Wexford 1-20
Kilkenny 3-11
Kevin O’Brien reports from Wexford Park
WEXFORD ARE HEADING to their first Leinster SHC final since 2008 after a heroic victory over Kilkenny in Wexford Park.
Davy Fitzgerald’s side had three points to spare in a pulsating affair that was a wonderful advertisement for hurling.
‘The Boys are Back in Town’ rang out from the stadium’s PA system as Fitzgerald emerged from his custom-made box to a rousing reception.
In a rip-roaring encounter, Wexford blew the Leinster championship wide open with massive displays from Lee Chin, Diarmuid O’Keeffe, Shaun Murphy and Paul Morris.
Wexford led by eight points after David Redmond’s 40th minute goal, but three-pointers from Reid (penalty) and Colin Fennelly left Kilkenny behind by a point, 3-9 to 1-16, on 55 minutes.
Then Chin plucked a Mark Fanning puck-out from the sky and rifled over a 65, before Matthew O’Hanlon settled the home side further with a fine score. Kilkenny pushed for a later goal, but the sight of Richie Hogan being withdrawn for sub-keeper Richie Reid was a clear sign their race was run.
The results in the championship so far this year suggest that the ‘Revolution Years’ hurling landscape we experienced in the 1990s could be returning.
This marked Wexford’s first championship victory over the Cats since 2004, and they did it in style.
This was Kilkenny’s second competitive defeat in-a-row, after losing to Wexford in the quarter-finals of the Allianz League on 2 April.
Wexford Park heaved with 18,467 in attendance and the majority of the crowd in position a good 90 minutes before throw-in.
Fitzgerald was tucked away out of sight behind tinted windows in the press area, where he had an outstanding view of the proceedings below.
Kilkenny’s problems were apparent early on.
Ger Aylward hit at least four wides in the opening half and was whipped off by Cody before half-time. Padraig Walsh, who had been struggling with a foot injury in the build-up, also left the scene in the first-half after struggling to get involved.
Cody opted to go with Conor Fogarty as his sweeper, with Paul Murphy and Kieran Joyce minding the house behind him.
Kilkenny packed the middle third with Hogan partnering Cillian Buckley at midfield and a four-man half-forward line of Reid, Padraig Walsh, Ryan and Walter Walsh.
Reid’s goaled penalty inside two minutes gave Kilkenny an electric start, but Wexford dominated the exchanges around the middle third.
Backed by the breeze, the home side hit five unanswered scores to lead by 0-5 to 1-0 after the opening quarter. Lester Ryan and Paddy Deegan were the only Kilkenny players to score from play in a half where they hit nine wides.
Three frees apiece from Chin and McDonald left the Model County in front by 0-12 to 1-5 at the interval.
Redmond’s goal five minutes after the restart sent Fitzgerald’s men 1-13 to 1-5 in front, but Kilkenny coldly began to cut away at that lead. Reid slotted over three placed balls and then Fennelly struck for his goal on 53 minutes.
The Ballyhale Shamrocks forward beautifully placed an effort into the top corner from outside the 21m to spark his team back into life.
Three minutes later and Kilkenny had a third goal. This time Fennelly turned provider, winning a delivery over Liam Ryan before he was dragged down by Murphy. Reid’s second penalty was as clinical as the first.
Wexford responded with a pair of massive Chin scores, one 65, and then O’Hanlon clipped one over to extend their lead to three.
Kilkenny sub Chris Bolger had two separate sniffs of goal as the away side chased a late three-pointer, but this was Wexford’s day.
Scorers for Wexford: Lee Chin 0-6 (0-3f, 0-2 65), Conor McDonald 0-5 (0-4f) Paul Morris 0-3, David Redmond 1-0, Matthew O’Hanlon, Diarmud O’Keeffe, Liam Ryan, Jack O’Connor and Shane Tomkins 0-1 each.
