Wallace celebrates Limerick win
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Wexford Youths’ manager Mick Wallace couldn’t hide his delight on Friday night at Ferrycarrig Park after his side overcame their home hoodoo and got one over their grudge team Limerick. The 2-0 win, courtesy of a Gary Sheahan strike and a David Breen penalty, both in the second half, won the three points for the home side.
“Yeah, it’s great to win. Especially when we’ve won so few at home and considering that we always struggle against Limerick,” said Wallace after the game, a win that saw them pull away from their opponents and fifth placed Monaghan, who equalised late to draw with Sporting Fingal at home.
“I thought though that in the first half we were playing into their barrow a bit – we were doing fine but not really making an impact ourselves. The ball was in the air too much and at half time we talked about keeping it, getting a bit more width and keeping the ball on the ground.
“The two strikers want it to feet. I mean in the first half we lost every header in the first half up there,” said the Warriors boss in reference to his strike pairing of Gary Sheahan and Jimmy Keohane – both players who can hold it up physically but thrive on quick passes into feet.
Wallace continued his analysis: “It’s unfair like that to knock a big, high ball up to Garry (Sheahan) every time.” Limerick’s Brian O’Callaghan’s continually mopped up the high balls in the first half. The first goal came, however, from a well-won header off a chipped pass – Sheahan running in to chip over Collopy in goal and nod in on the line. “It was actually Ritchie Fitz that won it – in saying that it wasn’t your normal long ball, headed on. From that, and the longer the game went on, the better we looked,” Wallace admitted.
The home side lost none of their composure that had been growing since half-time after they scored the first goal and Wallace was quick to praise his side’s display, especially the impact the subs made:
“The three lads that came in - Lee Aust, Warren Broaders and Tiernan Rossiter - played very well. Broaders and Aust as outlets. It’s nice when the substitutions help things, not that the fellas that came off were bad. Robert Vickers didn’t play as well as usual and the others ran out of steam a bit. I thoroughly enjoyed the win though, considering we have struggled so much against them. I’d have settled for a draw before the game so the three points are great.”
The norm for the Youths at home this season has been plenty of pressure and build up but too many mistakes as their season long form shows, in having won only their fifth game at home on Friday night - a total of eight wins on the road, four of which were against the top sides - shows the shocking difference. Wallace thought his defenders held up fantastically, even seeing Peter White calmly run the ball out and past a few midfielders on more than one occasion later in the game.
“White and Breen were very good and Packie Holden was great. He had some pressure at set pieces in the first half but he caught and held everything under so much pressure. His decision making then was excellent,” was the coach’s thoughts on the backs and his vocal keeper who has regained his form of late after sitting out a few games from standing on a routine pass some weeks ago.
The Youths have an “easy” next assignment in the League as they travel to Belfield to face top of the table UCD this Friday. Mick Wallace finished his interview by commenting on the upcoming fixture.
“Very hard for us, UCD are playing very good, but we would love to win there. We have never lost there. We won in the cup there last year so we’ll have hope. They’re the last of the big boys for us. All teams below us after, but then again our record against the top four is better than teams below.”
So UCD will play against a team and manager in form this Friday and must hope they can continue to add to their impressive 15 goals scored in their last four games in all.
“Yeah, it’s great to win. Especially when we’ve won so few at home and considering that we always struggle against Limerick,” said Wallace after the game, a win that saw them pull away from their opponents and fifth placed Monaghan, who equalised late to draw with Sporting Fingal at home.
“I thought though that in the first half we were playing into their barrow a bit – we were doing fine but not really making an impact ourselves. The ball was in the air too much and at half time we talked about keeping it, getting a bit more width and keeping the ball on the ground.
“The two strikers want it to feet. I mean in the first half we lost every header in the first half up there,” said the Warriors boss in reference to his strike pairing of Gary Sheahan and Jimmy Keohane – both players who can hold it up physically but thrive on quick passes into feet.
Wallace continued his analysis: “It’s unfair like that to knock a big, high ball up to Garry (Sheahan) every time.” Limerick’s Brian O’Callaghan’s continually mopped up the high balls in the first half. The first goal came, however, from a well-won header off a chipped pass – Sheahan running in to chip over Collopy in goal and nod in on the line. “It was actually Ritchie Fitz that won it – in saying that it wasn’t your normal long ball, headed on. From that, and the longer the game went on, the better we looked,” Wallace admitted.
The home side lost none of their composure that had been growing since half-time after they scored the first goal and Wallace was quick to praise his side’s display, especially the impact the subs made:
“The three lads that came in - Lee Aust, Warren Broaders and Tiernan Rossiter - played very well. Broaders and Aust as outlets. It’s nice when the substitutions help things, not that the fellas that came off were bad. Robert Vickers didn’t play as well as usual and the others ran out of steam a bit. I thoroughly enjoyed the win though, considering we have struggled so much against them. I’d have settled for a draw before the game so the three points are great.”
The norm for the Youths at home this season has been plenty of pressure and build up but too many mistakes as their season long form shows, in having won only their fifth game at home on Friday night - a total of eight wins on the road, four of which were against the top sides - shows the shocking difference. Wallace thought his defenders held up fantastically, even seeing Peter White calmly run the ball out and past a few midfielders on more than one occasion later in the game.
“White and Breen were very good and Packie Holden was great. He had some pressure at set pieces in the first half but he caught and held everything under so much pressure. His decision making then was excellent,” was the coach’s thoughts on the backs and his vocal keeper who has regained his form of late after sitting out a few games from standing on a routine pass some weeks ago.
The Youths have an “easy” next assignment in the League as they travel to Belfield to face top of the table UCD this Friday. Mick Wallace finished his interview by commenting on the upcoming fixture.
“Very hard for us, UCD are playing very good, but we would love to win there. We have never lost there. We won in the cup there last year so we’ll have hope. They’re the last of the big boys for us. All teams below us after, but then again our record against the top four is better than teams below.”
So UCD will play against a team and manager in form this Friday and must hope they can continue to add to their impressive 15 goals scored in their last four games in all.
