- Philip Morrissey
- Mon, May 01 2023
The Slaneysiders come out on top in South East Derby on Bank Holiday Monday.
Wexford put aside poor recent form as they held on to record an impressive win at the RSC. A first half header from Aaron Dobbs was reward for a strong showing. They held on despite late pressure to get their play-off hopes back on track.
It was a second defeat of the season for the home side. They came into the encounter on the back of six wins but came up short here. They will be frustrated by two penalty awards being denied but they failed to test the away keeper enough.
Ryan Burke was serving a suspension for the Blues whilst Shane Griffin dropped to the bench. They were replaced by Chris Conn-Clarke and Roland Idowu.
James Keddy elected to make three changes from the side who lost 3-0 to Athlone Town last time out. Darragh Levingston, Karl Chambers and Brendan McCann all came into the side ahead of Mark Hanratty, Conor Levingston and Aaron Doran.
The home side begun in confident fashion buoyed by their good recent form. They saw plenty of the ball in the early stages as they pushed the away side back. Roland Idowu was the first to test Noel Heffernan with a powerful strike that the keeper did well to tip away.
It was Wexford that found themselves in front with their first attack though. A cross was swung in from the left which found Aaron Dobbs un-marked and he headed past Paul Martin.
The home side were shaken by the concession of the goal and took some time to respond. Both sides were trading possession in this spell. Karl Chambers had an effort just wide from distance at one end.
At the other end, Idowu and Ronan Coughlan managed to link up before the final ball just evaded the striker. Moments later Waterford had claims for a penalty as Chris Conn-Clarke saw his cross strike Ethan Boyle. They claimed it struck his arm, but the referee waved their protestations away.
The home side were getting into grove as the half continued as Barry Baggley, Tunmise Sobowale and Connor Parsons found room to send in crosses that were dealt with by the away defence.
Wexford demonstrated their threat and Dobbs almost made it two on a break. He failed to get his feet sorted in time and Waterford got it away. Reece Webb then managed to get through and put in a decent ball but he lacked support.
The home side were aggrieved to see yet another claim denied just before the break. Parsons cut in from the right and made his way into the penalty area before going to ground. Again nothing given.
Waterford continued on the front foot as the second-half begun. Coughlan had two chances in the space of a few minutes. The first saw him flash a shot across the area which no-one reacted in time to get a touch on. The second saw him just off target with a header from Dean McMenamy’s free kick.
Wexford saw injuries to both Chambers and Dobbs but were still holding firm. Parsons combined well with Idowu and McMenamy before the former saw a dangerous cross defended well. Corban Piper could have sealed the win but headed over from a corner when he was unmarked.
Despite the addition of five minutes injury time, Wexford held out for the win. It puts a further dent in Waterford’s aim of automatic promotion. They must try and get it back on track in a key game away to Galway United on Friday. Wexford will hope to build upon this when they take on Treaty United in another away game.
Waterford: Paul Martin; Giles Phillips; Barry Baggley, Chris Conn-Clarke (Thomas Oluwa 61), Roland Idowu, Dean Larkin, Dean McMenamy (Eddie Nolan 67), Niall O'Keeffe, Tunmise Sobowale (Wassim Aouachria 83); Ronan Coughlan, Connor Parsons.
Subs not used: Tom Donaghy; Shane Griffin; Harvey Warren; Romeo Akachukwu; Adam Queally; Ronan Mansfield.
Booked: Niall O'Keeffe (38).
Wexford: Noel Heffernan; Ethan Boyle, Matthew Dunne, Darragh Levingston, Ben Lynch, Reece Webb; Kian Corbally (Conor Levingston 79), Corban Piper; Karl Chambers (Aaron Doran 70), Aaron Dobbs (Jordan Adeyemo 54), Brandon McCann (Hugh Douglas 79).
Subs not used: Colm Cox, Jordan Tallon, Sean Fitzpatrick, James Crawford, Danny Furlong.
Booked: None.
Referee: Daniel Murphy
Attendance: 1,853
extratime.com Player of the Match: Ethan Boyle (Wexford)
