Wexford responded to back-to-back defeats in Division 4 of the Allianz Football League with a convincing second-half destruction of neighbours Waterford at Chadwicks Wexford Park.
The hotly fancied hosts led by just 0-06 to 0-05 following a first half during which the Currys, Stephen and Jason, both went agonisingly close to rattling the Wexford net.
But John Hegarty’s purple and gold, nursing setbacks against the division’s current pace-setters Laois and Leitrim, lorded the closing period, outclassing Waterford by 0-15 to 1-02, to revive ambitions of ending a six-year stay in the basement division.
Wexford now face challenging away games to both Carlow and Tipperary, before welcoming Longford in round seven.
Waterford, having now failed to avoid defeat in eight games, are left seeking to avoid the 'wooden-spoon’, with a trip to London being sandwiched between fixtures against Tipperary [away] and Laois [home].
A quite uninspiring first-half eventually saw Wexford shade matters 0-6 to 0-5 at the change of ends after Graeme Cullen shot over in added-time.
But Waterford were unfortunate not to have hit the home net, particularly when William Beresford put Stephen Curry through to ultimately restore parity for a fifth time on 0-05 apiece after 35 minutes.
Jason Curry had also gone close to raising the green-flag for the Deise only for his shot to fly over and tie matters on 0-2 apiece after twelve minutes, with Wexford’s Eoghan Nolan [free] and Glen Malone responding to a Waterford ice-breaker from Tom O’Connell.
The neighbours exchanged the lead three times during the opening-half, with Liam Coleman regaining home advantage before Waterford poked back in front by 0-04 to 0-03 after 23 minutes
A Seán Nolan double regained a slight initiative for Wexford, before they were enormously relived to see Stephen Curry’s point-blank attempt clear the crossbar.
And Graeme Cullen then had the final say of the half to give the hosts a tentative lead.
Wexford sprung Dylan Furlong from the bench to good effect as he widened the margin inside three minutes of the restart.
They endured their own spot of misfortune in front of goal moments later, when Liam Coleman’s close-range drive was blocked before Kevin O’Grady reaped a 0-08 to 0-05 lead after 41 minutes.
Substitute Mark Rossiter also had a goaling chance only to fire over as Wexford generated daylight when stretching 0-12 to 0-5 clear after 51 minutes, as Seán Nolan [free], O’Grady and veteran Ben Brosnan boosted their returns.
Jason Curry and Michael Curry eventually got an outplayed Waterford on target when pegging it back to 0-13 to 0-07 after 57 minutes.
But Wexford continued to lord matters, and Eoghan Nolan, Glen Malone and sub Tom Byrne were all left cursing their luck with gilt-edged goaling chances, before Waterford found some consolation in a last-gasp goal from Alan Dunwoody.
Wexford: Rory Tubritt; Gavin Sheehan, Eoin Porter, Liam O’Connor; Glen Malone (0-04), Cathal Walsh, Darragh Lyons; Liam Coleman (0-01), Niall Hughes; Kevin O’Grady (0-02), Páraic Hughes, Graeme Cullen (0-01); Eoghan Nolan (0-02, 1 free, 1 ‘45), Seán Nolan (0-03, 2 frees), Shane Pettitt (0-01)
Subs: Dylan Furlong (0-01) for O’Connor (HT), Mark Rossiter (0-1) for Walsh (HT), Ben Brosnan (0-05, 3 frees) for S. Nolan (45), Tom Byrne for Cullen (65), Jack Higgins for Pettitt (67)
Waterford: Paudie Hunt; Ross Browne, Liam Fennell, Conor McCarthy; Robbie McGrath, Dermot Ryan, Conor Ó Cuirrín; Michael Curry (0-01), Michael Mullaney; Caolan MacCraith, William Beresford, Seán Whelan Barrett; Tom O’Connell (0-02, 0-01 free), Jason Curry (0-02, 0-01 free), Stephen Curry (0-02)
Subs: Alan Dunwoody (1-00) for Ó Cuirrín (43), Joe Booth for Mullaney (47), Billy O’Keeffe for McGrath (58), Billy Hynes for Beresford (63), Donie Fitzgerald for J. Curry (70+2)
Referee: Seamus Mulvihill (Kerry)
