Conor Lehane (1-6) caught the eye tonight in Wexford Park as Cork got their season back on track with a 2-22 to 0-20 victory.

Wexford, who trailed by 14 points at the break, never gave up, and hit eight successive points in the second half but fittingly it was Lehane - scorer of one first-half goal and creator of the other - who knocked over the last two points of the night for Jimmy Barry Murphy's men.

With a strong wind behind them (after Wexford opted to play into the elements in the first half), the Leesiders built up a hefty 2-17 to 0-9 interval lead, with Lehane and Seamus Harnedy netting.

The Rebels laid down a very early marker as Lehane's goal helped them assume a commanding 1-5 to no 0-1 advantage inside six minutes. Three-in-a-row from Patrick Horgan made it 1-9 to 0-3 after 16 minutes and there was clearly no way back for the Slaneysiders.

Ian Byrne's third converted free kept Wexford ticking over but the returning Harnedy supplied the second Rebels goal to leave twelve points between the teams after 20 minutes, 2-10 to 0-4. The gap was up to 13 by the half-hour mark, with Horgan supplying another brace after David Redmond pointed for the Model County.

Sub Harry Kehoe and Kevin Foley pointed for Liam Dunne's men after the restart but a run of points from Horgan, Bill Cooper and Pa Cronin put paid to any hopes of a miraculous recovery.

The hosts were back within nine points by the three-quarters stage, 2-20 to 0-17, with Kehoe and Byrne (2) on target as the Rebels' scores suddenly dried up. Conor McDonald and Byrne (free) made it seven successive points for Liam Dunne's men, who had suddenly halved their arrears!

Byrne continued the remarkable revival: 2-20 to 0-20 after 59 minutes…

But Cork's go-to man Lehane chipped in with their first score in some 22 minutes eight minutes from time; Lehane was the scorer again in the 65th minute, getting on the end of a break to make it 2-22 to 0-20.

The Rebels will be happy with the win but concerned by that second-half fade-out.

Cork - A Nash; D Cahalane (0-1), S McDonnell, B Murphy; A Walsh, M Ellis, C Murphy; D Kearney, B Cooper (0-2); C Lehane (1-6), P Cronin (0-1), B Lawton (0-2); A Cadogan, S Harnedy (1-1), P Horgan (0-9, 6f). Subs: S Moylan for S Harnedy, D McCarthy for A Cadogan, R O'Shea for P Cronin, P O'Sullivan for D Kearney.

Wexford - M Fanning; L Ryan, M O'Hanlon, E Moore; A Shore, L Chin, P Foley; D Redmond (0-3), A Nolan; D O'Keeffe, K Foley (0-1), I Byrne (0-12, 10f); P Morris (0-1), C McDonald (0-1), L Og McGovern. Subs: A Kenny for E Moore, D Waters for A Nolan, H Kehoe (0-2) for P Foley, R Jacob for L Og McGovern, G Sinnott for K Foley.

Referee - A Kelly.

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