Senior hurlers outmanoeuvred by Wexford in dramatic finish

Sun, 23rd February 2020

HL DIVISION 1 GROUP B ROUND 4

WEXFORD 2-14 DUBLIN 0-18

Jack O'Connor punished Dublin with a late winning goal as Wexford came with a strong finish to snatch victory in this keenly contested HL Division 1 Group B encounter at Croke Park.

Wexford finished with 13 men against Dublin's 14, for a while, as the Slaneysiders came from four points in arrears with ten minutes to play to record victory, showing all the self-belief of Leinster champions.

Close to the finish Chris Crummey was forced off with an injury and as Dublin had used up their full subs allocation they saw the game out with 13 players.

“Yeah look, two minutes into injury time – to concede a goal at that stage was disappointing,” said Dublin manager Mattie Kenny.

“When the game opened up too much, when it’s a 13-a-side game, there’s a lot of space.

“Wexford made a couple of runs that we just got caught for. You’d like to have closed out the game. While we’re disappointed with that, the lads put in a huge performance.”

These counties drew in dramatic fashion in last year's Leinster SHC and there was nothing between them again on this occasion in what was a fragmented duel.

Dublin led 0-10 to 1-5 at half-time with Rian McBride hitting two points from play towards the conclusion of the opening period while Wexford's goal came from keeper Mark Fanning with a debated penalty.

The Slaneysiders were reduced to 14 when sub Conor McDonald was red-carded in the 54th minute and 13 minutes later Shaun Murphy was dismissed on a second yellow, a minute later Dublin full-back Eoghan O'Donnell was also gone on a second yellow in a dramatic finale.

The introduction of Eamonn Dillon looked like he might get Dublin over the line to victory as he struck over one brilliant point and showed well.

But Wexford seized the late initiative with Jack O'Connor's late goal when he fired to the net after the Dublin defence was left exposed.

Cian Boland reduced the arrears before Ronan Hayes set off for goal but was hooked by Kevin Foley as he attempted a point effort.

But overall the accuracy of Rory O'Connor, along with his brother's goal, and the deadball striking of Paul Morris saw Davy Fitzgerald's men to victory.

SCORERS – Wexford: P Morris 0-7 (0-3f, 0-1 '65'), R O’Connor 0-4 (0-1f), J O’Connor, M Fanning (1-0pen) 1-0 each, D O’Keeffe, P Foley, L Chin (0-1f) 0-1 each. Dublin: P Ryan 0-8 (0-8f), R McBride, R Hayes (0-1f) 0-2 each, J Madden, C Crummey, D Burke, O O’Rorke (0-1f), C Boland, E Dillon 0-1 each.

WEXFORD: M Fanning; J O’Connor, L Ryan, C Firman; D Reck, M O’Hanlon, S Murphy; A Rochford, D O’Keeffe; K Foley, L Chin, R O’Connor; P Morris, M Dwyer, A Nolan. Subs: P Foley for O’Hanlon (ht), L Óg McGovern for Rochford (ht), J O’Connor for Chin (47), C McDonald for Dwyer (48), C Dunbar for Nolan (69).

DUBLIN: S Brennan; P Smyth, E O'Donnell, C O'Callaghan; J Madden, D Gray, S Moran; C Crummey, J Malone; D Burke, R McBride, D Sutcliffe; O O'Rorke, R Hayes, D Keogh. Subs: P Ryan for O’Rorke (inj, 13), C Boland for Sutcliffe (43), E Dillon for Keogh (53), A Dunphy for O’Callaghan (58), T Connolly for Madden (62).

REF: J Murphy (Limerick).