It was the late, late show in Limerick as a stoppage time Peter Nash goal clawed a dramatic win from the jaws of defeat for the Treaty men in a sun-drenched Mick Neville Park in Rathkeale.
In what was a repeat of last year's Division 4 final, Wexford, aided by a strong wind in the opening half, lead four at the break – 0-09 to 0-05 – before Nash's late goal, set up by man of the match James Naughton, secured the narrowest of victories for Limerick against fellow newly-promoted side Wexford.
After what looked like it was going to be a real game of two halves, the wind died down in the second half with Wexford leading until the 70 minute – a lead they had held from the opening minute of the game.
Substitute Peter Nash had other ideas, however, tapping in a pass from Naughton to secure Limerick's first win of their 2026 Division 3 campaign.
With the help of a strong win behind them, it was Wexford who were six points to the good by the end of the opening quarter with Cathal Kehoe and Dylan Furlong taking full advantage of conditions, each scoring a two-pointer inside the opening 15 minutes.
Limerick’s opening score had come just shy of the eight-minute mark, Cillian Fahy tapping over a well-worked team effort to narrow the deficit to three.
Struggling to deal with the strong breeze, Limerick were being pinned into their own half in the early stages.
After an opening quarter which saw Wexford enjoy the majority of possession, Limerick began to take a foothold on proceedings in the next 15 minutes as Wexford continued to clock up a growing number of misses. Indeed, John Hegarty's were left ruing the seven wides they clocked up in the opening half.
Three without response from Limerick – a close-range free and a point from play from the in-form Naughton and a well-taken effort from Robbie Childs - brought it back to a three-point game.
A superb point from out wide from Kilmore corner-forward Tom Byrne stopped the rot on the verge of the half-time break, scoring Wexford’s first point in almost 18 minutes, before a long-range effort from Glen Malone made it a five-point game.
Limerick, starting with just six of the starting 15 that defeated Wexford in last year’s Tailteann Cup quarter-final, ended the half on a high, Fahy tapping over the last kick of the opening 35 minutes to narrow the deficit to four.
After a rain shower during the half time break, the strong wind eased with Wexford proving to be the stronger of the two sides in the early stages of the second half.
Indeed, John Hegarty’s visiting side looked like they had put seven between the sides when Jack Higgins burst through the Limerick defence with ease.
The Castletown half-forward could only watch on, however, as his effort from just inside the 20-metre mark smashed off the crossbar much to the delight of Jeffery Alferd in the Limerick goal.
However, less than four minutes later, a superb two-point score from Eliah O’Riordan quickly made the scoreboard much better reading for Jimmy Lee’s side who were now back within two of Wexford.
When Tony McCarthy pointed in the 48th minute, it was a one-point game. Wexford, however, had other ideas and Páiric Hughes linked up well with clubmate Niall Hughes with the latter finishing to the net to raise Wexford's only green flag with 20 minutes left on the clock.
Wexford, boosted by an excellent fielding display in midfield by Liam Coleman, added a further two points, Eoin Porter and Shane Nolan scoring either side of a Robbie Childs effort, to ease into a five-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
With the game heading into time added on, Wexford looked likely winners, but a late Naughton point ensured a nervy finish for the visitors.
With the game now in stoppage time, substitute Nash was the man of the moment, taking full advantage of a mix up in the Wexford defence before tapping in Naughton’s pass to secure Limerick’s first win of their Division 3 campaign.
Limerick: Jeffery Alferd; Oran Collins, Colm McSweeney, Jason Hassett; Tony McCarthy (0-01), Killian Ryan, Diarmuid Buckley; Cillian Fahy (0-03), Barry Coleman (capt.); Sean Clancy, Andrew Meade, Eliah O’Riordan (0-02, 1tp); Danny Neville, James Naughton (0-07, 1tp, 1f, 1tpf), Robbie Childs (0-02)
Subs: Paul Maher for McSweeney (48), Peter Nash (1-00) for Meade (54), Josh Dineen for Clancy (67)
Wexford: Darragh Brooks; Shane Doyle, Gavin Sheehan, Dylan Furlong (0-02, 1tp); Liam O’Connor, Eoin Porter (0-01), Glen Malone (0-01); Liam Coleman (0-01), Niall Hughes (1-00); Páiric Hughes, Cathal Kehoe (0-02, 1tp), Jack Higgins (0-01), Tom Byrne (0-01), Mark Rossiter (0-01), Séan Nolan (0-04, 2f)
Subs: Eoghan Nolan (capt.) for Doyle (half time), Cian Hughes for Byrne (50 minutes), Colum Feeney for Rossiter, Ruairí Martin for Malone (both 67)
Referee: Christopher Ryan (Galway)
