Waterford 0-17 Wexford 1-13
A 12-point haul from Maurice Shanahan helped Waterford to a narrow win over Wexford and into the Allianz Hurling League Division 1 semi-finals.
The 2015 champions continued their strong form into the 2016 season and with only one loss out of five in Division 1A they were expected to dismiss Wexford.
But playing at home the Division 1B team produced a stirring display and nearly pulled off a shock result.
They burst into a 0-08 to 0-02 lead early on and even after Waterford muscled their way back into the contest Wexford didn’t buckle.
A second half goal kept the Yellow Bellies in it and coming down the stretch it looked as though they were going to do enough to force extra-time.
But a string of scoreable frees missed came back to bite them as Shanahan held his nerve over a dead ball from 50 metres out late on and fired Waterford into the last four.
They will now face Limerick in a fortnight’s time.
“It was great to see Maurice hold his nerve to strike that decisive winning point,” said Deise boss Derek McGrath.
The Deise boss continued: “He showed tremendous accuracy throughout, but this was a real team performance. It was our toughest game of the year so far; it felt like a real Championship match all through. In the end it was a very satisfying result.
‘We suffered a little bit after that Wexford start but the lads battled back. We can count ourselves somewhat fortunate but Wexford Park is always a difficult place to come and win.”
While understandably disappointed with the result, Wexford Manager Liam Dunne was still happy with the side’s overall display.
“Despite taking some knocks this year, we have been building and building. This was an opportunity for the lads to put their hands up. Credit to the young lads, they are starting to grow, having learned some harsh lessons along the way,” he said.
“It’s encouraging for our young players and now we can look forward to Dublin in the Leinster quarter-final.”
It was a frenetic start from Wexford as they stormed into a five-point lead inside the opening nine minutes with scores from Lee Chin, Shane Tomkins, Ian Byrne, two frees, and Paul Morris.
There were passages of play during this opening spell when it looked as if Wexford were about to over-run Waterford, who had to wait until the twelfth minute for their opening score, a Patrick Curran point.
Wexford still led 0-8 to 0-2 after eighteen minutes, but with Shanahan picking off some delightful points the gap was down to just one at the break – nine points to eight.
Waterford stretched into a 0-16 to 0-12 lead with nine minutes remaining.
Five minutes from the end Conor McDonald finished brilliantly for a goal and when Harry Kehoe pointed the sides were deadlocked 0-16 to 1-13. Then Shanahan stepped up with the winning point one minute from the end to secure a dramatic victory for his side.
Waterford: S O’Keeffe; S Fives, B Coughlan, N Connors; T de Burca, A Gleeson (0-02), P Mahony (0-01); J Barron, J Dillon; K Moran, S Bennett, M Walsh (0-01); P Curran (0-01), M Shanahan (0-12, 0-9 frees, 0-1, 65). C Dunford.
Subs: T Devine for Curran (44); B O’Halloran for Dillon (50); M Kearney for Bennett (59); S McNulty for Connors (63).
Wexford: C O’Leary; D O’Keeffe, L Ryan, J Breen; E Moore, P Foley, M O’Hanlon; J O’Connor, L Chin (0-02); I Byrne (0-04 frees), S Tomkins (0-01), A Nolan (0-02); P Morris (0-01), C McDonald (1-00), L O McGovern. Subs: H Kehoe (0-03) for O’Connor (32); A Shore for Byrne (51); A Kenny for Nolan (58); C Dunbar for Tomkins (61); D Dunne for McGovern (68).
Referee: J Ryan (Tipperary).
