Monaghan United 3-0 Wexford Youths

Brian De Salvo

In a sport obsessed with the emotion of the moment it is good to acknowledge the warm applause with which the knot of Wexford Youths fans who made the long trek to Monaghan saluted their players after the game last night. Youths were well beaten by an organised home side on the day but over the season fifty points and sixth position in the division one table represents excellent progress in the club’s third season.

The League of Ireland team seems to have fallen into disarray since the bonanza surrounding the visit of Wolves. Since then a team weakened by the calls of other competitions has failed to beat next to bottom club Mervue United at home and floundered in the key match to decide whether Monaghan or Wexford would take the fifth place in the table that Youths had occupied for a large part of the season.

In Monaghan Youths were without Russell, Paul Rossiter, Keohane and Conor Sinnott, players who between them have made 85 League starts this season. Their replacements could muster only 8 between them. If you took that many raisins out of a bar of fruit and nut chocolate you’d be prosecuted under the trade description act.  

None of these missing players were suspended, simply unavailable. In Jimmy Keohane’s case it was due to a call up to the Under 19 Irish International squad, an honour for both player and club, but when a training session is allowed to take precedence over an official League of Ireland fixture you have to question whether the League believes in its own credibility.  

The fixture planners must take the blame for the chaotic re-scheduling after the match was postponed eleven days earlier because the pitch was judged unfit. After ludicrously fixing the game for last Tuesday, the day after the Wolves match, the powers that be then put it back a further twenty four hours, informing Monaghan on the afternoon previous. A spell of work experience with a first division club would show that it is impossible to reorganise the work schedules of a squad of part time players at such short notice. Both managers had agreed to the fixture being played next Friday 13th. The League then set it for last night instead. Perhaps they are superstitious at Abbotstown.        

I have no wish to denigrate the endeavour shown by the Wexford team that took the field at the Century Homes Park.With tough tackling Patsy Malone inheriting the captain’s armband or, in this case, length of sticky tape, you’d expect nothing less.   And one experienced player who did make the long trip to Monaghan despite carrying an injury was David Breen. “I’ll start if he wants me to but I don’t know how long I’ll last,” commented Breen before the match and underwent treatment on the team bus on the way to it.

In the end Youths’ player of the season lasted 42 painful minutes, a tribute to the commitment of the former professional. And, as against Mervue on Saturday, Wexford made a bright start. Straight from the kick off a well judged through ball from Peter White set Gary Sheahan through the Monaghan back four and keeper McCarey had to scramble the ball behind for a corner.   Time on the clock, twenty three seconds.

Then Sheahan set up Shane Dempsey for a shot from the edge of the box which McCarey handled comfortably. Five minutes later Broaders showed excellent control to bring the ball down and send a slide rule pass for Sheahan. It came to nothing but, with only ten minutes on the clock, Youths looked as though it was only a matter of time before they would exploit United’s high back line with Sheahan’s pace.

But, after the initial flurry, Monaghan’s experience proved invaluable as they took charge. On twenty five minutes Holden slid out to block Freeman’s effort with his legs and a minute later United were ahead. Poor marking from a free kick on the left allowed O’Connor room and Stephen McCrossan took over to blast at goal. Holden got to the shot but could only deflect the ball into the net, a rare error of judgement by the Wexford keeper’s high standards. Less than ten minutes later the points were in the bag when a cross on the left was deftly headed on by Clancy for Karl Bermingham to nip in and convert past Holden at point blank range to equal his club’s goalscoring record.

Clancy and O’Connor were running riot down the Monaghan flanks by this time but the loss of Breen four minutes before the second goal brought some unexpected benefits in that the withdrawal of Broaders to right back steadied the ship, allowing McCurtin to redeem his evening in central defence. Indeed the youngster forged forward for a corner from the right shaking off an attempt to block with a fierce drive that McCarey did well to hold.  

But Wexford’s frustration was beginning to show and Shane Dempsey was lucky to escape with just a yellow card when he took a kick at the elusive O’Connor long after the ball had gone. Clancy could have put the game to bed before the interval but hit Holden’s left post before O’Connor sent in a looping, swerving drive from the left which Holden flicked away from danger.

The second half opened with immediate chances at either end. Clancy hit the post from another O’Connor cross and then Furlong found himself one on one with the keeper only for the advancing McCarey to turn his drive aside. By now McCarey, playing his last League of Ireland game before joining Wolves, was playing sweeper/keeper with more participation in the game by foot than hand. On one occasion he skilfully dribbled past two opponents but his kicking generally left something to be desired and he was fortunate to get away with some dodgy distribution to become, ironically, the second under age goalkeeper in succession to achieve a shutout against Youths. In the end he only achieved it courtesy of a smart header off the line from Shane Grimes from Shane Dempsey’s drive.

By then Monaghan had got a third when a long high cross from O’Connor on the left found Paul Whelan running in unmarked at the far post. Holden parried his shot at point blank range but somehow the full back squeezed the rebound home. It summed up Wexford’s evening.

Monaghan United: Aaron McCarey; Paul Whelan, Niall Flynn, Brian Gartland, Shane Grimes; Barry Clancy (Sean Brennan 71), Dom Tierney (capt) (Adrian Lynch 88), Stephen McCrossan, Cathal O’Connor; Karl Bermingham, David Freeman (Darragh Hanapy 78).

Wexford Youths: Packie Holden; Gareth McCurtin, Peter White, David Breen (Robert Vickers 42), Chris Kenny; Warren Broaders, Shane Dempsey, Patsy Malone, Tiernan Rossiter (Darragh McDonald 84); Gary Sheahan, Danny Furlong (Robert Dempsey 55).

Referee:  Mr P. McLoughlin 

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