Laois hurlers scored their first success over Wexford since 1985 when they came from behind to defeat the visitors at wind-swept Rathdowney yesterday.

Wexford, with the aid of the breeze, dominated the opening quarter and had three points on the board before Declan Rooney got a Laois point. Wexford responded with three further points before David Cuddy had a second Laois point after 28 minutes. Wexford's hopes were boosted further when Larry O'Gorman took a pass from Larry Murphy to score an opportunist goal and leave his side leading 1-6 to 0-2 at the interval. The home side, with the aid of a strong wind in the second half, opened with 10 minutes of great hurling. Mark Rooney and Niall Rigney had two points inside five minutes. Then Liam Tynan was on hand to score an excellent goal for Laois. Tom Dempsey and Niall Rigney exchanged points. A Declan Rooney point from a free left just a single point between the sides at the end of the third quarter.

Wexford then introduced the inspirational Martin Storey and he scored an early point. Tom Dempsey added another from a free and with five minutes remaining, Wexford led by three points. Laois then produced a storming finish. Paul Cuddy added a great point and a minute later PJ Peacock scored a goal for the lead. Once ahead Laois added further points from Rigney and two points in injury time from David Cuddy.

LAOIS: R Cashin; P Peacock (1-0), B Maher, B O'Shaughnessy; N Rigney (0-3), P Cuddy (0-1), A Bergin; D Rooney 0-2, D Conroy; D Cuddy 0-3, O Coss, C Cuddy; L Tynan 1-0, M Rooney 0-1, J Young.

WEXFORD: D Fitzhenry; C Kehoe, G Cushe, E Furlong; D Ruth, D Ryan, S Flood; A Fenlon, (0-1), L O'Gorman (1-0); R McCarthy, L Murphy, S Colfer (0-1); T Dempsey (0-5), M Jordan, E Scallon (0-1). Subs: M Storey (0-1) for Jordan, G Buggy for Scallon

Referee: G Devlin (Armagh).