Nner raises the roof
Int deficit to topple 14-man Tipperary
O’Meara and Barry o two more points for e exchange between and Callanan (free) -7 to 0-6 interval lead. n for Damien Reck or an orthodox front ehind them, safe in t Kevin Foley could as sweeper while the n short, were unable at centre-forward by and Ian Byrne, with g inside to join Conor l Dunbar. Incidentally, some time on the ’40 with Casey moving to muid O’Keeffe after 30 ed by a procession of m Niall O’Meara, Caln, and Robert Byrne, xford had completely o 0-6). ffe for a settling point, ne more back from a ial goal arrived in the on handpassed to ose instinctive flick pace. He in turn fed a he unmarked Seamus wn on the town end aul Maher no chance 11 to 1-8). Wexford to such an d drawn level by the ooting the next three ree), Casey from a nnor pass, and Kevin Lee Chin assist. ance for another goal y over-hit a handpass hich ended up going good burst down the ne catch by Matthew med as if Tipperary linquish the lead as nded their 17 barren minutes from a free, and Casey then slipped on the poor surface in the act of taking a scoreable free which tailed off to the left and wide.
However, that was quickly forgotten when Cathal Dunbar nailed a peach of a point from a 60-metre line ball, only for Jason Forde to earn and slot over a free at the other end to restore Tipperary’s advantage (1-13 to 1-12).
A long free by Eanna Martin was gathered by Pádraic Maher, but his delivery straight into Rory O’Connor’s path gave the substitute an easy chance to equalise as the game moved into the 67th minute.
Jake Morris edged Tipp in front once more after Callanan intially blocked an attempted clearance by Martin, with John McGrath hitting the game’s last wide before all that late drama.
O’Keeffe’s leveller and Nolan’s winner meant the Wexford supporters went home happy on a day when the inspiring prematch words of visually impaired Kerry boy Michael O’Brien, a new friend Davy Fitzgerald made at the Late Late Toy Show, helped the players no end in coming out on the right side of this contest.
Wexford: Eanna Martin; Damien Reck, Darren Byrne, Shane Reck; Kevin Foley (01); Shaun Murphy, Matthew O’Hanlon (joint capt.), Pádraig Foley (0-1); Diarmuid O’Keeffe (0-3), Aidan Nolan (0-1); Liam Og McGovern, Seamus Casey (1-1), Ian Byrne (0-6 frees); Cathal Dunbar (0-1 line ball), Conor McDonald. Subs. - Lee Chin (joint capt.) for D. Reck (HT), Rory O’Connor (0-1) for I. Byrne (51), Harry Kehoe for Casey (62), Simon Donohoe for O’Keeffe, temp. (66-67).
Tipperary: Paul Maher; Donagh Maher, James Barry, Ronan Maher (0-1); Seamus Kennedy, Pádraic Maher, Barry Heffernan; Robert Byrne (0-1), Michael Breen; John O’Dwyer, Noel McGrath, Patrick Maher; Jason Forde (0-2, 1 free), Seamus Callanan (capt., 1-7, 0-6 frees), Niall O’Meara (0-2). Subs. - Jake Morris (0-1) for O’Dwyer (51), Willie Connors for Heffernan (54), Alan Flynn for D. Maher (57), John McGrath for O’Meara, inj. (59), Tom Fox for Byrne (68).
Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork).