Models edge out Offaly

Wexford 2-11 Offaly 0-16

Aided by goals from Shane Roche and PJ Banville, Wexford were able to withstand a late Offaly flourish and maintain their interest in the Championship at Wexford Park this afternoon.

Playing into a stiff first-half wind, Wexford burst out of the blocks obviously keen to banish the demons of the Leinster quarter-final loss to Kildare three weeks ago.

The first of today’s All-Ireland SFC first round qualifiers saw the home side take the early initiative, with Shane Cullen settling early nerves with a pointed free and PJ Banville adding a second point soon after.

Indeed, Banville was also handed a goal-scoring opportunity in the opening minutes, but Offaly goalkeeper Padraig Kelly was well placed to pull off a quality save.

However, Offaly were beginning to dominate in the midfield sector and Wexford were on the back foot, as evidenced by their failure to score for 18 minutes.

From a two-point deficit, Tom Cribben's Offaly side struck seven unanswered points to claim a 0-07 to 0-02 advantage with 25 minutes gone on the clock.

Four players were on target for the Faithful County during this entertaining spell, including veteran Ciaran McManus who led the charge with a ninth-minute point.

PJ Ward and Niall McNamee pointed to push the visitors in front for the first time at 0-03 to 0-02, and defender Stephen Lonergan also caught the eye with a neatly taken left-footed point.

There were goal chances also for the Faithfuls and PJ Ward should have done better with a 21st minute chance.

A bit of hesitancy on the part of the former Westmeath player gave Wexford time to scramble back in defence and Ward's shot was cleared away by goalkeeper Anthony Masterson.

This missed opportunity failed to dent the midlanders’ hopes as they ploughed on regardless, with McNamee and Ward continuing to cause problems in attack.

McNamee extended Offaly's lead to four points, thanks to an excellent brace of scores from play in the 22nd minute, before Ward made it five.

But Offaly fell off the boil before the interval as Wexford made a strong finish to the half.

Firstly, Wexford steadied themselves with a brace of points from Banville and Ciaran Lyng on target – Offaly followed up with a McNamee free – but the best was yet to come from the Slaneysiders.

A lapse in the Offaly defence saw Wexford pounce for their first goal. Full-forward Shane Roche successfully squeezed the ball through a forest of bodies and into the net, cutting the gap to a point on the stroke of half-time (0-08 to 1-04).

Offaly boss Cribbin sensed some positional switches were required for the second half, with his captain Alan McNamee moving to centre-forward in a direct switch with Niall Smith.

And the Faithfuls broke two points clear thanks to a PJ Ward free inside three minutes of the restart.

The game continued to ebb and flow. Wexford countered significantly with four points without reply to take the lead for the first time since the seventh minute, on a 1-08 to 0-09 score-line.

Lyng, David Murphy, Redmond Barry and Adrian Flynn added points, and although PJ Ward added points either side of a Thomas Deehan score for the visitors, some poor defending from Offaly helped Wexford steal in for a second goal.

Offaly led by 0-12 to 1-08 at the end of a fast-paced third quarter, but the final quarter began on a positive note for the hosts.

A sideline ball from Ciaran Lyng, 20 metres out, found the in-rushing Banville close to the square and he applied an assured finish to Kelly from close range.

An entertaining closing quarter-of-an-hour followed, with both teams scoring three points in this period, but Wexford determinedly held out by the minimum margin.

WEXFORD: A Masterson; N Murphy, G Molloy, D Carter; B Malone, D Murphy, C Morris; D Fogarty, B Doyle; R Barry (0-01), S Cullen (0-04, 0-01f), A Flynn (0-01); C Lyng (0-03, 0-01f), S Roche (1-00), PJ Banville (1-02).

Subs used: A Doyle for Carter (53 mins), C Deely for Roche (64), D Bradley for Doyle (70+1).

OFFALY: P Kelly; S Lonergan, G Rafferty, B Darby; K Slattery, S Sullivan, T O'Connor; A McNamee, B Connor; C McManus (0-01, 0-01f) S Ryan, N Smith; T Deehan (0-02), PJ Ward (0-05, 0-01f), N McNamee (0-06, 0-03f).

Subs used: N Coughlan (0-01) for O'Connor (43 mins), K Casey for McManus (60), C Evans for Sullivan (64).

Referee: Cormac Reilly (Meath).