It may have taken a 103rd minute pointed free from Leigh O'Brien to salvage a replay, but Wexford came so close to silencing the Westmeath roar in this dramatic All-Ireland football championship qualifier at the new £3.2 million Wexford Park stadium on Saturday. Westmeath, desperately trying to put their nightmare defeat by Meath six days earlier behind them, had no answer to Wexford in a dramatic opening 20 minutes, in which they roared into a 1-7 to 0-1 lead, the goal clinically finished by young Diarmuid Kinsella after he was set up by Mattie Forde.

Westmeath were 0-7 to 0-0 adrift after 13 minutes having had to wait until Joe Fallon pointed an 18th-minute free to open their account.

Wing back O'Brien was involved in all of Wexford's best plays and steered them to a 1-9 to 0-5 interval lead, with the visitors' wing back Damien Healy having received a straight red card two minutes into injury time following an off-the-ball offence involving John Hegarty.

It was the moving of Martin Flanagan to centre forward from midfield which sparked Westmeath to life and he goaled within two minutes of the restart. Eighteen minutes into the half, Westmeath had reduced the deficit to the minimum, 1-10 to 1-9, but Wexford's John Hegarty could have had two goals in the space of four minutes but both efforts were wide.

As the game moved into injury time, Wexford were leading 1-13 to 1-10, but Joe Fallon pointed two frees and then Ger Heavin kicked a dramatic equalising point, six minutes into injury time.

For extra time Westmeath were restored to 15 players with Aidan Canning being introduced, but it was Wexford who felt the wrath of referee Aidan Mangan now with David Murphy receiving a second yellow card on 78 minutes and then Thomas Howlin was red carded after 88 minutes. At the end of the first period, Westmeath led 1-17 to 1-16, and were still holding a single point lead as the the end of the second period approached, until O'Brien's intervention.