Scorers for Kilkenny: TJ Reid 2-7 (2-0 pen, 0-6f, 0-1 65), Colin Fennelly 1-0, Lester Ryan 0-2, Walter Walsh and Paddy Deegan 0-1 each.
Wexford
1. Mark Fanning (Glynn Barntown)
2. Simon Donohoe (Shelmaliers)
5. Shaun Murphy (Oulart-The-Ballagh)
19. Willie Devereux ( St Martin’s)
6. Matthew Hanlon (St James)
3. Liam Ryan (Rapparees)
4. James Breen (Adamstown)
7. Diarmuid O’Keeffe (St Anne’s)
9. Aidan Nolan (Half-Way-House/Bunclody)
14. Lee Chin (Faythe Harriers)
15. Paul Morris (Ferns St Aidan’s)
10. Jack O’Connor (St Martin’s)
13. Conor McDonald (Naomh Eanna
20. Jack Guiney (Rathnure)
12. Harry Kehoe (Cloughbawn)
Subs
11. David Redmond for O’Connor (32)
25. Shane Tomkins for Nolan (58)
22. Podge Doran for Kehoe (62)
21. Kevin Foley for Morris (66)
Kilkenny
1. Eoin Murphy (Glenmore)
6. Paul Murphy (Danesfort)
5. Conor Fogarty (Erin’s Own)
7. Kieran Joyce (Rower Inistioge)
8. Cillian Buckley (Dicksboro)
2. Robert Lennon (Bennettsbridge)
4. Conor O’Shea (Clara)
14. Richie Hogan (Danesfort)
9. Paddy Deegan (O’Loughlin Gaels)
10. Lester Ryan (Clara)
12. TJ Reid (Ballyhale Shamrocks)
3. Padraig Walsh (Tullaroan)
11. Walter Walsh (Tullogher Rosbercon)
13. Ger Aylward (Glenmore)
15. Colin Fennelly (Ballyhale Shamrocks)
Subs
23. Liam Blanchfield for Walsh (29)
24. Chris Bolger for Aylward (32)
22. Kevin Kelly for Walsh (63)
16. Richie Reid for Hogan (67)
Referee: Fergal Horan (Tipperary)
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Will somebody get on to Pope Francis and beatify Davy Fitzgerald
@Seán O’Sullivan: drink it in wexford, well done, Davy not being on the sideline was prob a massive blessing in disguise
@Seán O’Sullivan: on the way,a Davy mobile,,,looked cute in his little box
Say what you want about his methods but Davy Fitz is an incredible manager
@Messer: go Davy boy(except when u meet the rebels)
@Messer: He needs to finally realise that he doesn’t have to act like a bullying child on the sideline to win games
@An_Beal_Bocht: Kilkenny closet
@An_Beal_Bocht: Davy needs your advice
@An_Beal_Bocht: oh give it a break the Davy is infatuated with hurling and has more passion that
Most – well done Davy
Delighted,as a Cork man great to see old dry balls codys team getting mastered,great for hurling
@billy Dorney: I know he has an unbelievable record
@billy Dorney: Yeah great for hurling when you see actual hurlers being dragged to the ground by hatchet wexford men
@Brian Shaw: get over it Kilkenny are experts at the dark arts they just have not got it in the legs anymore but what a brilliant game
@billy Dorney: great to hear how the mighty have fallen. Billy you might want to be more cognisant of the decline in Cork hurling since 2005, the crazy win against Tipp aside. Kilkenny have won EIGHT All -Irelands since. Well done though..
@Brian Shaw: wexford deserve better than that comment, kilkenny lost nothing in defeat and their legacy is secure but there needs to be a recognition that they did what they had to do on certain days too; physicality is fine ,I didn’t see any bad belts being given on the pitch, just honest to God hard hitting manly play on both sides!
im sure that ,At Boolavogue as the sun was settimg ‘ rang out from many a pub..
