Wexford Ladies hoping for third time lucky

The Suzuki National League Division 2 semi-final between Wexford
and Sligo takes place in Banagher, Co. Offaly, on Saturday next
at 3 p.m. The Wexford Datapac girls will have a difficult assignment
against a team who topped their section, having beaten Dublin’s
Senior team by 1-11 to 2-5 en route. Sligo went on to defeat Longford
by 0-12 to 0-8 in the quarter-finals a fortnight ago. Wexford
and Sligo have clashed twice over the last two years, with the
Connacht champions emerging victorious on both occasions. In 2005
they defeated Wexford in the All-Ireland semi final by 2-10 to
1-9, and last year they again inflicted defeat on the Slaneysiders
by 2-12 to 1-6 in the All-Ireland quarter-final.

However, that scoreline in the 2006 encounter did an injustice
to Wexford as Sligo didn’t take the lead until the 24th minute
of the second-half, with Wexford missing two penalties, a host
of point-scoring opportunities, and the Sligo ‘keeper getting
the player of the match award. Sligo, having won last year’s All-Ireland
Junior final, have now been promoted to Senior ranks and will
be expected to provide stiff opposition to Galway, Mayo and Roscommon
in the Connacht championship. Wexford for their part have lost
only one game to Tipperary since the start of the year. They have
recorded victories over Down, Longford and Roscommon in the group
stages as well as Clare in the quarter-finals. These coupled with
their Leinster championship win over Longford on Saturday last
should ensure that confidence is high going into the game. There
are two changes to the team that overcame Longford last Saturday.
Lizzy Kent, who scored two goals after coming on in the second
half game v Longford, will start at corner forward and Bridget
Curran will come in at wing forward However, to continue on this
winning streak, they need to re-produce last Saturday’s second-half
performance right from the start. Otherwise they may leave themselves
with too much of an obstacle to climb.

The reward for victory will be a place in the league final on
Saturday, May 5, against either Dublin or Tipperary, possibly
in Parnell Park under lights, with the game televised live by
TG4. There is little doubt but that this fixture will bring out
the best in Wexford as they will be determined to overturn previous
defeats to the Yeats county. This game should be a cracker like
the two previous encounters, and Wexford will be hoping for strong
support to travel to the Offaly venue in their quest to reach
a first National League final since they defeated Kerry in the
1986 Division 1 semi-final and Laois in the decider.

Wexford: Mary Rose Kelly; Martina Murray (Capt), Nikki Scallan,
Aoife Waters; Karen Morris, Michelle Doyle, Leona Tector; Deirdre
Fox, Caroline Murphy; Bridget Curran, Kate Kelly, Michelle Hearne;
Lizzy Kent, Josie Dwyer, Sharon Kehoe. Subs: Nicola Scully, Liz
Evered, Fiona Rochford, Tara Dunne, Marcia Sinnott, Meabh Hughes,
Tara Moloney, Eileen Hanrick, Ciara Scallan, Julie Kelly, Mag
Kelly, Mary Leacy, Ceara O’Brien, Elaine Banville, Linda Casey.
Other Panel Members: Denise Kearns, Maeve Quill, Ali Evered, Mary
Cullen, Georgina Moore, Deirdre McMahon, Kim Moloney, Laura Corrigan,
Catherine Doyle.