Youths beaten by Bohemians
WEXFORD YOUTHS BOHEMIANS 1 2
PAUL MURPHY sent out a message to would-be senior club suitors with a cracking goal when guesting for Bohemians which set the Dublin side on their way to a comfortable victory over Wexford Youths in their friendly clash at Ferrycarrig Park on Friday evening last.
Murphy, who came on for the second-half, is determined to grab a senior contract, but Bohs boss Aaron Callaghan is in no doubt that he will have to see off the challenge of several clubs if he is to grab the services of the bright young Wexford town player, who spent last season with Waterford United.
Murphy, of course, also had a spell with Ipswich Town, but his overall display was outstanding, as he showed an attacking instinct and positional sense that was capped with a tremendous opening goal.
Wexford Youths, under their new manager Shane Keegan, showed improvement in the second-half, as they played some quality passing football, but once again it was their lack of scoring power in front of goal that saw many promising moves fail to reach fruition.
The opening 45 minutes was a period when neither side really looked like breaking the deadlock as they lacked penetration up front. Wexford Youths fielded a whole new eleven for the second period, and the presence of Danny Furlong up front brought a whole new dimension to the home side's game.
Still it was the youthful Bohs side who looked the more creative, with Murphy now a prominent player in most of their attacks. It took just four second-half minutes for Murphy to mark his presence on the pitch.
Having won a corner, Adam Martin's kick was only half-cleared to the edge of the area, where the lurking Murphy powered a superb shot high into the roof of the net, a goal fitting to break the deadlock.
Bohs now raised their game, adding a second in the 62nd minute through a Peter Mcmahon shot, leaving them with a comfortable 2-0 lead.
Wexford Youths went on to play some fine football through midfield, and from one of the movements Danny Furlong got himself into position to steer home a Shane Nolan cross after 69 minutes to make it 2-1.
Both sides had their chances to add to their respective tallies but in the end the visitors stayed ahead.