A great Anthem…
@Jamie Walsh: glad you said had
@Jamie Walsh: Ah Jamie, you upset to see three Wexford lads hanging off Fennelly in true Kilkenny style. The genius that is Cody had no answers last year and looked out of answers last night as well. Poor old whiskey face
@billy Dorney: I didn’t
@An_Beal_Bocht: obsessed with Kilkenny, everything about Kilkenny.
@billy Dorney: thats good coming from a guy whos county and lets face it were doing about the same as Wexford over the past 10 yrs…..but a least Wexford always put up a fight and you knew you’d get a game from them and none if their players would sulk and go “on strike” because they didnt get their own way. I think most people are forgetting that neither Tipperary or Kilkenny are out yet and Waterford and Galway are strong, so nothings been won yet! The championship final ain’t til September folks.
@Brian Shaw: some bold Wexford boy took your sweeties?
@Jamie Walsh: rebels on the way back up,pussy cats in decline
@billy Dorney: that’s what ye said in 2013 but didn’t lift Liam that year either. Then there was 2014, 2015…..
@Jamie Walsh: nothing crazy reference corks win v tipp,rebels more hungry,and passionate
@Jamie Walsh: obsessed
@Jamie Walsh: fierce big word’s
@billy Dorney: reacted v quick,must be uber upset
@billy Dorney: fierce big words all right ?Hows Seanie Maguire going for you does he get a pass..?
@Jamie Walsh: he’s magic,,,you’re reaching
@billy Dorney: no just seeing if your hate of Kilkenny was universal but it seems you make allowances when it suits
What a Win. Lee Chin did Untold
@Buff Egan:
Simply
De Lightful!!!!
@Buff Egan: Tantalizing from Wexford. Chin’s catch at the end was my Shucky Ducky Quack Quack moment of the game.
Brilliant result for wexford.disgraceful rte or TV3 didn’t cover it
@dick dastardly: GAA accepted skys offer. Not much rte or tv3 can do about it.
@dick dastardly: same thought,tnk God for bosca android
@dick dastardly: Yesh because tv3 air so many other gaa games right?
Shaping up like another 2013
@Showbiz Babyyy: Who’s best placed to benefit? Galway?
Please God! One of the best summer’s of hurling in years!
@Showbiz Babyyy: KK are 15/2 to win the AI now probably the longest odds they have been in the Cody era I think they are in much bigger trouble than they were in 2013.
Bloody unbelievable,great result and nights like tonight long overdue!up Wexford
That some win!!! Wagon is well and truly motoring in Wexford, gotta give Davy some credit too as much as we all dislike him at times, they played outstanding stuff!
Lee Chin have my babies
@Daniel O’Donnell: Daniel,you little vixen
Never surprised by a wexford uprising,the spark of revolution is always smouldering in that county, love wexford as a second county (laois my home forever)but you gotta respect kilkenny too,outplayed but fight to their last breath!
@Tom Coonan: Never, Kilkenny are dull machines, give me any other county to add a bit of character to the championship
@An_Beal_Bocht: sorry but can’t agree with you there,like kilkenny or not they deserve enormous respect for what they have done and I guarantee you they will accept their defeat like champions,no whinging,and wexford will probably have no better supporters than genuine kilkenny fans either!
@Tom Coonan: Oh I respect what they’ve done, of course you have to, but I just don’t respect them as they’re so boring and robotic, as Dónal Óg said – a bunch of Stepford wives!
@An_Beal_Bocht: correct
@An_Beal_Bocht: ah you’ve been on the sauce again Beal you bitter troll. Some of the greatest ever stickmen have worn the black and amber many in Cody’s tenure. Fair play to Wexford, a well deserved win. We were out fought and out played and that’s saying something. Only Codys FOURTH loss in Leinster. Beal can content himself with his one in a row as per….
@An_Beal_Bocht: Being called Stepford wives from a bunch of Desperate Housewives is a compliment!!
Great result for hurling. LiamMcCarthy wide open now
Gowan Wexford well done I could hear the atmosphere from up the road from Wexford Park. Wexford Abú.
