Kildare 1-13 Wexford 1-11:There were two goals and two red cards in six minutes of injury time, but it was Kildare that emerged just the right side of the scoreline.
It was an early reunion with his former charges for exWexford boss and new Kildare selector Jason Ryan and for the majority of proceedings it looked as if it would be a comfortably victorious one. Johnny Doyle scored four points from play and three frees from full forward, where he was flanked by lively teenagers, Paddy Brophy and Daniel Flynn.
He had four of his side’s first-half points and they led by 0-5 to 0-4 at the interval, before resuming with six unanswered points in 12 minutes to establish a commanding advantage.
Wexford got a grip on affairs thereafter though. Scores from Redmond Barry, Shane Roche, Kevin Gore and Craig Doyle helped reduce the margin to two before Roche struck for a goal from a tight angle two minutes into injury time to put them in front.
Their joy was shortlived though and 30 seconds later, Morgan O’Flaherty finished to the Wexford net after good work by Eoin Doyle and James Eaton.
A subsequent scuffle led to Maurice Deegan issuing second yellow cards and reds to Kildare’s Emmet Bolton and Wexford’s Graeme Molloy.
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