Wexford became the first Division Four side to secure their place in the last eight of the Tailteann Cup following their explosive performance in Tullamore this afternoon, where they were far more dominant than the final margin of five points would indicate.
For the second week in a row, the Model County had ten different scorers, while they also posted their entire tally of 1-22 from open play.
Their pace, power and mobility at half-back and midfield completely overwhelmed Offaly, who hung into the game with the aid of the breeze in the first half, but were soon blown out of the water once they were reduced to 14 men five minutes into the second.
The Faithful County also got out to a dream start when a foot block by Darragh Brooks on Rúairí McNamee led to a goal from an Anton Sullivan penalty, but that only served to keep Offaly in a game where they were a distant second best.
Even after that, the result always looked predetermined, as in terms of energy and power, they were overwhelmed in the middle eight, with Wexford's midfield and half-back lines particularly dominant.
Wexford had already missed two goal chances by the time Sullivan's penalty crept into the bottom corner of the net, with Mark Rossiter palming the ball into the crossbar and goalkeeper Ian Duffy showing excellent reflexes to repel a low shot from Páraic Hughes.
That Duffy was by far Offaly’s best performer on the day summed up their problems. He also produced top drawer saves to block Glen Malone and Brian Molloy in each half, and couldn’t have been faulted for the goal that was conceded in first half stoppage time.
Some good finishes from Nigel Dunne and Cian Farrell kept Offaly's noses in front throughout the opening 25 minutes, meaning that Wexford only took the lead for the second time when Mark Rossiter slammed that score to the net after a typically direct, incisive move right through the heart of the midlanders’ defence.
Eoghan Nolan, Brian Molloy and Mark Rossiter kicked some excellent points in the opening half, capitalising on some efficient approach play, but they could easily have added at least a couple more goals. Rossiter palmed one effort into the crossbar just before Offaly came back down the field to win their penalty for a foot block on Rúairí McNamee, and Duffy also made outstanding saves to block goalbound efforts from Páraic Hughes and Glen Malone.
Ciarán Donnelly struck the first point of the second half to reduce the gap to two points, 1-10 to 1-8, but things quickly fell apart from there for Offaly, with Joe Maher’s second yellow card opening the door for the visitors to run riot. Seven of the next nine points went Wexford’s way as they continued to rack up the scores with relative ease, and another incredible pointblank save from Duffy to deny Brian Molloy prevented the lead from growing even further.
The lack of any urgency or zest on Offaly’s part was evident in the fact that Wexford scored their entire tally of 1-22 from open play, and while substitutes Bernard Allen and Nigel Bracken did their best to stem the tide after their introduction, they were never in contention to mount a comeback,
and were eight points adrift when Aaron Leavy flicked in their second goal in the last play of the game.
Wexford: Darragh Brooks; Brian Cushe, Eoin Porter, Michael Furlong; Glen Malone (0-02), Dylan Furlong, Brian Molloy (0-03); Liam Coleman, Niall Hughes (0-01); Páraic Hughes (0-01), Eoghan Nolan (0-04), Alan Tobin; Robbie Brooks (0-02), Mark Rossiter (1-04), Kevin O'Grady (0-02).
Subs: Ben Brosnan (0-02) for O’Grady (50), Conor Kinsella for Nolan (60), Darragh Lyons for Tobin (62), John Tubritt (0-01) for Brooks (65), Liam O’Connor for M Furlong (67).
Offaly: Ian Duffy; Ciarán Donnelly (0-01), Declan Hogan, David Dempsey; Lee Pearson, Conor McNamee, Cian Donohoe; Peter Cunningham (0-01), Aaron Leavy; Jordan Hayes, Ruairí McNamee (0-03, 0-02 frees), Anton Sullivan (1-01, 1-00 penalty); Cian Farrell (0-02, 0-01 mark), Joe Maher, Nigel Dunne (0-03, 0-01 free).
Subs: Nigel Bracken for Donohoe (45), Bernard Allen (0-03, 0-01 free) for Dunne (45), Jamie Evans for Farrell (48), Morgan Tynan for C McNamee (55), Aaron Brazil for Donnelly (60).
Referee: David Murnane (Cork).