Congrats Wexford. Looks like Kilkenny are finished
@Just Some Guy: weird Cyril Farrell said something about the cats at Torre Argentina in Rome and Brian Cody..
Please do not tell me there is a double e tender with cats and Julius Caesar…
@Rachel Didleu: double entendre…
That was some win. Well done the boys of Wexford
I was very negative about our chances, but Fùck me… what a day.
@Hurt Stoogie: brilliant eh..married to a wexford woman she was cautious too
@Bill Clear: hope she’s still cautious?
@Hurt Stoogie: good man now go dancing at the crossroads lad lol. See u in the store’s .
@David Higginbotham: I’m from Enniscorthy Hun!! No stores for me!!
The fact that Davy Fitz is their manager takes a bit of the satisfaction out of it. But good to see Wexford hurling back all the same.
great win for Wexford , Tipp vrs Kilkenny in Thurles on July 01st.
Cats now a one trick pony (Tj) Only ever had to peak in August. This won’t suit Cody.
@Ronan Ryan: nothing delights him,if he smiled ,he’d be arrested
@billy Dorney: As a Tipp man I have to say he is a gentleman. Couldn’t do enough for small clubs countrywide. He was blessed with the best generation of players ever. Best Man manager & Best players =
@billy Dorney: As a Tipp man I have to say he is a gentleman. Couldn’t do enough for small clubs countrywide. He was blessed with the best generation of players ever. Best Man manager & Best players = 11 Liam’s!
@Ronan Ryan: without doubt,but God,cold,emotionless,, robotic,delighted for hurling,as a whole,that his team git well and truly owned,,,,they bullied for too long
@Ronan Ryan: must be some tipp man,to comment twice
@billy Dorney: yikes!!
@Ronan Ryan: oops ,even
@billy Dorney: well and truly owned?Let’s see now. Beaten by four points. Have you seen the Leinster Championship records recently? Or at all? You are the Jimmy McGee of hurling statistics. Might not wanna give up your day job
@Jamie Walsh: truth hurts
@billy Dorney: you haven’t uttered one ounce of truth here
@Jamie Walsh: records mean f all,,only as good as you’re last match,so go on and mope,yere on the way down
@Jamie Walsh: only that ye were mastered
@billy Dorney: really, we weren’t watching the same game then because KK were in it right until the end and could have won it only for good save by Wexford keeper. All that having played poorly
Some big fish in the qualifiers already
Daniel o Donnell with your looks and Chin’s physique they’d be good stock
FairPlay to Wexford some result but for a team playing a sweeper they conceded 3 goals today and 5 vs tipp , has to be a worry for the leinsterfinal ?
@Shane Hourihan: And that in spite of pulling and dragging down any Killkenny forward with possession anywhere near the 21. Wexford made a decent case for bringing the black card to hurling today. Should lose to Galway and will probably go out in the quarters
@Ciarán: Just doing what Kilkenny have patented over the last 15 years, drink it in!
@An_Beal_Bocht: no Kilkenny have patented the art of lifting Liam in September the last fifteen years. Must stick in your Tipp craw
@An_Beal_Bocht: you always seem like such a profoundly bitter person, I’m not from Kilkenny nor do I have any family from there. But no Kilkenny team I’ve ever seen disgraced themselves the way the Wexford backs did today. Fair enough they won but they got away with a huge amount and some of carry on was every bit as bad or worse than the Sean Cavanagh performance that got the black card brought into football
@Jamie Walsh: won’t be lifting for a long while,on that team/managers performance
@billy Dorney: that’s ok. Cork will have to win it each year for the next six years just to draw level
Waterford vs Galway all Ireland final
@Aidan O: I’d take that. Up the Deise!
