Sunday July 2 - Junior A Hurling: Offaly v Wexford

Offaly 2-22 Wexford 1-11

Offaly added another in the win column on Sunday against Wexford.  The first half was well contested as there was not much between the teams, but the second half was a rout as Offaly picked off the points ended up winners by double scores.

Jack O'Hagen clears for Wexford.

Offaly went in at the end of a tough 30 minutes of hurling, that featured a fairly major scuffle at the end, with a 3 point lead.  Colm Kerins used his strength to break a tackle and netted just after the throw-in to get Wexford off to a great start.  Offaly then started to put the points over the bar.  Sean Dunne, Rory Sludds, Tommy Rigney, and Stephen Brown each pointed, and Offaly looked to have a decided edge in the balance of play.

Wexford came back into the game after a nice point from PJ O’Neill following a great fetch.  Peter Herlihey added another and the game was tied.  With half time approaching and the game tied, Offaly hit with a goal.  It came in similar fashion to Wexford’s.  Stephen Brown won the ball on the edge of the small square and forced the ball over the line.  Shortly afterwards came the aforementioned schmozzle,, and a red was issued to a player from each side.  Things calmed down with the half time whistle.

After the restart it was all Offaly, the additional room on the field seemed to suit them more than Wexford.  The first 15 minutes saw the Faithful county put seven points over the bar, to one for Wexford, and Offaly seemed to have an extra man available to help out at the back.  Wexford struggled to make the openings, while the scores came so much easier for Offaly.

Offaly always seemed to have the extra player.

Jimmy Rigney pointed three times on the trot, foraging forward from his center back position, while subsititutes Alan Maher and Stephen Halissey also provided fresh legs as the heat began to take its toll, and contributed on the scoreboard.  Each Offaly point was another cut to Wexford’s confidence, though the Slaneysiders did get a good contribution from Ben Cowman after he entered play from the line.  Cowman accounted for 2 well taken points.

After Maher added a second goal for Offaly it was a matter of playing out the last 10 minutes.  Offaly two for two in the championship, while Wexford are looking for their first win.

Offaly:  Gary Sherlock, Rian Dempsey, Alan Bergin, Jack Murray, James Rigney, Tommy Rigney, Rory Sludds, Adrian Cleary, Brian Hannan, Robbie Croft, Andy McRedmond, Sean Dunne, Stephen Brown.

Wexford:  Tom Moloney, Eddie Murphy, Tom Davey, John Taggert, Denis Brennan, Jack O’Hagen, Greg Lundy, Craig Burke, Peter Herlihey, Sam Lenihan, Jason Foley, PJ O’Neill, Colm Kerins.

By Rory O'Donnell