a
fabulous strike from out wide which hit the top corner of the net leaving the
Arklow keeper with no chance and giving the away side a 4-2 lead. Arklow to
their credit looked to attack straight away and put the Wexford lads under a
lot of pressure but found Dale Scallan, Jason Kearns, Richie Kearney and Aaron
McMahon in no mood to concede as they defended brilliantly. John Bridges
dropped himself back into the centre of the field and was leading by example as
he encouraged his team mates. Dylan Walsh was now full of confidence and was
really giving the left back on the Arklow side a torrid time of it as his
trickery brought him by him again and again, he managed to get himself into the
box but finished poorly and the keeper made a comfortable save. A long ball
over the top of an exposed Arklow defence was flicked on by the head of Danny
Fitzpatrick who saw the keeper coming out of his goal and lobbed his shot for
an exquisite finish and complete a memorable hat-trick. Arklow managed a
consolation goal in injury time with a well-placed free kick from their
impressive centre-half. At the other end substitute Jessie Farrell will be
disappointed that he couldn’t manage a finish from close range after more good
work from Danny Fitzpatrick.
Overall this was a great win for the Wexford CBS, they started the
game as under-dogs and twice had to come from behind before they really managed
to show their quality and beat a very good Arklow side in some style. This was
an excellent team performance and the Boker boys will again have to be at their
best when they face East Glendalough in the semi-final of the competition. Best
on the day for the Wexford CBS from a very impressive performance were Dale
Scallan, John Bridges, Dylan Walsh, and Danny Fitzpatrick.
Wexford CBS: Jamie MacDonnell (Wexford Celtic), Richie Kearney
(North End), Dale Scallan (Wexford Youths), Jason Kearns (North End), Aaron
McMahon (North End), Dylan Walsh (North End), Conor Clancy (Rosslare Strand),
Evan Dunbar (North End), Cian Doyle (Wexford Celtic), John Bridges (Wexford
Celtic), Danny Fitzpatrick (Wexford Youths), Subs: Darragh Rossiter (Forth
Celtic) for Doyle, Jessie Farrell (North End) for Kearney, Eoin MacDonald
(Wexford Celtic) for Clancy, also; Tadhg Dunleavy (North End), Joe Coleman
(Forth Celtic), George Cullen (North End), Mark Doyle (Wexford Celtic)
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