3,544 supporters braved the cold conditions in Nowlan Park today and they were treated to an absorbing Walsh Cup final encounter as Wexford pipped Kilkenny 3-2 in a historic free-taking competition.

Extra-time was initially required after a late Wexford surge in normal time yielded a Kevin Foley goal and points from Paul Morris (2) and substitute Lee Chin.

Morris sent over the equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time and the sides finished level on 1-21 apiece.

They were deadlocked on 1-24 each at the end of extra-time after the impressive Alan Murphy converted a free for Kilkenny right at the death so, similar to last weekend's O'Byrne Cup semi-final between Meath and Longford, a free-taking competition came into play to determine the winners.

Richie Reid's sending-off three minutes into the second-half didn't help the home side's cause but, with Murphy on form in front of the posts, the Cats appeared to have one hand on the silverware approaching the full-time whistle.

Murphy contributed 1-13 to Kilkenny's final tally but, ultimately, his efforts proved to be in vain.

Ironically, he was off target with his free attempt in the shoot out and goalkeeper Mark Fanning sent over what proved to be the winner for the Model County. For the record, Jack Guiney and Conor McDonald also pointed for Wexford who claimed a first outright win in the competition since 2002.

Wexford captain Shaun Murphy raises the Walsh Cup

The hosts had the wind at their backs for the first-half and made all the early running. Points from Murphy (0-3, 2 frees), Ollie Walsh and Richie Reid saw them race into a 0-5 to 0-0 lead after just seven minutes of play.

13 minutes had elapsed on the clock before Eoin Moore opened the Model County's account.

Guiney then added a second for Davy Fitzgerald's men but normal service was restored when Murphy brought his individual tally to four points when landing a 65 shortly after before converting a penalty in the 16^th minute.

That left the scoreboard reading 1-6 to 0-2 in Brian Cody's side's favour.

To their credit, Wexford refused to throw in the towel and they went in trailing by 0-11 to 1-13 at the halfway stage.

Morris reduced the deficit further with the first point of the second-half and Kilkenny were then reduced to 14 men after Reid was shown a red card. Manager Brian Cody also found himself in hot water with referee John O'Brien and was sent to the stands.

The Slaneysiders subsequently capitalised on both their numerical and wind advantage to cut the gap to the bare minimum by the 47^th minute thanks to three unanswered points from Harry Kehoe, Guiney and Morris.

Kilkenny's first score of the second-half arrived in the 51^st minute courtesy of Murphy (free) before goalkeeper Eoin Murphy found the target with his second free of the contest.

The game was in the melting pot right up until the end, however, and Wexford made the most of their reprieve to win in the most dramatic of circumstances.

Wexford - M Fanning (0-1f); S Donohoe, L Ryan, E Moore (0-1); A Maddock, S Murphy, E Martin; Joe O'Connor, K Foley (1-0); A Nolan, C Dunbar (0-1), H Kehoe (0-3); P Morris (0-9, 7f), J Guiney (0-5, 3f), D Dunne (0-1). Subs: M O'Hanlon for E Martin, D Reck for Joe O'Connor, Jack O'Connor (0-1) for C Dunbar, L Chin (0-1) for J Guiney, C McDonald (0-1) for B Kehoe, J Firman for D Dunne, P Foley for A Nolan, D O'Keeffe for A Maddock, A Nolan for Jack O'Connor.

Kilkenny - E Murphy (0-2f); J Holden, P Walsh, P Deegan; E Morrissey, C O'Shea, C Buckley; C Fogarty (0-1), O Walsh (0-2); M Keoghan (0-2), R Reid (0-1), P Lyng; A Murphy (1-13, 1-0pen, 0-6f, 0-1'65), W Walsh (0-2), C Martin (0-1). Subs: L Ryan for P Lyng, C Bolger for C Martin, C Browne for O Walsh, J Maher for E Morrissey, J Walsh for C Bolger, C Martin for M Keoghan, J Malone for C Fogarty.

Referee - J O'Brien.

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