Wexford seal semi spot

Louth 2-8 Wexford 0-16, Croke Park

Wexford held off a late charge from Louth to book their place in the Leinster SFC semi-finals as their first outing of the summer ended in a two-point success at Croke Park.

Paul Bealin's men certainly brought their shooting boots to headquarters as they set up a July 1 meeting with Laois.

Wexford's greater accuracy in front of goal saw them 0-12 to 2-2 in front by half-time, with Matty Forde (0-5), debutant Ciaran Lyng (0-2) and Adrian Flynn (0-2) catching the eye.

In their third visit to Croke Park in the space of a month, Louth's hopes were lifted by a brace of goals.

John O'Brien netted in the fourth-minute after a slick move, while JP Rooney goaled on the rebound, nine minutes before the break, as Mark Stanfield's penalty shot incredibly bounced back off both uprights.

The Wee men introduced two experienced attackers in Darren Clarke and Shane Lennon for the second half, but it took a while before those changes had an effect.

By the 50th-minute, Wexford were 0-14 to 2-2 ahead with Flynn and Forde ('45') again on target. However, Louth upped the tempo for the remainder of the match, with Clarke, Aaron Hoey, Lennon and Paddy Keenan all helping themselves to points.

Redmond Barry steadied Wexford with a score from distance, three minutes from time, and although a Clarke free reduced the arrears for Louth to just two points, time ran out on Eamonn McEnaney's plucky outfit.