Wexford are still alive and kicking after a stunning victory at Nowlan Park - but it’s Kilkenny who go on to the Leinster final.
Galway’s victory over Dublin at Salthill meant that Wexford, Kilkenny and Dublin all finished on six points, with the capital side’s inferior scoring difference seeing them exit the Championship.
Kilkenny and Galway will now meet in the Leinster final in two weeks’ time at Croke Park with Wexford claiming third place and an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final place against one of the Joe McDonagh Cup finalists.
This was also Wexford’s first ever Championship victory at Nowlan Park - and what a time to get it.
Wexford had some heroic displays here, with Lee Chin’s leadership and accuracy - he hit nine points from 10 shots - key to the win.
But Darragh Egan will be most pleased by the huge impact his bench made in the final 15 minutes.
Cathal Dunbar, Mikie Dwyer and Conal Flood all scored points, while Charlie McGuckin had a hand in two scores inside three minutes of his introduction on 62 minutes.
Liam Ryan was magnificent at full-back, firing a long range point and taking a point blank shot from Billy Ryan in the body late on as Kilkenny looked for the goal which would blow the game wide open.
In the end the Cats were reduced to route-one stuff from a long way out, but Wexford piled the bodies back to protect Mark Fanning's goal.
Wexford played some clever and controlled hurling in the final 15 minutes, working the ball well, and Dywer’s score in particular was a peach of an effort as he weaved his way through the heart of the Kilkenny defence.
Damien Reck managed to hold Eoin Cody scoreless - no mean feat, while Wexford had 12 different scorers to Kilkenny's seven.
Going into the game Wexford knew that a win would all but guarantee a top three spot and survival in the All-Ireland series.
And if Dublin were to spring a shock against Galway in Salthill, it would send Kilkenny packing out of the Championship.
Wexford were looking for a response following last weekend’s surprise draw with Westmeath in Mullingar, and a run of poor results going back to the League semi-final, and they certainly got it on a tense evening in Kilkenny City.
Wexford had won just one game since the final round of the League on March 20 - a Leinster round robin encounter with Laois, although they did draw with Galway.
But with their backs against the wall, they came out fighting.
Kilkenny were missing regular full-back Huw Lawlor, the man many regard as the top number three in the game, with Conor Delaney deputising - and he found Conor McDonald a handful at times.
Underdogs Wexford weathered a shaky spell following Martin Keoghan’s eighth-minute goal after referee Fergal Horgan played advantage. And when Keoghan pointed again Kilkenny had a 1-4 to 0-2 lead.
Wexford steadied and went on to hit five points on the bounce, but nine first half wides and two shots against the post undid their efforts.
The goal they badly needed arrived on 34 minutes when a long Wexford puck-out slipped through the Kilkenny defence and Oisin Foley sped clear to fire to the net.
Suddenly Wexford were three points clear.
Two minutes later, in another potentially seismic moment, McDonald brilliantly fielded Rory O’Connor’s long ball inside, but Eoin Murphy pulled off a point-blank save when a goal seemed certain.
Tactically, Wexford set up with Diarmuid O’Keeffe dropping in as a spare defender and Kevin Foley filling in at midfield.
This left Richie Reid as Kilkenny’s spare man.
O’Keeffe had the bigger influence, hitting two first half points from four shots and cleaning up a pile of ball as the game wore on.
Wexford continually looked to clear space in front of Rory O’Connor and hit him with puck-outs and long ball, and the tactic worked well.
O’Connor, marked by Mikey Butler, had three first half wides, before he fired one over the top to get himself up and running.
The key Wexford match-up saw Damien Reck pick up Eoin Cody, while Matthew O’Hanlon followed TJ Reid and Paudie Foley locked horns in a series of terrific aerial duels with Walter Walsh, who Kilkenny repeatedly hit with long puck-outs.
Wexford started the second half against the breeze, with Chin and McDonald inside, and Reid sitting in front of them sweeping.
But as the half wore on they slowly got on top and worked the ball sweetly out of defence at times to create the scores that saw them run out deserving winners.
WEXFORD: M Fanning, S Donohoe (0-2), L Ryan (0-1), C Devitt, M O’Hanlon, D Reck, P Foley, D O’Keeffe (0-2), L Chin (0-9, 7fs), J O’Connor (0-1), K Foley, L Og McGovern (0-1), O Foley (1-0), C McDonald (0-1), R O’Connor (0-2).
Subs: C Flood (0-1) for Devitt (inj) 41mins, M Dwyer (0-1) for J O’Connor 55mins, C Dunbar (0-1) for K Foley 57mins, C McGuckin for O Foley 62mins, P Morris for McDonald 72mins.
KILKENNY: E Murphy, M Butler, C Delaney, T Walsh, M Carey (0-2), R Reid, P Deegan, A Murphy, A Mullen (0-2), W Walsh (0-1), TJ Reid (0-10, 8fs, 1 65), C Kenny, T Phelan, M Keogan (1-1), E Cody.
Subs: B Ryan (0-1, f) for Phelan 45, J Maher for A Murphy 54mins, P Walsh (0-1) for Kenny 68mins, J Donnelly for Keogan 69mins.
REFEREE: F Horgan (Tipperary)
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