Div IB: Wexford eventually wear down Offaly

ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 1B: OFFALY 0-12 WEXFORD 2-15

Wexford eventually wore down the resistance of a game but limited Offaly side at O'Connor Park in Tullamore this afternoon, adding a late goal through Podge Doran to round off a nine point win.

Offaly played with the assistance of a stiff breeze in the first half but a Jack Guiney goal helped Wexford into a 1-8 to 0-7 interval lead. A straight red card for Cillian Kiely left Offaly with an uphill battle in the second half and despite Wexford shooting 14 second half wides, the visitors held out thanks to some excellent defending and eventually made safe their win through Doran's late strike.

This was Wexford's first Allianz League or championship win at an Offaly venue in 42 years but they were full value for both points from start to finish, even in the opening quarter when Offaly picked off some nice scores but couldn't contain the speed and tenacity of Jack Guiney and Liam Óg McGovern in the Wexford full-forward line.

Offaly led by the odd score in seven with 15 minutes played and by that time Shane Kinsella, Shane Dooley and Joe Bergin had all picked off points from play, suggesting that Brian Whelahan's men were successfully carrying their form from last weekend into this tie. From then on it all went horribly wrong for the Faithful County however as Wexford soon took a four point lead, while Bergin's two subsequent scores were the only other Offaly scores that didn't come from Shane Dooley placed balls.

An injury to Paul Morris forced Liam Dunne to withdraw the Ferns corner forward and it also brought about the game's crucial tactical switch, the introduction of Kevin Foley and the isolation of Guiney and McGovern in the Wexford full-forward line.

Offaly left the two danger men in single coverage and paid the price heavily midway through the half when in the space of five minutes Guiney won and converted a free, McGovern pointed despite heavy tackling from Stephen Egan and then the two men combined to set up Guiney's goal, a 20-metre strike that narrowly crept over the line after James Dempsey got an initial touch.

The sides went point for point for the remainder of the first half to leave Wexford 1-8 to 0-7 up at the interval and while a Shane Dooley free gave Offaly a decent start to the second half, their task was made positively gargantuan when Cillian Kiely pulled across Kevin Foley. Kiely then appeared to strike the Wexford player with the end of his hurl, leaving referee Fergal Horgan with little choice but to show the Offaly teenager a straight red card.

Powerful performances from Colin Egan, Emmett Nolan and Seán Ryan in the middle third held Offaly in touch throughout the third quarter while some profligate shooting at the other end of the field also prevented Wexford from cutting loose and easing to victory, though they remained completely in control defensively.

Wexford's decision to operate with two covering defenders left Shane Dooley and his forward colleagues with very little space and while the freescoring forward tried to beat Mark Fanning with a couple of half chances, on both occasions he was forced to strike from tight angles and under heavy pressure.

Wexford's wayward shooting was at its worst around the hour mark when they struck five wides in just two minutes, but eventually they hit the target with points from McGovern and David Redmond to ease their nerves before Doran collected a pass from Guiney to beat James Dempsey and round off a very happy afternoon for the Model County.

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Scorers for Offaly: S Dooley 0-8 (0-6f, 0-1 '65), J Bergin 0-3, S Kinsella 0-1.

Scorers for Wexford: J Guiney 1-3 (0-3f), L Óg McGovern 0-5, D Redmond 0-4, P Doran 1-0, D Waters, K Foley and I Byrne 0-1 each.

OFFALY: J Dempsey; S Egan, D Shortt, N Wynne; E Nolan, C Egan, D Mooney; S Ryan, P Camon; P Murphy, S Kinsella, D Currams; S Dooley, J Bergin, S Quirke. Subs: C Kiely for Quirke (25), S Cleary for Murphy (43), G Mann for Kinsella (59), C Mulrooney for Ryan (68)

WEXFORD: M Fanning; L Ryan, M O'Hanlon, C Kenny; P Foley, L Chin, E Moore; D Redmond, E Martin; I Byrne, D Waters, D O'Keeffe; P Morris, J Guiney, L Óg McGovern. Subs: K Foley for Morris (9), P Doran for Waters (50), H Kehoe for Martin (50), J Kelly for O'Keeffe (60), S Tomkins for Byrne (65)

Referee: Fergal Horgan (Tipperary)

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Report: Kevin Egan