National Football League/ Division One Semi-final: Wexford making the National League final at the expense of Tyrone is some achievement but doing it while hitting seven first-half wides was the enthralling "pinch yourself to make sure you're not dreaming" scenario that unfolded in O'Moore Park yesterday.

Remarkably, when the questions started afterwards, Wexford coach Pat Roe was as relaxed as they come. His players had already preached the mantra of priorities regarding the Leinster championship opener against Carlow on June 5th.

Roe stated how proud he was of them, but when asked how he masterminded the downfall of the mighty Tyrone he let the weather take some credit.

"I said to the lads beforehand there was no game plan out there. It was a battle, a war of attrition really."

What really impressed though was that Roe ignored the magnitude of the achievement to point out the errors that nearly cost Wexford victory. That indicated the professional approach that has brought a new contender to this year's Leinster championship.

"In the first half we didn't execute very well," he said. "I think we had eight or nine wides (seven) and kicked the ball into the goalkeeper's hands on three occasions. That's a confidence thing. That's self-belief and that's something we have to continually work on. We are far from being the finished article - that's for sure. We'll be getting back down to training, hard, on Wednesday night."

Still, he couldn't sidestep the confidence booster for this new breed of Wexford footballer: when Tyrone upped the ante, without blinking, they responded in kind.

"I thought our defence was absolutely magnificent in the second half and I thought our full-back line was fantastic. We continually broke up Tyrone attacks and we brought the players up. They were disciplined in their tackling. Ultimately, that's what won the game for us.

"It's great for them. Look, in terms of confidence it's a great boost. We were delighted to be playing Tyrone today who are considered one of the top two teams in the country and we match ourselves up against them to see where we are coming into the championship. A game like that tells you more about lads than 20 training sessions."

For Tyrone, the fact they have stayed so competitive during the league is remarkable considering the mass defection of high-quality players from the panel. Yesterday, the loss of Stephen O'Neill to injury proved one blow too many.

"Life has been like that all year," said manager Mickey Harte. "We have had a lot of absenteeism for a variety of reasons and a lot of injuries. It's unfortunate when a lad like Stephen O'Neill gets injured at this stage of the season as he had been so crucial up to now. It stretches your panel."

Harte also admitted the belief and hunger of the opposition was greater yesterday: "It wasn't the wind or anything else that won the game for them - it was the wind in their own bellies that won the game for them."

David Fogarty, who under intense pressure put Tyrone to the sword in the third minute of injury time, stressed there was no exact science to his match-winning point. "I just let fly as hard as I could and thankfully it flew over the bar. We have suffered ignominious defeats at this stage before and today we were adamant that wasn't going to happen again."

Not only did it not happen, but this lack of fear carries Wexford into a date with either Armagh or Mayo and quite possibly a National League title.