Jacob leaves Kilkenny in purple haze

Leinster SHC Semi-final/Wexford 2-15 Kilkenny 1-15: Beating Kilkenny with a last- minute goal is the stuff all hurling dreams are made of. Yesterday Wexford turned it into their reality. It's the sort of victory only the most privileged teams get to experience.

And this game had the reaction from the disbelieving fans to prove that.

Rarely has Croke Park witnessed such scenes without something having actually been won. A pitch invasion, where every one of the Wexford supporters in the 27,037 crowd rushed to greet their heroes, the 15 men on the field and every one of the supporting cast around them.

Sure it was only a Leinster semi-final. But they'd just ended Kilkenny's quest for a seventh successive Leinster title - and also cast great uncertainly over their ability to win a third successive All-Ireland. If Wexford can beat the best team in the country then why should they stop here?

For 70 minutes they'd stood locked in the most exciting shoot-out of the summer. That includes everything that's happened down in Munster in recent weeks. And in the end Wexford had cast out the last great certainty of the summer. No team can take anything for granted after this.

Wexford were once a team of warriors, or so we thought. In fact there's an awful lot of fight left in them. They beat Kilkenny yesterday not because Kilkenny played particularly poorly, but because Wexford played particularly well. The sort of hurling that freshens the memory of the All-Ireland success of eight years ago. Hurling that other teams fear.

Wexford were switched on, looking red hot, not just hurling wise. Every player was sharp as a razor blade with an air of confidence that quickly asked who were the true champions on display. Every player rose to the challenge put in front of them and more often than not conquered it brilliantly.

Darragh Ryan stood out like a monument at full back, a barrel of strength and willpower. Martin Comerford collected just two points all afternoon, and even with that he did quite well. Ryan could well have kept him scoreless, he was that good. And his confidence spread to David O'Connor and young Malachy Travers and that full-back line proved the foundation of Wexford's glorious success.

Whenever Henry Shefflin doesn't score from play you can assume, too, there were no cracks in the opposing half-back line. Declan Ruth was a tower of strength at centre back, with Rory McCarthy and John O'Connor adding to Kilkenny's frustration with every passing minute.

There was no need to look beyond Adrian Fenlon for stimulus at midfield either, but it was the Wexford forwards who ultimately broke Kilkenny hearts. All six starters were on the score sheet before half-time, with Barry Lambert quickly establishing a pattern as free-taker, and Michael Jordan and Michael Jacob in fiery mood from play.

But no score mattered more than Michael Jacob's incredible winner. All watches in the press box had the game in its last breath and just moments earlier DJ Carey - an inevitable substitute for Jimmy Coogan - had kicked the ball over the bar to put Kilkenny the coveted point in front.

What happened next will always be partly blurred by the inconceivable nature of such incidents, but it definitely started with Fenlon drifting a sideline ball towards the Kilkenny posts. It fell short, and Peter Barry appeared to cleanly collect and set up the final clearance.

Instead it was blocked straight up by Jacob, and one shot later, the ball was in the Kilkenny net. James McGarry had time for one more puck-out but none of his outfield players had time to do anything more. The Leinster and All-Ireland champions were downed.

It was their first championship defeat since the loss to Galway in 2001, and their first loss in the province since Wexford had beaten them in the Leinster final of 1997. That was the record that so ceremoniously went crashing yesterday.

But it wasn't without its reasons. At no point over the past two summers has the Kilkenny full-back line looked more disjointed, or caught for pace. Michael Kavanagh, in particular,was struggling with the relentless tempo of the Wexford forwards and at centre back Peter Barry wasn't nearly as imposing as he can be.

Even more of the forwards played below par. Shefflin did have his typical share of goal chances and was among those to bring out the best in Damien Fitzhenry in the Wexford goal, but John Hoyne and Jimmy Coogan never got into the game.

Tommy Walsh came closer to playing up to scratch, and his two first-half points helped brush Kilkenny into the narrowest of advantages at half time, 0-11 to 0-10. But with Paul Carley and Eoin Quigley scoring two of the better points in that period, Wexford had led on three different occasions in the first half.

Just 60 seconds after the restart Kilkenny got their first and only breathing space. A hop ball close to goal was picked up by Brennan, and after a brief charge at goal he kicked the ball straight into the Wexford net. Up 1-11 to 0-10, it was the only moment Kilkenny appeared to be in the driving seat.

Just five minutes later, though, Quigley directed a long ball towards to Kilkenny goal, and after outleaning Kavanagh, Rory Jacob then fired in Wexford's first goal. Moments later his brother Michael added a gem of a point and the sides were level. From there to the end every point surpassed itss value, and only a goal would outdo them all.

WEXFORD: 1 D Fitzhenry; 2 M Travers, 3 D Ryan, 4 D O'Connor; 5 R McCarthy, 6 D Ruth, 7 J O'Connor; 8 A Fenlon (0-1, sideline), 9 T Mahon; 12 P Carley (0-3, two frees), 10 B Lambert (0-4, three frees), 11 E Quigley (0-1); 13 M Jordan (0-3), 14 M Jacob (1-2), 15 R Jacob (1-1). Subs: 23 L Murphy for Lambert (50 mins, inj); 22 P Codd for Mahon (62); 17 C Kehoe for Ryan (68 mins, inj)

KILKENNY: 1 J McGarry; 2 M Kavanagh, 3 N Hickey, 4 JJ Delaney; 5 S Dowling (0-2, one free), 6 P Barry, 7 B Hogan; 8 Lyng, 9 P Tennyson (0-1); 10 J Hoyne (0-1), 11 H Shefflin (0-5, five frees), 12 T Walsh (0-2); 13 E Brennan (1-1), 14 M Comerford (0-2), 15 J Coogan (0-1). Subs: 21 DJ Carey (0-1) for Coogan (58 mins), 23 A Fogarty for Hoyne (65 mins).

Referee: B Kelly (Westmeath)