Wexford 1-21 Offaly 1-13
By Jackie Cahill
GAA chiefs avoided red faces this afternoon as 0-11 from Conor McDonald helped Wexford into the next round of All-Ireland SHC qualifiers.
Mark Fanning’s penalty goal was wrongly ruled out in the first half at Innovate Wexford Park but the hosts still ran out comfortable eight-point winners.
Goalkeeper Fanning banged home a brilliant 24th-minute effort but it was chalked off after striking the back stanchion and rebounding back into play.
The umpires didn’t spot that the ball had crossed the line, however, and play continued.
Had Wexford suffered a narrow defeat, they may have had grounds for appeal but instead, Liam Dunne’s charges avoided that scenario with a powerful second half display.
Trailing by 0-7 to 0-9 at half-time, the Slaneysiders turned things around to put themselves within 70 minutes of an All-Ireland quarter-final appearance.
Podge Doran and Diarmuid O’Keeffe were others to impress for Wexford on an afternoon when Lee Chin returned from injury to produced a barnstorming display.
Wexford were five points down in the first half, 0-2 to 0-7, but they hung in there against the breeze and were very much in touch at half-time.
Paul Morris scored a 37th-minute goal to spark the revival and Wexford kicked for home to win pulling up.
Offaly finished the game with 14 players when David King was sent off for a second bookable offence in the final minute of normal time, before Oisín Kelly scored a consolation goal keep in stoppage time for the vanquished Faithful County.
Offaly boss Eamonn Kelly indicated at full-time that he will take time out to contemplate his future – after serving his first year at the helm – but this result is a major boost for Wexford supremo Liam Dunne.
His charges were dreadful against Dublin in the Leinster SHC quarter-final but this was a much-improved display, laced with spirit, and they can now look ahead to more championship action next weekend.
The controversial Fanning episode could have resulted in major consequences for Croke Park top brass but rather than affecting Wexford, it seemed to inspire the home side.
Scorers for Wexford: C McDonald 0-11 (8f), P Doran 0-4, P Morris 1-0, D O’Keeffe & L Chin (1f) 0-2 each, L Óg McGovern & D Dunne 0-1 each.
Scorers for Offaly: S Dooley 0-7 (6f), O Kelly 1-0, S Kinsella 0-2, P Murphy, S Ryan, J Bergin & P Guinan 0-1 each.
WEXFORD: M Fanning; M O’Hanlon, J Breen, E Moore; D O’Keeffe, P Foley, É Martin; J O’Connor, E Conroy; L Óg McGovern, L Chin, P Doran; P Morris, C McDonald, D Dunne.
Subs: H Kehoe for Conroy (55), A Kenny for Foley (67), C Dunbar for Dunne (68).
OFFALY: J Dempsey; N Wynne, C McDonald, P Rigney; S Gardiner, D King, D Mooney; P Murphy, S Ryan; J Mulrooney, J Bergin, S Kinsella; S Dooley, S Cleary, K Connolly.
Subs: B Conneely for Mooney (26), E Nolan for Cleary (29), O Kelly for Connolly (30), D O’Toole-Greene for McDonald (53), P Guinan for Dooley (60).
Referee: J Ryan (Tipperary)
