HL1B: Wexford pushed to the wire by Laois
March 16, 2014
Wexford manager Liam Dunne. INPHO
Wexford certainly didn't have it all their own way but still defeated 14-man Laois by 2-21 to 1-18 at Wexford Park.
Gary Moore's goal separated the sides at the interval, with the Model County leading by 1-10 to 0-10.
But Laois would be playing into the breeze after the restart and would do so with 14 men following the 35th-minute dismissal of Cha Dwyer…
The first eight points of the game were shared but Moore's 13th-minute major - after taking a pass from Rory Jacob - propelled the favourites into a 1-4 to 0-4 lead
Neil Foyle, Paddy Purcell and Cha Dwyer had got the O'Moore men off to a lovely start with three quickfire points but Jacob's pointed free edged the hosts ahead in the eighth minute before Dwyer made it four apiece.
The Model County moved four clear before Willie Hyland clipped over a Laois point from midfield to leave the goal between the teams at the end of the first quarter, 1-5 to 0-5. Ross King's 19th-minute point made it a two-point match.
Further Laois points from Dwyer and King in response to a Wexford score from Paul Morris reduced the arrears to the minimum but Morris's point gave the Model County a two-point advantage after 27 minutes, 1-7 to 0-8.
Morris and Ian Byrne (2) added three more Wexford points to leave five in it with one minute left in the first half.
Just before the short whistle, the visitors were dealt a massive blow when Dwyer was shown a straight red card. But they refused to let their heads dropp and were still in touch at the break thanks to a brace of points from captain Matthew Whelan.
Ian Byrne pointed either side of a Tommy Fitzgerald effort for Laois and the O'Moore County then drew level thanks to an unstoppable goal from John Purcell and a Picky Maher point: 1-12 each after 47 minutes.
Byrne (2) and O'Keeffe restored the winners' three-point cushion and Maher (2) replied for the 14 men to leave the minimum between them at the three-quarters stage.
Byrne slotted another free but Ciaran Collier's brace made it 1-16 each with just twelve minutes left to play. Wexford's numerical superiority started to show and they asserted control again with a run of four unanswered points.
Seamus Plunkett's men refused to give up but Shane Tompkins' 68th-minute major finally confirmed that the Model County would take both points on offer.
Wexford - M Fanning; L Ryan, M O'Hanlon, B Kenny; K Rossiter, L Chin, C Kenny; W Devereux, I Byrne (0-10, 6f, 1'65); D O'Keeffe (0-2), S Tomkins (1-3), H Kehoe (0-1); R Jacob (0-1), G Moore (1-0), L Og McGovern (0-2). Subs: P Morris (0-2) for L Chin, C McDonald for G Moore, E Moore for C Kenny, B Jordan for W Devereux, D Redmond for H Kehoe.
Laois - E Reilly; JA Delaney, B Campion, B Stapleton; J Fitzpatrick, M Whelan (0-2, 1f), C Dunne; P Purcell (0-1), D Palmer; J Purcell (1-0), W Hyland (0-1), R King (0-2f); N Foyle (0-1), C Dwyer (0-3), T Fitzgerald (0-2). Subs: S Maher (0-4f) for N Foyle, C Collier (0-2) for C Dunne, PJ Scully for J Purcell, J Campion for D Palmer, D Maher for B Campion.
Referee - F Horgan.
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