Wexford 1-24 Offaly 1-15:Wexford threw up another impressive second-half performance that enabled them to see off Offaly with nine points to spare in this Walsh Cup senior hurling quarter-final at Blackwater yesterday.
The game was turned into somewhat of a shoot-out between Gary Moore for the home side and the experienced Shane Dooley. Moore eventually finished the game with a personal tally of 0-12, 11 frees, while Dooley was also in sparkling form, finishing with 0-9, including eight frees, of his side’s tally.
Both sides were invigorated through the early exchanges but it was Offaly who struck for the game’s opening goal after 13 minutes through Derek Molloy, who swivelled quickly to give his side a 1-4 to 0-5 lead.
Dooley was supported in his scoring efforts by Joe Bergin and Cathal Parlon as Offaly swept into a 1-9 to 0-6 lead by the 26th minute, but a late flourish of scores from the home side through Paul Morris and Moore, left just three points separating the sides, 1-10 to 0-10, at the interval.
Liam Dunne introduced David Redmond to midfield, for the second half and he went on to have an immediate impact as the home side gradually took midfield control and the free-taking of Moore helped to pull Wexford level on 47 minutes The crucial score arrived eight minutes from the end when goalkeeper Mark Fanning powered a penalty to the net, giving his side a 1-21 to 1-14 lead and no way back for the visitors.
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