Fermanagh 0-25 Wexford 1-17
A SCINTILLATING second half performance by Fermanagh at Croke Park on Sunday afternoon seen the Erne County defeat Wexford by five points in a hugely entertaining Tailteann Cup round 3 clash.
The victory ensured the Erne county topped Group 4 after Longford defeated Carlow in the other clash, affording Fermanagh an extra week’s rest and also a home Quarter Final in just under a fortnight’s time.
The success owed much to the brilliance of Conor Love who lit up Croker with a tally of nine points and a formidable second half showing which seen Fermanagh play some of their best football of the season.
The first half was tight throughout but Wexford managed three two pointers and a fine goal on 11 minutes from Sean Nolan to give the Leinster side a 1-8 to 0-9 interval lead.
The Erne boys though looked much better in the second half and a flurry of early second half points gave Kieran Donnelly’s side a 0-14 to 1-9 lead on 44 minutes.
Fermanagh pushed on and the likes of Conor Love, Garvan Jones and Ronan McCaffrey all hit late points to secure Kieran Donnelly’s side top place in Group 4.
Fermanagh started the brighter of the two sides and a foul on Ryan Lyons enabled Fionan O’Brien to hit the opening score of the day.
Lee Cullen then did superbly well to stop a certain Wexford goal before Joe McDade came forward to double the Erne advantage.
The new rules were clear to be seen by the 10th minute as Wexford struck for six points inside just 115 seconds. Pairic Hughes slotted a two pointer before a Sean Nolan goal just a minute later.
Wexford maintained the momentum and a Michael Furlong point enabled John Hegarty’s side to move clear, 1-3 to 0-2.
Mark Rossiter then struck a second two pointer for Wexford on 17 minutes and it was clear Fermanagh were under a serious bit of pressure early on.
The Erne men though didn’t buckle and slowly grew into the game as a Fionan O’Brien free on 18 minutes was soon followed by points from Joe McDade, Conor Love and Garvan Jones to leave it 1-5 to 0-6 after 26 minutes.
Wexford’s ability to hit two pointers was evident as Niall Hughes struck another from outside the 40m arc and Pairic Hughes hit a point.
Fermanagh though finished the half well and scores from Ryan Lyons, Conor Love and Josh Largo Elis left it 1-8 to 0-9 at half time.
Wexford registered the opening score of the second half as Glen Malone finished a flowing move, however Fermanagh found a purple patch that seen them take a lead midway through the second half.
Darragh McGurn, Conor Love, Shane McGullion, McGurn again and another Conor Love score handed them a 0-14 to 1-9 advantage with 44 minutes played.
Jack Higgins hit back for the Model County in the 47th minute, while at the other end a sweetly struck Conor Love effort restored Fermanagh’s two point advantage.
Gavin Sheehan and Darragh McGurn exchanged scores before Wexford pointed from a free on 55 minutes via Sean Nolan, Wexford’s first score from a dead ball, tying it up at 0-16 to 1-13.
Conor Love gave the Erne men the lead again as the rain started to fall on the Croke Park surface, while a Wexford goal chance was brilliantly stopped by fantastic defending from Conor McGee and Josh Largo Elis.
Half time substitute Jonathan Cassidy gave Fermanagh a two point cushion before a Sean Nolan score made it 0-18 to 1-14 with eleven minutes to play.
Conor Love was now playing with real menace and his score along with a Garvan Jones point left Fermanagh three clear as the game ticked into the last ten minutes
Jones then struck for Fermanagh’s only two pointer of the game.
Gavin Sheehan responded for Wexford with a two pointer, while Conor Love again produced real trickery in the Wexford defence before splitting the posts, leaving it 0-23 to 1-16.
Sean Nolan pointed from a free, however the half belonged to Fermanagh and they finished out the game in confident fashion through a further Love free and a Ronan McCaffrey score to leave it a five point game in the end.
A late Wexford goal chance was superbly stopped on the line by the brilliant Joe McDade and Fermanagh had done enough with news filtering through that Longford had caused a mini shock by defeating Carlow it was good news all round for Donnelly’s camp.
Teams & Scorers
Fermanagh: Sean McNally, Luke Flanagan, Lee Cullen, Oisin Smyth, Shane McGullion (0-1), Declan McCusker, Fionan O’Brien (0-2), Joe McDade (0-2), Darragh McGurn (0-3), Conor McGee, Ryan Lyons (0-1), Ronan McCaffrey (0-1), Josh Largo Elis (0-1), Garvan Jones (0-4), Conor Love (0-9). Subs used: Jonathan Cassidy (0-1) for O Smyth (HT), Aogan Kelm for C McGee (60), Sean Cassidy for G Jones (62), Jack Largo Elis for D McCusker (64).
Wexford: Darragh Brooks, Michael Furlong (0-1), Martin O’Connor, Liam O’Connor, Eoin Porter, Eoghan Nolan, Pairic Hughes (0-3), Liam Coleman, Niall Hughes (0-2), Gavin Sheehan (0-3), Tom Byrne, Mark Rossiter (0-2), Kevin O’Grady, Glen Malone (0-2), Sean Nolan (1-3). Subs used: Jack Higgins 0-1 for E Nolan (22), Dylan Furlong for M Furlong (55), Robbie Brooks for K O’Grady (58), Conor Carty for G Malone (62), Ben Brosnan for S Nolan (67).
Referee: David Murnane (Macroom, Cork)