- Aisling Hannon
- Fri, May 26 2023
Aaron Dobbs was the hero for Wexford on Friday night after he scored four in their 6-0 win over bottom side Kerry at Mounthawk Park.
Two further goals from Danny Furlong helped the side to achieve their biggest away win in the club's history, clawing back some momentum following a tricky few weeks in the league campaign.
Kerry manager Billy Dennehy stood by the same starting XI who lost 2-0 to Bray last week, while James Keddy made two changes to his squad who suffered a 3-0 defeat to Longford at Ferrycarrig Park.
James Crawford and Furlong came into the starting line-up as Conor Levingston and Matthew Dunne dropped to the bench.
The visitors started the game on the front foot and Furlong had a chance to score within the opening two minutes when his headed attempt went just wide of the post.
Keddy was forced to make an early change when Mark Hanratty was forced off with a knee injury after 15 minutes, with Karl Chambers being called up to take his place.
Kerry had a couple of chances midway through the half when Nathan Gleeson found himself unmarked, making a dash down the pitch before passing left to Sean McGrath, but his curled shot went over the bar.
Gleeson had another attempt moments later, this time taking the shot himself, but the ball flew wide of the target.
There were shouts for a penalty from the home side as Kerry showed some attacking threat. Brandon McCann collided with Gleeson as he made his way towards goal again, but the referee waved away the appeals and McCann was left with a bloodied nose.
It was Furlong who broke the deadlock on the 33-minute-mark, scoring his 113th goal for the club.
Kerry’s Ronan Teahan had collided with Corban Piper in the build-up, forcing the referee to hand Wexford a free kick near the half-way line.
Defender Ben Lynch drove the ball deep towards Dobbs who headed it into the path of an unmarked Furlong in the middle, gifting him a tap-in.
Dobbs himself took the glory just seven minutes later when he took possession in the middle of the field, passing to his attacking partner Furlong who was running to the right, who then passed it back to Dobbs to take a low shot with his first touch.
The neat finish meant a healthy lead for Wexford going into half-time.
Their third of the night was scored just five minutes into the second-half when Dobbs found himself surrounded by Kerry defenders on the left but managed to jump high to head the ball towards Furlong.
Rob Vasiu was determined to close down the Wexford striker but Furlong controlled the ball beautifully and produced a half-volley past Aaron O’Sullivan in the Kerry goal.
The home side looked stumped and were unable to keep up with the pace of their opponents, despite making a handful of substitutions.
With half an hour left on the clock, Dobbs made it four after nicking the ball in from a Crawford corner.
There was a lull in the game until the 72-minute-mark when Chambers came close to hitting the net after some excellent solo play down the wing, but his heavy shot skimmed wide.
Seconds later, Dobbs nicked his hat-trick after Kerry substitute Graham O’Reilly gave the ball away, with the Wexford striker being ruthless and sharp in taking possession and driving the ball low into the back of the net.
Wexford’s sixth and Dobbs’ fourth came in the second minute of injury time when substitute Conor Levingston whipped the ball into the box from a corner kick, meeting the head of his teammate who knocked it cleanly past a defeated O’Sullivan.
The win pushes Wexford up to seventh in the table, just one point behind Treaty United, as they prepare for a home tie against Cobh Ramblers next weekend.
Kerry will take the long trip to Ballybofey as they face off against second-from-bottom Finn Harps.
Kerry FC: Aaron O'Sullivan; Samuel Aladesanusi, Cian Barrett (Alex Ainscough 57), Rob Vasiu, Kevin Williams; Leo Gaxha (Steven McCarthy 65), Nathan Gleeson (Cianan Cooney 66), Togor Silong (Graham O'Reilly 57), Ronan Teahan; Ryan Kelliher (Kennedy Amechi 66), Sean McGrath.
Subs not used: Callan Scully, Matt Keane.
Booked: Alex Ainscough (61), Cianan Cooney (82).
Sent off: None.
Wexford: Charlie Heffernan; Ethan Boyle, James Crawford (Matthew Dunne 73), Ben Lynch, Reece Webb; Kian Corbally, Mark Hanratty (Karl Chambers 14), Brandon McCann (Darragh Levingston 69), Corban Piper; Aaron Dobbs, Danny Furlong (Conor Levingston 73).
Subs not used: Colm Cox, Hugh Douglas.
Booked: Brandon McCann (42).
Sent off: None.
Referee: Marc Lynch
Attendance: 759
extratime.com Player of the Match: Aaron Dobbs (Wexford FC)
