Wexford Youths -v- Salthill Devon

• Simon O'Gorman
• Fri, May 13 2011


New Salthill Devon boss Paul McGee brings his side to Ferrycarrig Park on Friday night to take on Wexford Youths, looking for the Galway side’s first league win of 2011. (Kick off, 8pm)

Last season Salthill got their first league points of the year in this fixture despite lsing 2-1 on the night, Wexford conceding the points after they were found to have played a suspended player, but McGee will be hoping that this time around his players can earn three points on the field of play.

So far Salthill have only registered two points from draws at home to Athlone and away to Finn Harps, losing their other seven league ties. Currently they are on a run of three straight defeats and have scored only once in their last six outings.

In fact, Salthill have only hit the net three times in the league while conceding 19 times, a record that would suggest McGee will have his work cut out in the year ahead. However, last weekend’s performance against league leaders Shelbourne impressed McGee and this weekend presents a challenge against a Wexford side that are only four points above his side in the table.

Wexford have gathered only six points in 2011. Wins away to Limerick and Finn Harps, both gained courtesy of last minute goals, are their only positive results to date and last weekend’s win over Harps ended their own run of three straight defeats.

However, Noel O’Connor’s men will be buoyed by the fact that they have only failed to score in one of their last seven games, though it should also be pointed out that clean sheets are also a rarity, with only Limerick and Harps being shut out so far this year.

O’Connor welcomes four bodies back into Friday night’s squad - Anthony Wolfe, Kevin Rowe, Robert Dempsey and Owen Kinsella, while he will be without the services of defender Anthony Russell who is injured.

With Wexford having lost all four of their home league games to date this might just be the weekend when Salthill break their league duck, while the boost provided by ‘new manager’ syndrome might also offer the visitor’s a helping hand.

Wexford Youths
Injured: Anthony Russell.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.

Salthill Devon
Injured: Unavailable.
Doubtful: Unavailable.
Suspended: Unavailable.

Referee: Dave McKeon.
Paddy Power Odds: Wexford 1/2; Draw 13/5; Salthill 11/2.
Extratime prediction: A 1-0 away win for Salthill.