@Aidan O: lol
@Sean Healy: waterford will have to get through the qualifiers first, up the rebels
@Abe Brennan: yep
@Aidan O: agreed
@Aidan O: easy on the beer, it’s early yet
Fair play to Wexford well deserved but my god that’s the worst Iv seen Kilkenny play ever Buckley and Fennelly the only two players that can come away with any credit
@Aidan Holden: agree
We won’t throw the towel in yet.Dissapointed with result but delighted for our neighbors.Theres nothing better for a county than to be winning championship games .What a summer ye could have ahead,just keep the heads down and don’t get cocky like those tipp boys.
@Aidan Butler:why bring tipp into it you clown cork won fair and square no wonder cats hated
@Aidan Butler: better to be a little cocky than end up as under confident, watery looking and leaderless as kk were this evening!!
@Quad Quad: I know, Tipp are flying….keep it up
@Quad Quad:That’s true.I reckon the hardest thing in sport is to respond when a team builds momentum late on against you,kk always finished well knowing they could win by being confident finishers.New young hurlers can sometimes use a sense of indifference to history to just grab the occasion for themselves which I think Wexford have done and in doing that will gain the confidence needed to win not just a lucky year but to keep being a contender every year which is what’s yet to be seen.Good luck to them but kk will NOT lie down and can be dangerous always
Hurling the only game in town
What an advertisement for the game of hurling.
@Kevin Buston: Really? Pulling and dragging and packs of scrums!
Have to hand it to fitzy. Great to c the yellowbellies going well… Theyl be dancing at the crossroads tonight. Well done wexford hard luck kilkenny.
Relax it’s only June
“The revolution years could be returning”
Lets not get carried away here. Same thing was said in 2013.
Relax.
Anyone that beats Kilkenny gets my
@Elizabeth Barry: go girl
Can somebody tell me more about Davy Fitz’ “custom made box”. Is he the new Bosco
@Richie Kennedy: no he’s the new fat controller
What kind of a jersey would Colm fennelly wants on his back to take the pulling from Ryan the ref decided he would decide who won the game the powers in the GAA have to look at the video and decided if he should ref a big game in the future
@Richard Tierney: more bitching
@Richard Tierney: Well he got two penalties for it and they were both scored. Wexford also had two players yellow carded for pulling his jersey. What more do you want?
@Richard Tierney: if you were at the game and seen the treatment conor mc got was nothing short of disgraceful
Wexford won the battle and fair play to them but Kilkenny can still claim the war is not over yet just as Tipperary can likewise. Farcical nonsense in my opinion and to call it a championship is quiet simply comical.
@Leonard Barry: Various versions of double elimination are quite common in championship structures I don’t see your point
Where’s that gowl of a woman and her ‘up the cats’ now ?
Ment to say Wexford forwards done look like natural forwards…will get nosebleeds in croker.
Kilkenny finished, Wexford one hit wonder
@Quad Quad: don’t be a dick
@Quad Quad: No natural forwards, 1-13 from play vs any kk defence in a championship match and 9 different scorers?! Go home, your drunk
Obviously being from Kilkenny I wasn’t making reference to any game involving the bigger ball “42 major” resorting to name calling on a sporting forum says a lot
@Aidan Butler: meowwwww
Oh then tell Sean o Farrell…. wexford Abu , a rising of the moon beckons .
Handy Leinster final for Galway here…exicitdivision2 hurling this evening. Very average Kilkenny couldn’t win it after being gifted it midway tru second half. Wexford forwards don’t look like
@Quad Quad: Offaly will win.
Brilliant stuff Sky?????? How is that promoting hurling
Love Wexford – and delighted with the win – but it’s just one match on the way – I have the greatest respect for KK – and they have been written off so often that they must be sick if it – they are still in the C’ship
Great win by wexford but Kilkenny are in transition and it will take 3 to 5 years to build another alireland winning team
Up the Yellowbellies. Can we dream of a repeat of 1996.
@Aine O Connor: Hope so Aine!
Holy Shlit….or!!!!
I am so happy Wexford won!
I’m civil
Kilkenny v tipp in the qualifiers would be great now and would get rid of a big gun
Can’t wait for tipp v Kilkenny in the qualifiers now