Sligo crashed to their second away defeat in Division Three of the Allianz Football League when they were hammered by rampant Wexford at Wexford Park on Sunday last.

Fortunate to be just a point behind at the interval, 1-4 to 0- 6, Sligo simply had no answer to the power and pace of the home side after the interval and not even a late consolation goal, which put some small degree of respectability on the scoreboard, could conceal the frustration of what was the side’s worst performance since Kevin Walsh took over as manager.

The concession of early penalty goal clearly unsettled Sligo and it took them a long time to develop any sort of rhythm or cohesion. Indeed, Wexford should have been well out of sight such was their dominance in the opening exchanges but they were guilty of some very poor finishing and allowed the visitors to creep back into contention.

In fairness to Sligo, they applied themselves with far greater conviction as the first half progressed, although Daithi Matthews and Eric Bradley were always in control of the midfield exchanges. Nevertheless, Sligo slowly hauled themselves back into contention and looked as if they might make Wexford pay for their wastefulness when they got the gap down to the minimum by the interval.

The withdrawal of hard working midfielder, Eugene Mullen, with a shoulder injury shortly before halftime was a setback for the Yeats County but they were still close enough to be in with a chance of turning things around after the break.

However, things went from bad to worse in the second half as Sligo’s resistance totally disintegrated and the grim statistic of just one score after the interval, a goal by Alan Costelloe – and that at a very late stage in the game – bears testimony to the disastrous decline in the level of performance in the second period.

Even when Wexford were reduced to fourteen men following the dismissal of Ben Brosnan in the 55th minute, Sligo failed to make any impression and rarely looked lie salvaging anything from the game.

Things began quite encouragingly for Sligo as Mark Breheny gave them an early lead from a free but it soon became clear that Wexford were not in the mood to settle for second best and they got just the tonic they needed when Ciaran Lyng blasted a penalty t the back of the net in the 3rd minute.

With Shane Roche and Ben Brosnan causing a lot of problems for Sligo, Wexford cut out most of the running over the next few minutes but failed to finish off some good approach play and it wasn’t until the 10th minute that they had their next score, a point from play by Roche. The same player was on target again a couple of minutes later before David Kelly claimed Sligo’s second point, converting a 35m free in the 19th minute.

Kelly, who looked capable of troubling Wexford’s full-back line if only he could get enough possession, cut the gap further in the 22nd minute following an incisive pass from Alan Costelloe and Breheny pointed a free three minutes later to leave the minimum between the sides. Although Wexford were dominating possession at this stage, they failed to make their superiority count on the scoreboard so it was with some relief that the home supporters greeted Bradley’s well-taken score in the 27th minute.

Kelly kept Sligo in touch with a point from a free but Wexford hit back with a sweeping move which drew a foul from the visitors’ defence and Roche tapped over to give his side a 1-4 to 0-5 advantage. As the first half ticked into injury time, Sligo applied a lot of pressure on the Wexford defence and their efforts were rewarded with a point from a free by Breheny.

That should have given Sligo renewed hope for the second half but, amazingly, the score proved to be their last until that late goal in the second half.

Sligo attacked with renewed urgency in the early minutes of the second period but were unable to penetrate an uncompromising Wexford defence. Their best chance came in the 42nd minute when Mark Breheny and David Kelly combined to set up Johnny Davey but his effort was deflected wide by Anthony Masterson.

Ben Brosnan, from a free, and Ciaran Lyng added on points for the home side before Lyng set up Brosnan for a brilliantly executed goal to give Wexford a 2-6 to 0-6 lead in the 53rd minute.

Brosnan turned from hero to villain in the 55th minute when he was sent off but depleted Wexford regrouped well and never allowed Sligo to get back into contention.