Na Fianna have shown the way for Martin's and Leinster hopefuls
Celebrating are,former Wexford and St Martin's hurler George O'Connor, Michael Coleman, Joe Barrett and St Martins selector Darin Sane after the AIB Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship quarter-final match between St Martin's and Na Fianna at Chadwicks Wexford Park in Wexford. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
A year ago, when the fat was in the fire at Parnell Park, Na Fianna pulled out a series of late scores to see off St Martin's in the Leinster club SHC.
It turned out that that defeat didn't so much crush St Martin's as inspire them and, with home advantage this time, they were the ones who thrived in the closing minutes.
Trailing by a point in stoppage time, the back-to-back Wexford champions reeled off three scores in a row to both exact revenge and end Na Fianna's reign as Leinster and All-Ireland champions.
Substitute Ben Stafford hit the first of those three points before winning a free that Rory O'Connor converted.
Then, deep into the fourth minute of stoppage time, O'Connor was hauled down for a free that, after being moved in to simple tap-over range for dissent, he duly converted to win it.
Wexford star O'Connor scored nine points in all and said that they took inspiration from watching Na Fianna go from strength to strength after last year's meeting.
"They certainly paved the way for a lot of teams in Leinster that aren't, let's say, the Kilkenny champions," said O'Connor. "I think they gave a lot of hope to the Wexford champions, the Kildare champions, the Meath champions, the Laois champions, to say to themselves, you can really do this and it's not about how good your county team is or how they're ranked in the county sphere.
"So we knew that we were well good enough, we just needed to make sure that everything went our way. And I think we've got about five percent better than last year, I think that is probably the difference. We're a little bit more conditioned, we're a lot fitter."
And yet it was a game that still could have gone either way in Wexford. The lead was swapped on several occasions and the sides were tied six times, including at half-time.
If St Martin's had lost they'd have rued the nine first-half wides they registered, and 12 in total.
Na Fianna also struck a dozen wides and will look back in anger at the unforced errors they were guilty of, particularly in the first-half, resulting in crucial scores they conceded.
O'Connor's cousin, ex-AFL player Barry had a big game, scoring 1-2, while Rory's brother, Jack, turned it on in the second-half when it really mattered and hit 0-4.
Next up for Daithi Hayes' side in the semi-final is Naas and St Martin's will have home advantage again at Chadwicks Wexford Park on November 23.
St Martin's also played Naas last year and beat the Kildare champions 1-15 to 0-13.
"In Wexford, we were the hunted," said O'Connor of St Martin's, who successfully defended their county title this year. "But today we were the ones hunting. We were going after Na Fianna. They were the ones with something to lose. We were just trying to create a bit of history for ourselves and we'll see how far this will take us now."
Kilkenny's Sean Cleere was initially pencilled in to referee this game but was replaced over the weekend by Westmeath's James McGrath.
He allowed a hugely physical game to unfold and it was all the better for it.
St Martin's led 0-10 to 0-5 after 25 minutes but when Na Fianna finally got things going, they reeled off 1-3 in the space of just three minutes.
County final hero Sean Currie kicked in the goal after a delivery from the left by Peter Feeney and the scores were tied at half-time, 1-8 to 0-11.
Na Fianna twice took two-point leads in the second-half as they tided up on the errors that plagued their first-half and pinched important points from Donal Burke, former Limerick senior Brian Ryan and the Currie brothers.
But Barry O'Connor's 50th minute goal, after being fed by Rory O'Connor, gave St Martin's a vital foothold and they kicked on with those late scores to win it.
It's the end of the line for three-in-a-row Dublin champions Na Fianna who will kick themselves for the slow start.
A third goal in the final quarter surely would have sealed the win for the but Colin Currie scuffed a goal attempt in the 57th minute and AJ Murphy flashed an attempt just over two minutes later.
R O'Connor 0-9 (6 frees); B O'Connor 1-2; J O'Connor 0-4 (1 free); D Codd, J Firman 0-2 each; M Coleman, B Stafford 0-1 each.
S Currie 1-3; C Currie 0-6 (3 frees); AJ Murphy 1-2; D Burke, B Ryan 0-2 each; J Meagher, M Murphy 0-1 each.
C Quirke; E O'Leary, C Firman, P Dempsey; D Waters, J Barrett, D O'Leary; David Codd, A Maddock; J O'Connor, Darren Codd, J Firman; M Coleman, B O'Connor, R O'Connor.
B Maddock for A Maddock (45); B Stafford for Coleman (48); S Audsley for O'Leary (59).
J Tracey; M Murphy, C McHugh, S Burke; P O'Dea, L Rushe, P Feeney; B Ryan, J Kavanagh; S Currie, D Burke, J Meagher; C Currie, T Brennan, AJ Murphy.
C McCarthy for Brennan (h/t); L Stacey for Kavanagh (52); D Clerkin for M Murphy (56-57, blood).
J McGrath (Westmeath).
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