Season Preview 2017 - Wexford

Manager: Damien Locke

Stadium: Ferrycarrig Park

Players In: John McKeown, Lee Duffy (Longford Town), Mark Slater (Cabinteely), Adam Hanlon (Finn Harps), Liam Donnelly (Drogheda United), Jamie Fox, Ricky Fox (Shamrock Rovers AFC), Sean Hurley (Arklow Town), Ross Kenny, Craig Wall, Thomas Croke (Free Agents).

Players Out: Aidan Friel (Longford Town), Lee Grace (Galway United), Chris Kenny (Sligo Rovers), Jonny Bonner (Finn Harps), Paul Murphy, Gary Delaney, Conor Whittle (Waterford FC), Peter Higgins (Firhouse Clover), Danny Furlong, Andy Mulligan, Stephen Last, Danny Ledwith, Connor O’Keefe and Eric Molloy (Southern United).

Extratime.ie Key Man: Graham Doyle

The 38-year-old goalkeeper enters his sixth season with Wexford having been a regular in the side since signing in 2012, missing just 45 minutes of league action last season after being substituted due to injury against Sligo in the final game of the 2016 regular season. He kept 11 clean sheets during the 2015 campaign as he helped his side to the First Division title and promotion to the Premier Division, being named in the PFAI First Division Team of The Year for his efforts. Club captain Doyle has always been a solid piece at the heart of the Wexford defence and will look to inspire his fellow teammates this season. He will be a key figure for Damien Locke’s side if they are to push for a return to the Premier Division at the first time of asking.

Extratime.ie One to Watch: Lee Duffy

Duffy signs having spent 2016 with Longford Town, scoring once in 11 games as De Town were relegated from the First Division. Before that Duffy enjoyed a decent spell with Drogheda United in 2015, where he netted seven times for the Louth side. With go-to striker Danny Furlong having departed for New Zealand top flight outfit Southern United just a month before the end of the 2016 season, as well as the loss of Paul Murphy to First Division rivals Waterford, Duffy will be looked at to fill the void up top and be Wexford’s main source of goals for the upcoming campaign. The striker will be the one to watch this season as he has the potential to lead the line this year and could very well be a real menace to First Division defences should he tap into his goal scoring ability.

How they did last season:

League: 11^th place.

Wexford were relegated from the Premier Division after relinquishing a 2-0 first leg lead to Drogheda in the Relegation Play-Off final, losing 3-2 on aggregate. They finished the regular season in 11^th, nine points off tenth-placed Finn Harps and nine points ahead of bottom placed Longford. They struggled in the bottom three for most of the season, managing just 6 wins all year including a memorable nine-goal thriller against Galway in which they found themselves up by five goals after 52 minutes before narrowly avoiding an outrageous comeback as The Tribesmen pegged them back to 5-4 at full time. Their best result of the season however came in May when they beat Pat Fenlon’s Shamrock Rovers 2-0 at Ferrycarrig Park courtesy of goals from Andy Mulligan and Chris Kenny. Youths were poor defensively however, conceding 70 goals, which was the second worst record in the league only ahead of Longford. They they conceded four or more goals on ten occasions, including 5-0 drubbings against Sligo (twice) and Cork. Their lack of offensive prowess also didn’t help, they finished the season with only one player who had scored more than five goals all season (Danny Furlong, six). Their whole squad combined for a total of 31 goals, which was the fourth worst total across all 12 teams.

FAI Cup: Quarter-finalists.

Youths saw off Leinster Senior League opposition in Firhouse Clover 3-0 in the second round before beating Sligo Rovers 2-1 in the third round, setting up a quarter final clash against Derry City at Ferrycarrig. The Candystripes would prove too strong however as goals from Patterson, McNamee and Schubert saw them through to the Semi-Final on a score line of 3-1, with Eric Molloy scoring the goal for Shane Keegan’s side.

EA Sports Cup: Second Round.

Wexford fell at the first hurdle to eventual losing finalists Limerick at the Markets Field, Braces from Aaron Greene and John O’Flynn seeing Martin Russell’s side through to the Quarter Finals.

Leinster Senior Cup: Final

Youths made it to the final of the LSC for the first time in their history but were beaten 4-0 by Bohemians at Dalymount Park thanks to braces from Kurtis Byrne and Roberto Lopes. They were forced into extra time in all three of their other ties, beating Athlone 2-1 in the fourth round, Longford 2-1 in the Quarter Finals and amateur side Collinstown 3-2 in the Semis all after 120 minutes.

What to expect this season:

Following the mass exodus of players to New Zealand last year which included Danny Furlong, Andy Mulligan, Stephen Last, Danny Ledwith, Connor O’Keefe and Eric Molloy as well as the loss of players like Lee Grace and Chris Kenny to Premier Division opposition, the newly re-named Wexford FC will finish in a comfortable mid-table position. They’ve lost a lot of quality and depth in their midfield and defence and haven’t brought in the amount of players to cover the vacancies left following the transfer window.

However new manager Damien Locke will bring interesting ideas to the club and the addition of John McKeown and Lee Duffy will bring goals and energy, and should help them see off lower opposition. With Longford and Waterford significantly adding to their squad, and Cobh and UCD looking to build on their failure to gain promotion last year, Wexford just won’t have the quality to make a push for the lone promotion spot this season.

With this being a transitional period for the club under a new identity, they will look to take this time to form a solid foundation on which they can build upon in the coming years and eventually push to regain their top-flight status.

Title Odds: 33/1.

First Game: Cobh Ramblers (away), Friday February 24^th (kick-off 7.45pm).