Lee Chin was relieved Wexford managed to produce a winning finish to a disappointing year as they edged a thriller with Kilkenny to retain their top-flight status.
Wexford responded to a dreadful first quarter with a brilliant second to lead by a point at the end of a hectic first half, but they again found themselves trailing late on after Kilkenny found the net for a fifth time.
However, a rousing late rally saw Wexford score a flurry of points to snatch a remarkable 4-23 to 5-18 victory and remain in the Leinster Championship and Liam MacCarthy Cup.
"We all knew the situation and consequences today, of turning up and not performing," Chin told RTÉ Sport.
"Kilkenny were coming here already in a Leinster final, but for us it was do or die. We had to come here and perform.
"The game went back and forward, I think they went up by seven at one stage in the first half, second half we went up by seven, then they came back and were up by two. We just had to stay honest. We got the reward in the end."
Wexford were in danger of dropping out of hurling's top tier for the first time since 1923 following last week’s shock collapse against Westmeath, and Chin admitted they owed their supporters a performance.
"We know the potential we do have inside our camp," said Chin, who converted a first-half penalty and top-scored with 1-10. "Whether we get it out of ourselves every day is a question in itself.
"We let ourselves down a lot this year. It didn’t help with a lot of injuries throughout the National League, that didn’t give us any pattern or momentum going forward.
"We went into the championship and there were lads out there some days playing at 50-60%. That’s not a help. I know the whole of Ireland can say that as well about their panel. Everyone needs a panel and we were just hindered.
"Even today, we had Damien and Shane Reck pull up during the week. We were just getting that sort of luck throughout the year. It all came down to today and we did the job.
"Wexford is a diehard hurling county. The people love their hurling and they follow us no matter where we go. They've been brilliant for us over the years and we needed them today again.
"In fairness they turned out in their numbers, even though we didn’t give them much to shout about during the year.
"I’m so grateful they came here today as they really helped us get over the line."
Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng felt his side lacked composure at critical moments as they suffered their first loss in the Leinster Championship group stages.
The Cats finished second in the standings and will take on Galway in the provincial decider on 11 June, but Lyng is sweating on the fitness of a number of players after Mikey Butler, Martin Keoghan and Adrian Mullen were all replaced during the opening 25 minutes.
"I thought we were hurling very well in the first half, for the first ten or 15 minutes we looked very strong," said Lyng.
"Obviously we picked up a few injuries and that’s disappointing, especially with the tight turnaround in two weeks’ time. We went to win the game and I'm disappointed we didn’t."
