A cup run that may end up in glitz and glamour for Shamrock Rovers at the Aviva in November started tonight with an ultimately straight-forward win over a Wexford side who fought valiantly for the first three-quarters of the game. The tie will likely be remembered most in years to come as being the moment that precocious talent Victor Ozhianvuna announced himself to the wider Irish footballing public, with his first professional goal and a promising performance full of skill and composure.
Rovers were predictably on top in the early stages, with the first chance coming after 6 minutes when a nice John McGovern cushion allowed the probing Jack Byrne to curl a nice effort just wide. Straight afterwards, the onslaught continued and a Darragh Nugent cross allowed Ozhianvuna to creep in at the back post and fire home.
The McGovern/ Noonan partnership only flickered in the early stages, but Rovers had Wexford on the back foot before and after the goal. Wexford’s main hope in those first 20 was new signing Ajibola Oluwabiyi on the left-wing, who kept Josh Honohan honest. His first real bit of success was in the 22nd minute when James Crawford set him away and was fouled just outside the box by Honohan. The resulting set-piece was wasted, however. Only a couple of minutes later he raced through again after a lovely passing triangle allowed him in, only for Lee Grace to get back and block well.
Rovers then went down the other end and when the attack broke down, Ozhianvuna sped it up again with a fantastic cross which McGovern headed just wide. Strike partner Noonan raced through then only to put his effort straight at Paul Martin in goal.
There was a lull between the 30th and 36th minute, until Oluwabiyi again raced through and forced calls for a penalty after going down under pressure from Grace, but there wasn’t enough contact. In the 39th minute, Byrne found himself in on goal after a Nugent nod-down from a Cory O Sullivan cross, but Martin did well again.
Just before half time, Lee Grace nodded just wide from a Jack Byrne centre. The 1-0 lead at the break didn’t flatter Rovers but at the same time Stephen Elliott’s side looked well-organised. Aside from Oluwabiyi, Ben McCormack, Matthew O’Brien and Kaylem Harnett also did enough to prevent the midfield battle from becoming completely one-sided.
Rovers almost got the second-half off to a flyer when McGovern played Noonan through, only for Martin to pull off another fine stop. He raced through again only a minute later, this time trying to round Martin, only for the keeper to once again prove sharp.
Wexford nearly put the cat amongst the pigeons in the 54th minute. Oluwabiyi once again faced up Grace, who was always retreating, before almost curling home a wonderful strike. They managed to maintain the pressure, and Michael McCarthy then had a headed chance only to sky after a good cross by McCormack.
In the 63rd minute, Stephen Bradley made an incredible 5 changes. The quality of the 5 – Matt Healy, Danny Mandroiu, Dylan Watts, Rory Gaffney and Graham Burke – was a testament to how well Wexford were doing. Elliott responded by bringing on young striker Muhammad Haris. The changes almost had their intended effect for Bradley in the 69th minute, when a Burke pass allowed Nugent to supply a fine cross onto the head of Gaffney, who powered a fine header only for Martin to make an incredible save. The keeper collided with his post in the process, which had the unintentionally positive effect of giving his team-mates a breather.
Wexford had their first chance in a long time in the 73rd minute, a Mikie Rowe driven effort which was relatively easy for McGinty to save.
Rovers eventually got their second goal – which had seemed inevitable at times – 3 minutes later. Fine play by Burke and Mandroiu, and then a lovely low cross from Nugent, culminated with Burke producing a trademark composed finish. Time seemed to pause as he took his time to pass into the bottom corner.
It was almost 3-0 in the 82nd minute. Watts played Gaffney through, where he then squared for a potential Burke tap-in, only for some fine defending by Josh Lyons to prevent it. Unfortunately for Wexford’s travelling supporters, their side switched off at the resulting corner, with Grace nodding down for Gaffney to fire home. It became 4-0 in the final minute of regular time, Mandroiu firing home after an attack led by Gaffney
The final scoreline was slightly harsh on the travelling side, but they were outclassed here. Rovers had a number of strong performers. Nugent was energetic in midfield and then at right wing-back, Byrne dictated in midfield, and the Noonan/McGovern partnership looked promising, whilst subs Mandroiu, Burke and Gaffney made big impacts. The star, however, was Ozhianvuna. The 16 year old appears to have a very bright future ahead of him, with this game likely to be looked back on as only the beginning for him.