Wexford's hurlers secured promotion to Division 1A as Mark Fanning saved a Shane Dooley penalty and they defeated Offaly 1-17 to 0-15 at O'Connor Park in Tullamore.
Davy Fitzgerald’s men held a narrow 1-07 to 0-08 half-time lead after Conor McDonald bagged a crucial goal just before the break.
And Dooley couldn’t convert his 49th-minute penalty opportunity when Glynn Barntown clubman Fanning saved brilliantly to his right.
Unbeaten Wexford lead Galway and Limerick by two points at the top of Division 1B, and, having beaten both their rivals already, the Model County are assured of topping the table with just one round of matches remaining.
Dooley's miss was the decisive moment in the match and despite Offaly’s best efforts, and Dooley’s ten-point haul, it was all in vain.
Wexford have not played hurling in the top tier since they finished second from bottom, ahead of Offaly way back in 2011.
But they have been rejuvenated with Fitzgerald at the helm this term, and this was their fourth win from four outings.
Offaly were after three defeats in a row and with the breeze behind them they needed a fast start, but it was Wexford who kicked into gear first.
David Redmond and Paul Morris scored two points inside three minutes. Before Dooley (two), Sean Cleary and Stephen Quirke hit back for Offaly.
When Morris scored his second point in the 17th minute it gave Wexford the lead, at 0-05 to 0-04, but that changed hands again thanks to two points from Cleary and Dooley’s third point of the game.
But Wexford always looked the more dangerous in front of goal, and after McDonald and Jack O’Connor brought them level, they hit the net.
Aaron Maddock provided the delivery from the right, and McDonald did the rest, with a powerful finish into the bottom-left corner of James Dempsey’s goal.
Dooley hit back with a point before half-time, but Offaly still trailed 0-08 to 1-07 at the break.
Dooley tagged on another free one minute into the second-half, but McDonald cancelled that out with one of his own. However it was Fanning’s save that kept Offaly at bay.
James Breen got yellow when he gave away the penalty, but Dooley’s effort was saved brilliantly by Fanning down to his right.
Dooley slotted the resultant 65 but Offaly were still 1-10 to 0-11 behind, and Harry Kehoe scored an important point for Wexford with 14 minutes remaining.
Wexford found it difficult to find their range in front of goal, but back to back points from Diarmuid O’Keeffe and McDonald pushed them further clear.
Offaly kept in touch, and when Oisin Kelly scored in the 68th minute the margin was back to just two points. However Wexford secured victory with late points from McDonald, David Dunne and Aidan Nolan.
WEXFORD: M Fanning; S Donohue, L Ryan, J Breen; D Reck, M O’Hanlon, D O’Keeffe (0-02); J O’Connor (0-01), A Maddock; D Redmond (0-01), L Chin (0-01), S Murphy; H Kehoe (0-01), C McDonald (1-06, 0-04f), P Morris (0-02).
Subs used: A Nolan (0-02) for Morris (10), Morris for Nolan (13), Nolan for Maddock (47), D Dunne (0-01) for O’Connor (56), J Guiney for Morris (56), B Carton for Redmond (60).
OFFALY: J Dempsey; P Rigney, M Cleary, P Delaney; D Morkan, D Shortt, S Gardiner; S Ryan, A Treacy; J Mulrooney, C Kiely, S Cleary (0-03); S Dooley (0-10, 0-08f, 0-1 ’65), S Quirke (0-01), O Kelly (0-01).
Subs used: E Nolan for Ryan (25), Ryan for Nolan (31), D King for Delaney (31), Nolan for Mulrooney (half-time), B Conneely for Ryan (40), P Geraghty for Cleary (62), T Carroll for Quirke (62).
Referee: Cathal McAllister (Cork).
