Wexford in sharper form

Wexford 0-14 Sligo 0-13: Matty Forde kicked eight points as 14-man Wexford sent lacklustre Sligo tumbling to their second league defeat on the trot in this pulsating game at Markievicz Park.

David Kelly opened the first-half scoring with a Sligo point before Ben Brosnan levelled for the visiting side.

The sides were level on six occasions before a Forde free four minutes into stoppage-time put Wexford 0-10 to 0-9 ahead at half-time.

The visitors were reduced to 14 players in the 25th minute of play when left half back George Sunderland was sent off less than a minute after being shown a yellow card.

Sligo were unable to take advantage of the extra man in the second half and overplaying the ball in front of a rock-solid Wexford defence did not help their chances.

The Wexford manager, Jason Ryan, was delighted to win a tight game against the Connacht champions - "a well-structured and disciplined" side.

"The effort we put in during training was not reflected in our performance," was how the Sligo manager, Tommy Jordan, summed up the result.

"It would be nice to have a cushion at this stage of the league but things went against us today," added Jordan.

WEXFORD: A Masterson; C Morris, P Wallace, D Wallace; A Morrissey, B Malone, G Sunderland; B Doyle, E Bradley; B Brosnan (0-1), R Barry, P Curtis; S Roche (0-3, two frees), A Flynn (0-2), M Forde (0-8, five frees). Subs: D Murphy for Walsh, C Lyng for Morrissey, P Colfer for Brosnan, G Brilly for Roche,

SLIGO: P Greene; C Harrison, N Maguire, R Donovan; J Davey, M McNamara, P McGovern; C Quinn (0-1), K Byrne; P Gallagher (0-4, two frees), M Breheny (0-5, three frees), B Curran; E Cawley, K Sweeney (0-1), D Kelly (0-2). Subs: D Davey for Cawley, D McTernan for Sweeney.

Referee: D Corcoran (Mayo).

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times