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Goals from Conor Byrne and captain Dean Healy led Wicklow to the Leinster SFC quarterfinals against Meath after defeating Wexford for the second weekend in a row at a miserable Chadwicks Wexford Park on Sunday.
Garden County had denied their neighbors in a Division 4 league promotion shooting eight days earlier at the same location, and they continued to prosper at the expense of their neighbors, whose last Leinster championship win dates back to 2014 .
Wexford made five personnel changes since the league meeting, while Wicklow made only one, as James Sheeran replaced Eoin Darcy.
Conditions were as miserable as they were eight days earlier, with heavy wind and rain, and although Wexford opened on points from Eoghan Nolan and Ben Brosnan (free), they were unable to gain any significant advantage from the gale’s first profit.
In fact, Seánie Furlong and Conor Byrne (free) made sure Wicklow was within 0-3 to 0-2 on the first drinking break.
Wexford established some daylight between the 23rd and 27th minutes when Brosnan (two free games) and Mark Rossiter opened a gap from 0-6 to 0-2, while Brosnan was unlucky enough to see a deflected kick from a vertical.
The enterprising Wicklow maintained his composure and engineered a morale-boosting goal in 34 minutes, with forward center forward Niall Donnelly feeding captain Dean Healy as the midfielder hit a low shot (0-6 to 1-2).
Healy’s center-field teammate Pádraig O’Toole soon tied things, but Wexford responded through Brosnan (free) and Alan Tobin for a narrow 0-8 to 1-3 lead at the break.
Outstanding defender Martin O’Connor broke in to extend Wexford’s lead to three points within seconds of the restart.
But Wicklow’s faith grew stronger in the increasingly dire conditions, as they regained parity after 49 minutes with points from Seánie Furlong (2) and Rory Finn (1-6 to 0-9).
Wexford was now reduced to 13 players after Eoghan Nolan and Conor Carty received black cards in separate incidents, and Wicklow continued to benefit when they got their first test of the lead via a free Seánie Furlong after 54 minutes (1-7 to 0-9).
Garden County resumed after the last hydration break in tremendous fashion when new substitute Enda Darcy broke the ball for Conor Byrne to drive to the net in the 56th minute (2-7-0-9).
That turned out to be the scorer’s last act as he turned upright and was immediately sent off.
Wexford desperately tried to rescue his season. But it was all to no avail, as points from substitute Gearóid Murphy and goalkeeper Mark Jackson (a ’45) secured Wicklow’s first win in the province since an overtime win over Offaly in 2018.
Wicklow: Mark Jackson (0-1 ’45); Patrick O’Kane, Jamie Snell, Eoin Murtagh; Rory Finn (0-1), Niall Donnelly, Dave Devereux; Pádraig O’Toole (0-1), Dean Healy (cap., 1-0); Andy Maher, Mark Kenny, Darren Hayden; James Sheeran, Seánie Furlong (0-4, 2 free), Conor Byrne (1-1, 0-1 free).
Subs: Eoin Darcy for Kenny (54); Gearóid Murphy (0-1) by Byrne, inj. (56); Oisín Manning by Devereux (60); Chris O’Brien for Sheeran (64); Daniel Keane for Donnelly (66).
Wexford: Ivan Meegan; Martin O’Connor (0-1), Gavin Sheehan, Conor Carty; Glen Malone, Eoin Porter, Brian Malone; Niall Hughes, Donal Shanley; Alan Tobin (0-2, 1 free), Liam Coleman, Mark Rossiter (0-1); Ben Brosnan (capt., 0-5 free), Eoghan Nolan (0-1 mark), Nick Doyle.
Subs: Kevin O’Grady of Rossiter (35); John Tubritt for Brosnan, inj. (48); Paudie Hughes for Shanley (51); Daithí Waters (0-1) by Doyle (60); Tom Byrne for Coleman (63).
Referee: Maurice Deegan (Laois).
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