Mpant Cats run riot
Rd outclassed by Cody’s new-look outfit
first-half wides. g puck-out broke into Walsh who shook off d then Damien Reck goal from the right k Fanning from close t brief, finally came in hen Kevin Foley was g the puck-out and ted the free. onded from a crossn pass before the half brace of converted O’Connor placed balls.
However, Kilkenny were within a whisker of adding a second goal in added time after a quality lay-off by Bill Sheehan into the path of Aylward whose attempt was swept clear by Shaun Murphy.
The first Wexford score from play finally arrived just shy of 90 seconds into the new half, with Conor McDonald pointing from a Pádraig Foley handpass.
It was quickly followed by another from Rory O’Connor, set up by Diarmuid O’Keeffe, with T.J. Reid breaking the momentum from a free before O’Connor narrowed the deficit to 1-14 to 1-8.
This was more promising at least, and the hoped-for revival got the big boost it needed in the 39th minute in the form of a second Wexford goal.
Conor McDonald was one-on-one with Pádraig Walsh as they contested a Matthew O’Hanlon delivery, and the full-forward gained possession before firing high and handsome to the net from close range.
Reid and Rory O’Connor went on to swap points from frees, but Kilkenny never looked like losing their grip despite conceding that goal at such an early stage while facing the elements.
Indeed, it needed good tackles by Jack O’Connor and Lee Chin respectively to put an end to menacing solo runs by James Maher and Pádraig Walsh, with Rory O’Connor firing left and wide from what appeared to be an easy free in between.
Two more successful Reid frees came on either side of a Walter Walsh point, with the second won by Conor Fogarty who made a huge impact off the bench, repeatedly winning possession on the ground in crowded areas.
A long-range Shaun Murphy point, from a Mark Fanning puck-out, made it 1-18 to 2-10 in the 54th minute, and the next four scores were shared between the respective free-takers, Reid and O’Connor.
Reid drifted in to full-forward and stretched the gap to 1-22 to 2-12 before knocking over another free, and a solo point from Richie Leahy left nine in the difference.
Rory O’Connor brought his own tally to four from play after handpasses from Pádraig Foley and Matthew O’Hanlon respectively, but Kilkenny always had an answer and Ger Aylward, Reid (free and play) duly completed their scoring.
The last Wexford point was a Harry Kehoe goal attempt that Eoin Murphy got his stick to, while Joey Holden intercepted a Liam Ryan handpass as the quest for a late consolation continued.
A Conor McDonald free was stopped by the same defender at the expense of a ’65, but a lot of the large crowd were back in their cars by that stage as the outcome hadn’t been in doubt for so long.
Wexford hit ten of the game’s 21 wides and were awarded ten of the 25 frees, while yellow cards were shown to Matthew O’Hanlon, Simon Donohoe, Lee Chin, and Kilkenny’s Enda Morrissey and Liam Blanchfield.
Wexford: Mark Fanning; Willie Devereux, Liam Ryan, Simon Donohoe; Shaun Murphy (0-1); Pádraig Foley, Matthew O’Hanlon (joint capt.), Diarmuid O’Keeffe; Kevin Foley, Aidan Nolan (1-0 pen.); Jack O’Connor, Rory O’Connor (0-12, 8 frees), Lee Chin (joint capt.); Conor McDonald (1-1), Paul Morris. Subs. - Damien Reck for Devereux, inj. (15), Harry Kehoe (0-1) for Morris (49), David Dunne for Nolan (53), Cathal Dunbar for J. O’Connor (69).
Kilkenny: Eoin Murphy (0-1 free); Joey Holden, Pádraig Walsh, Paddy Deegan; Conor Delaney, Cillian Buckley (capt., 0-1), Enda Morrissey (0-1); Richie Leahy (0-2), James Maher; Martin Keoghan (0-1), T.J. Reid (0-15, 12 frees), John Donnelly (0-2); Ger Aylward (0-2), Walter Walsh (1-1), Bill Sheehan (0-1). Subs. - Conor Fogarty for Maher (47), Liam Blanchfield for Donnelly (60), Lester Ryan for Leahy (67), Luke Scanlon for Sheehan (69), Pat Lyng for Keoghan (70).
Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork).