'Heart stopping' victory for St Martin's as they claim first Wexford title since 2019
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SUPREMACY shifted St. Martin's way at crucial stages helping them to put away a staunch St. Anne's challenge with six points to spare in the end of this tense and teak tough Pettitt's SuperValu Wexford senior hurling final played at Chadwicks Wexford Park.
It was 2019 since St. Martin's last lifted the title so the pitch invasion on the final whistle was fully justified as they cherished a sweet victory over their south county neighbours, while they showed great energy to recover from their county intermediate football final defeat eight days earlier.
While it was a victory the St. Martin's will cherish, for St. Anne's they will look back on a game where during their spells of dominance they were unable to translate this into sufficient scores as they came up against a rock solid winner's defence on which many of their attacks perished.
"It's such a great feeling to be involved with this team," said St. Martin's manager Daithi Hayes as he tried to savor the victory. "This was heart stopping stuff for we knew St. Anne's would never give up, they would battle to the end. We had our period of supremacy in the lead up to the interval, while we also finished strongly, particularly when they came after us."
A burst of five points in the lead up to the interval changed the course of the game St. Martin's way.
"We were disappointed the way we finished the first half, and also conceded the opening second half point within seconds of the restart. Credit to the lads, they got right back into the game, closed to within two points, but the effort obviously took its toll," said St. Anne's manager David Redmond, who had experienced so much success with Oulart-the-Ballagh in the past.
St. Martin's set out their stall early with points from Rory O'Connor and Darren Codd as the youthful St. Anne's side strove to get into the game.
As Dee O'Keeffe began to establish himself around the midfield exchanges, their game began to become more composed as they chipped over excellent long range points through Justin Moran and Cillian Byrne levelling the sides at 0-2 each. Two Kyle Kennedy pointed frees had St. Anne's in front, but St. Martin's were about to put their wasteful finishing to one side, as Rory O'Connor pointed three successive frees, two from which he was fouled, to leave the scoreline 0-5 each.
As the sides went on to exchange points, St. Martin's took the game by the scruff of the neck finishing the half with a flurry of points. Midfielder Jake Firman got his side back in front, with Darren Codd firing over an excellent long range point, as Jack O'Connor, Joe Barrett and Codd once again adding to the tally, leaving them with a 0-10 to 0-6 interval lead.
The eventual winners extended their lead to double scores within two minutes of the restart through points from Kyle Firman and Rory O'Connor (65), but a brace of Liam Rochford points lifted St. Anne's, while Liam Óg McGovern fired over a great point under pressure to reduce the deficit to 0-13 to 0-9 after thirty-six minutes.
But the initiative swung back St. Martin's way on the 46th minute with a rather fortuitous goal as Barry O'Connor forced the ball over the line in a packed goalmouth leaving his side leading 1-15 to 0-13.
Liam Rochford, Kyle Kennedy and McGovern points kept St. Anne's in contention, still trailing 1-18 to 0-18, but it was St. Martin's who ensured victory with three unanswered points in additional time through Ben Maddock, Jack O'Connor and Rory O'Connor to deservedly take the title.
R O'Connor (0-11, 7 frees, 1, '65), D Codd (0-3), B O'Connor (1-0), J Barrett (0-2), J Firman (0-2), Jack O'Connor (0-2), K Firman (0-1), B Maddock (0-1)
K Kennedy (0-7 frees), M Furlong (0-4, 3 frees), L Rochford (0-3), L Óg McGovern (0-2), D Furlong (0-1), J Moran (0-1), C Byrne (0-1)
D Byrne; P O'Connor, C Firman (|captain), P Dempsey; E O'Leary, J Barrett (0-2), D Waters; D Codd, J Firman (0-2); D Codd (0-3), Jack O'Connor (0-2), R O'Connor (0-11, 7 frees, 1, '65); J Devereux, B O'Connor (1-0), K Firman (0-1).
C Coleman for Devereux (39), B Maddock (0-1) for K Firman (50), Joe O'Connor for J Firman (64; S Audsley for O'Leary (65).
A Kennedy; L Schokman, T Cullen, F Ryan; E Ryan, K Breen, P Doyle; A Rochford, D O'Keeffe; J Moran (captain, 0-1), L Óg McGovern (0-2), C Byrne (0-1); L Rochford (0-3), K Kennedy (0-7 frees), A Moran.
D Furlong (0-1) for Schokman (inj. ht), M Furlong (0-4, 3 frees) for K Kennedy (50);M Fogarty for Byrne (54).
J Heffernan (Blackwater).