Wexford beat Waterford in a thrilling game in Nowlan Park on a scoreline of 1-20 to 0-18.
Waterford streaked ahead in the first half through some brilliant hurling by the whole team with John Mullane and Ken McGrath outstanding. At one stage Waterford were 5 points ahead and playing some excellent hurling while Wexford were struggling all over the pitch and hitting a huge amount of wides.
There was a goalmouth melee when some flair from John Mullane put Dan Shanahan in on goal, but he was brought down and some nasty scenes ensued. It preceded a golden spell of hurling by the Waterford men, but on the half hour Wexford began to wake and Paul Codd pointed well to bring them within four points.
On 33 minutes Damien Fitzhenry saved brilliantly from a great run by Dan Shanahan when a goal seemed certain. It would prove very important when, with the whistle imminent, a long ball into the Wexford forward line broke to Rory Jacob who drilled home. A Dave Bennett point put Waterford back ahead by the slimmest of margins. Half time score 0-10 to 1-06.
In the second half Wexford began to turn the screw. Within two minutes they were three points ahead thanks to Paul Codd and Rory Jacob. John Mullane replied for Waterford but Larry Murphy, who was having an immense game, caught beautifully and turned sweetly to point for Wexford. The quality of the hurling was still very high with points from Ken McGrath and Paul Flynn for Waterford and Michael Jordan scoring for Wexford. Damien Fitzhenry was playing very well, saving from a John Mullane shot on goal to force it over the bar. It would be Mullane's last act in the match as he went off with an injury.
Although, with just over fifteen minutes to go, the quality of the hurling dipped the excitement remained as high as ever and Paul Codd, Michael Jacob and his brother Rory and susbtitute Michael Jordan continued the scoring to ensure Wexford's passage to the next round at the expense of a brave Waterford.
Filed by Barry J Whyte
