Wexford 4-18 Offaly 1-13 It was a fairytale end for the Wexford hurlers as they pulled off an amazing 14-point victory over Offaly to keep their league hopes alive.
Going into this Division One B game at Wexford Park on Saturday, the home side seemed to be playing for pride, with relegation looming. They needed to win by 12 points or more to gain the third spot behind Tipperary and Cork.
They led 2-6 to 0-8 at the break, the goals coming from Chris McGrath, and then turned in an amazing second half to dump Offaly into the relegation battle and keep their own aspirations still very much intact.
Wexford can look forward to joining the big guns in the second phase, while Offaly - without the Birr contingent - face a battle to preserve their Division One status.
After 54 minutes Wexford had hit the crucial 12-point margin they needed, leading 3-13 to 0-10, the goal coming from Paul Codd. A fourth goal from Donal Berry virtually sealed their passage through to the second phase.
Offaly's collapse was almost total; their only threat up front was Damian Murray, who finished with 1-8.
Offaly had started well, leading 0-6 to 0-4 after 23 minutes, but then Chris "Hopper" McGrath sparked into the game, his searing run and low finish offering the home crowd an inkling that they had a real chance of achieving the unlikely.
The second goal came three minutes into injury time. Paul Codd collected a high Adrian Fenlon sideline cut before picking out McGrath, who finished superbly.
Wexford started the second half with four successive points before Codd flashed home a 42nd-minute goal to make it 3-10 to 0-8. Offaly had to wait until the 48th minute for their first score of the half, a Brendan Murphy point, but Donal Berry's over-head flick made it 4-16 to 0-12 with six minutes remaining.
Murray's 69th-minute goal gave Offaly some hope of salvaging their second-phase spot, but the Wexford defence held firm in the tense closing minutes.
WEXFORD: D Fitzhenry; D Guiney, D O'Connor, R Mallon; M O'Leary, D Ruth, L Dunne (0-1); A Fenlon (0-2), R McCarthy; R Jacob (0-3), D Berry (1-0), B Goff (0-4); C McGrath (2-0), P Codd (1-7, 6 frees), M Jordan (0-1). Subs: MJ Furlong for McCarthy (inj); B Lambert for McGrath; K Rossiter for Ruth (inj).
OFFALY: S Byrne; K Brady, G Oakley, B Teehan; C Cassidy, J Brady, D Franks; M Cordial, A Hanrahan; S Weir (0-2), D Tanner (0-1), B Murphy (0-1); C Gath, K Kelly (0-1), D Murray (1-8, 8 frees). Subs: N Murphy for Tanner; A Mannion for Oakley (inj); A McRedmond for Cordial; K Martin for Gath.
Referee: M Wadding (Waterford).
