In some ways it was an appropriate way to mark the 1798 bicentenary. Defeat with honour after a spirited and battling 70 minutes despite the absence of key figures.

Yet in another way it was inappropriate because Wexford fell to a last-minute goal not after defiantly holding out in the face of overwhelming odds but at the end of a match which they had controlled virtually throughout.

Offaly of course have a diploma in this sort of thing. Four years ago they blew away Limerick in the closing five minutes of the All-Ireland final. Yesterday it took only seconds for Johnny Dooley - whose goaled free started the run on Limerick in 1994 - to strike the ball to the net after Brian Whelahan's 65 had broken between Ger Cushe and John Ryan.

The fine line that separates teams on these occasions was graphically illustrated by the winning score. Twelve months ago, Johnny Dooley's brother Billy had a lastgasp shot scrambled away by Wexford goalkeeper Damien Fitzhenry to leave Wexford's three-point lead untouched. This time there was nothing Fitzhenry could do about it.

Wexford's manager Rory Kinsella's evident distress afterwards was hardly much mitigated by the fact that his tactics and choice of personnel were largely vindicated on the afternoon. His replacements for Rod Guiney, Liam Dunne and Gary Laffan all worked well.

Declan Ruth in his first match at right wing back played with energy and composure and struck some good ball out of defence.

Larry O'Gorman gave a very disciplined performance at centre back, restraining his natural wanderlust and marking well. At full forward Larry Murphy found the going tough on Hubert Rigney but still won plenty of ball.

Adrian Fenlon who passed a fitness test only in the last few days, hurled well and was the dominant personality at centrefield.

Beside him the surprise choice of Robert Hassey was also justified by a sterling performance which if built on limited technique was underwritten by boundless enthusiasm.

Offaly's victory comes down to a couple of things. Firstly, their economy was paramount. In fairness to Wexford their wides' total wasn't extravagantly worse than the winners' but their scores were achieved on the basis of far greater possession.

Early exchanges were tight with the teams swapping scores up to the 15th minute at 0-3 each. By this stage Wexford looked to have the upper hand. Offaly's defence was jittery with even Martin Hanamy, who showed a healthy profit in his dealings with Tom Dempsey, losing track of his man as Dempsey flitted in behind the defence only, typically of a subdued afternoon, to shoot wide.

On the 40, Martin Storey had a fine match and had much the better of his duel with Brian Whelahan, keeping his distinguished marker busy and restricting the long clearances with which the Birr player normally rakes opposing defences.

At the back, Wexford were confident. O'Gorman was fouled three times by Mark Hand in the first 13 minutes as he established an early hegemony and went on to hold the half-back line steady while Sean Flood and Ruth pushed up the flanks effectively.

Behind them, the full-back line was exceptional with Ger Cushe commanding in the middle and Eugene Furlong and Colm Kehoe lending great support. Kehoe's intervention on Paudie Mulhaire in the 64th minute was a spectacular piece of defending that deserved more relevance than events were to bestow.

At full forward, Offaly decided to move John Troy in from the corner and introduce Billy Dooley into the vacant slot on the inside line. Troy is in good form and ended the day with four points even though by then, he had moved back to the corner to allow John Ryan, whose hurling career has been recently distracted by football commitments, to enter the fray whereupon he caused a bit of trouble for Cushe.

Wexford began to open up two-point margins with some well-taken points, including a peach from Codd swept over from 40 metres out on the left wing and a 12-metre right sideline cut from Fenlon which cleared the bar. The seeds of disaster were however being sewn by the number of wides which reached nine by half-time.

Offaly with minimal possession came back on each occasion and kept closing the deficit. A minute before half-time, Johnny Dooley actually pushed Offaly in front although Fenlon tied the match before the interval. The first half had been so tight that 14 of the 18 points had been immediate responses within a minute of the preceding score.

Further sparring kept the scores level until the 46th minute when Storey started a sequence of four successive Wexford points. Codd, with another fine score from play, and two frees provided the margin. Larry Murphy was finding more room and appeared unlucky not to be awarded a free on two occasions.

Offaly's changes were to have an impact. Paudie Mulhaire brought some solidity to centre forward and his contribution was afterwards singled out by manager Babs Keating. Ryan's introduction at full forward brought physical pressure to bear on Cushe.

Yet even Offaly's steady reduction of the deficit which read 0-12 to 016 in the 61st minute looked to be in vain when in the 68th minute Fitzhenry repeated last year's heroics with a save from Billy Dooley and within seconds Hassey had set up Codd for the final Wexford score to put the champions two points clear with as many minutes left.

That the unthinkable happened owes much to Brian Whelahan's nerve. Awarded a long-range free, still within his range, he ignored a selector's prompt that he go for the point and dropped it into the square. It didn't work and the ball was deflected out for a 65.

Undaunted, Whelahan kept his nerve and gambled again. This time the machine paid out the jackpot.