WAS this the stumble before the fall, or another step in, Wexford's rehabilitation towards their old friend Liam McCarthy? Based solely on this unconvincing display one would tend to lean towards the former. No matter, all will be revealed on July 14th, when Wexford meet Offaly in the Guinness Leinster senior hurling Final.
Having exorcised those Kilkenny demons from the Croke Park closet, Wexford were expected to steamroll Dublin yesterday. After 12 minutes, this seemed the probable scenario. Points from Adrian Fenlon, Eamon Scallan (3), and Garry Laffan had them sitting pretty at 0-5 to 0-0. But no, championship side worth a whit toils for months in preparation to be humiliated in front of 30,008 spectators.
So, Jimmy Grey's men pulled themselves together and John Twomey's first tree of the afternoon had them on the scoreboard in the 15th minute. The prematch gossip was of a less than 100 per cent Eamonn Morrissey and this was quickly shown to be true as he fluffed two clearcut chances early on.
When full forward Conor McCann had his hurley held by Liam Dunne, referee Pat Horan did not hesitate to signal for a penalty. Up stepped Morrissey. Amazingly, he failed to rise the ball properly. But, with the Wexford defence powerless to react, Morrissey whipped a ground shot shoulder high inside the left upright past Ger Cush.
On 17 minutes, Dublin left corner forward Kevin Flynn absconded from his post, popping up unmarked on the right wing to tie the scores with a point. Unfortunately for Dublin, this kick started Wexford into another gears A poor clearance from goalie Eamonn Burke, was punished in full by Martin Storey's point. Then, Storey dropped deep to pick up the sliothar. Full forward Laffan, who had drifted out to the wing, received a pinpoint pass from his captain and, rounding marker Sean Power, Laffan cut in from the right before blasting the sliothar beyond Burke.
Minutes later, Fenlon's sweet sideline cut was fielded by Laffan and a second penalty ensued when he was illegally held in a thicket of Dublin defenders. Wexford goalkeeper Damien Fitzhenry made the arduous trek to the Hill end to send an unstoppable shot to the roof of the net.
A John Twomey free preceded Wexford points from Larry Murphy and Storey, as Liam Griffin's men went in 2-8 to 1-3 ahead at the break. The crowd expected a Wexford cakewalk in the second half, but just as in the previous round Wexford couldn't kill off a beleaguered side with its jugular exposed. The old failure - or rather the constant failure - of a growing number of wides began to eat into their confidence and, for a while, Dublin took up the reigns.
The unerring Twomey chipped away at Wexford's advantage from frees. Conor McCann started to show for the sliothar at full forward and weighed in with a point. Also, Wexford's hardrunning midfield began to wilt, as Jamesie Brennan and Liam Walsh became more visible around the middle. Brennan's 59th minute point brought Dublin to within four points of Wexford - the closest they would get.
Twomey had adopted a roving commission from the start and when it appeared Morrissey's physical presence might stretch Sean Flood to the limit, Griffin switched Flood with Larry O'Gorman. In hindsight, this suited the nimble Flood. He revelled in the open spaces and his 60th minute point settled a creaking Wexford ship.
O Gorman applied himself manfully, and was completely dominant against Morrissey. In the other corner, Colm Kehoe matures with every game.
Dublin were a spent force by the time Tom Dempsey pinched his only point and long before McCann, and Laffan traded further points as the game peetered out.
