Wexford 1-18 Kilkenny 0-21
Holy mother of God.
A late, great free from the heroic Lee Chin secured a draw for Wexford against Kilkenny and saved their bacon in the Leinster championship. The draw here knocked Galway out of the championship after they had lost to Dublin in Parnell Park.
The scenes in Wexford Park, the scenes in Leinster. The sheer unpredictability of sport.
Hairs stood on the back of every head in Wexford Park as for moments after the final whistle, nobody knew what the story was. As word filtered through that these teams would contest the Leinster final, Davy Fitz jumped up and down. Every single Wexford fan drew an intense sigh of relief.
It was a different story for Galway but it was some game here.
The nerve, the absolute nerve from Lee Chin to stick that late free over with Wexford's lives on the line.
Heroic stuff. pic.twitter.com/i8pPiPXOHo
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) June 15, 2019
There was some helter skelter hurling to get us going from the word go.. Right from the throw-in, Cillian Buckley was given a welcome to the championship by a fired up Kevin Foley. Enda Morrissey and Diarmuid O’Keeffe were going at it behind them.
Wexford Park was absolutely hopping.
Conor McDonald’s point 16 seconds later nearly lifted the roof off the place.
The Yellow Bellies were fired up, so were Kilkenny. There wouldn’t be a backward step taken, not by Liam Ryan anyway. The big, bulky Rapparees full back sent Adrian Mullen into the middle of next week with a thunderous shoulder as he bursted out with the ball on ten minutes. To Mullen’s credit and to the surprise of every onlooker, the 19-year-old was quick to get back to his feet.
TJ Reid and Conor Fogarty settled Kilkenny into it but Kevin Foley and Diarmuid O’Keeffe were buzzing around the place for Wexford.
Lee Chin was absolutely inspired. In contrast to the last day against Galway, the Faythe Harrier was like a scalded cat out of the blocks, chasing every ball and winning every break. He was a phenomenon in the middle third.
D O'Keeffe and Lee Chin are hurling some stuff for Wexfordpic.twitter.com/R2b6ZvM4CQ
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) June 15, 2019
But Kilkenny were at the pitch of it too. Padraig Walsh was a dynamo for them while Huw Lawlor was a solid rock behind him. Adrian Mullen despite that earlier smack, was looking lively up front.
They needed him because as Matthew O’Hanlon and TJ Reid’s scrap was whole-hearted, there was no doubt about who was winning the battle. The centre back was well on top and he was reducing the Ballyhale Shamrock to scraps.
McDonald and O’Keefe pointed again. They went into the break leading 0-13 0-10.
Kilkenny were always going to come back, weren’t they?
And it was that man Adrian Mullen who brought them back into it. The Ballyhale Shamrocks connection was alive and well as his first cousin Colin Fennelly looked up and the youngster took a touch from the gods.
Gave Mark Fanning the eyes and sent into the more difficult corner.
Adrian Mullen has arrived to championship hurling!
That is a first touch right from the Gods 😱😱pic.twitter.com/5XCSxFFfNZ
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) June 15, 2019
But Wexford kept on coming back for more. Jack O’Connor’s introduction was a God-send, it beggars belief how that man wasn’t started. After Joey Holden and Padraig Walsh scored a pair of incredible points, it was the St Martin’s player who gave a kick for Wexford.
Two brilliant points followed by another well taken effort from his brother Rory. Five minutes to go and the scores were tied at 1-17 to 0-20.
This is championship hurling.
70 minutes gone and Kilkenny were leading after a TJ Reid free. Then came Lee Chin.
