Wexford 3-15 Dublin 2-12 When the heavens opened over Thurles yesterday afternoon, the few Dublin supporters went running for shelter. And some kept on running out of the ground, for good reason.
Those who stayed at least witnessed a late flourish of Dublin scores, but it was slim camouflage for Wexford's superiority. For the past year manager Kevin Fennelly had repeatedly spelt out Dublin's path for progression this season, and how they needed to be competitive against teams like Wexford.
Yet the only time Dublin were competitive here was when Wexford backed off, comfortable and assured of victory. Dublin may have outscored them 2-5 to nothing in the last quarter, and their spirits seemed strangely lifted by the drenching rain, but the defeat remained wholesale and ultimately demoralising.
Not that Wexford looked like potential Leinster champions. For the first half they simply worked on the basics, converting most chances they got and carving open some less obvious ones too. Larry O'Gorman scored two typically-opportunist goals and with Rory McCarthy and Michael Jordan hitting the more ambitious scores, their passage was never truly hindered.
It didn't take long for Dublin's shortcomings to be revealed. The young and inexperienced defence held out for about five minutes but weren't up to the sustained pressure and weight of the Wexford forwards. The Ryan brothers, Liam and Kevin, and Derek O'Reilly held together whatever spirit the defence had. But with McCarthy, Jordan and Paul Codd all showing capable wristwork in the first 10 minutes, Wexford slipped into a lead without breaking sweat.
In contrast, the Dublin forwards looked decidedly slighter, and so too were their shots on goal. With their wide count after 15 minutes standing at a six, Dublin's confidence was visibly disintegrating.
O'Gorman's first goal on 20 minutes suggested further the frailty of Dublin's concentration. As Adrian Fenlon's mis-hit drifted towards the goal, O'Gorman was first to chase and swept the ball into the net. And so Wexford were up 1-4 to 0-2.
From there to half-time it was downhill for Dublin. Barry Lambert's long-range point showed Wexford's greater range of options, and helped by Codd's accurate free-taking, the lead continued to grow.
Two minutes before the break O'Gorman popped up again, breaking away from a trio of Dublin defenders and sinking the ball into the net for a second time.
At 2-10 to 0-6 whatever life was in the contest was almost smothered. After five minutes of the second half it was dead. Codd drifted a long ball towards the Dublin goal and Barry Lambert easily turned his man to send the ball into the net.
To their credit, the Dublin heads never dropped, but then chasing down leads like this is something they've got used to.
Still, Wexford manager Tony Dempsey was far from forgiving regarding Wexford's slackness in the last quarter. "On that performance we wouldn't be good enough to win a Leinster title," he said. "In parts we hurled well and took some good scores, but if we hurled like those last 10 minutes in the Leinster final we'd be crucified.
"And we did take our foot off the pedal, but I think as well Dublin hurled a little more to their potential. We're glad to be in the final now, but we won't start thinking about it until next week. On today's performance Kilkenny would win by 17 or 18 points, but we'll do our best to try and reduce that."
With full back Darragh Ryan retired early, Dublin were given the freedom to finish well. Shane Martin's goal 10 minutes from time looked the part as he cut through four defenders, and Kevin Flynn's goal from further out shortly before the end was the most impressive of the day.
"I suppose we did finish well," said Fennelly afterwards, "but sure the game was over by then. And whether it happened because we improved our game, or Wexford eased up, is open to question.
"There's no doubt we missed too many chances, ones we put over against Meath a fortnight ago. Maybe that was because the pace was turned up a little bit, and we didn't get the same time on the ball. I think that's something Dublin still has a problem with."
Still the Kilkenny man has another game to take those younger players a few extra steps. Conal Keaney is still developing into a useful midfielder, and David Sweeney's commitment to hurling shows no sign of abating. "I don't know who the unlucky opposition will be," joked Fennelly. "But sure we'll look forward to it anyway."
WEXFORD: 1. D Fitzhenry; 2. C Kehoe, 3. D Ryan, 4. R Mallon; 5. D Stamp, 6. D Ruth, 7. L Dunne; 8. N Lambert, 9. R McCarthy; 10. L Murphy, 11. A Fenlon, 12. P Codd; 13. B Lambert, 14. L O'Gorman, 15. M Jordan. Subs: 18. E Doyle for Ryan (52 mins), 22. B Goff for Jordan (65 mins), 21. D O'Brien for N Lambert (66 mins), MJ Furlong for Murphy (70 mins).
Yellow cards- Wexford: P Codd (6 mins). Red cards - None.
DUBLIN: 1. B McLaughlin; 2. P Brennan, 3. S Perkins, 4. D O'Reilly; 5. S Hiney, 6. L Ryan, 7. K Ryan; 8. C Meehan, 9. C Leaney; 10. D Sweeney, 11. D Spain, 12. S Martin; 13. T McGrane, 14. K Flynn, 15. G Ennis. Subs: 18. D Donnelly for Ennis (35 mins), 21. T Moore for Meehan (35 mins), 19. P O'Donoghue for McGrane (41 mins), 22. C Wilson for Spain (62 mins), 17. A de Paor for O'Reilly (62 mins).
