GAA: Waterford too strong for Wexford in 1-23 to 1-19 win

A far superior Waterford side booked their place in the All-Ireland hurling semi-finals with a comfortable 1-23 to 1-19 win over a Wexford side that never really troubled the Deise.

It was only an injury-time goal from Jack O'Connor that put a bit of gloss on the scoreboard for Wexford, but even when Waterford went down to 14 men after Tadgh De Burca got a straight red card with five minutes to go, the Leinster team never got close to Derek McGrath's side.

Waterford were six points up at 1-20 to 0-17 when De Burca was sent off for pulling the head guard of Harry Kehoe, but Waterford pulled away again before O'Connor's consolation goal.

De Burca will now miss the semi-final and will be a massive loss as the Deise look to win the Liam MacCarthy cup for the first time since 1959. They will face either Galway or Cork in the draw on Monday morning.

In front of a crowd of 31,753 in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Waterford started with more composure and settled well. Wexford looked cagey and nervous and that was apparent when they started giving away needless frees in the first half.

The simply couldn't handle Brick Walsh as he gave Willie Devereux a torrid time in the first half and won a number of frees, which Pauric Mahony easily hit over.

By the 18th minute, Waterford were 0-8 to 0-4 up and well worth the double score. Wexford rallied though and within seven minutes, they had it back to a one-point game at 0-9 to 0-8.

However, Lee Chin's radar was slightly off as some of his long-range frees went wide and the other Wexford players were shooting from distance, often dropping attempts short into the hands of Waterford 'keeper Stephen O'Keeffe.

With Wexford looking like they would go in only two points down 0-12 to 0-10, Davy Fitz started to make his way down from the stand towards the dressing room but as he got down pitchside, Waterford capitalised on some poor defending to get the first goal of the game.

Shane Bennett collected a long ball in and passed it into the advancing Kevin Moran, who slotted the ball under Wexford 'keeper Mark Fanning to make it 1-12 to 0-10 at half-time.

Both Davy Fitz and Waterford's Dan Shanahan had a word with the Tipperary referee Fergal Horgan as he came off at half-time due to some decisions that neither men agreed with.

Whatever the Wexford manager said at the break seemed to work as Lee Chin moved further forward and the Yellowbellies scored the first three scores of the second half to make it 1-12 to 0-13.

However, the gap did not get smaller for Wexford as substitute Maurice Shanahan and Brian O'Halloran scored two points apiece while Wexford never really troubled Stephen O'Keeffe in the Waterford goals.

Jack O'Connor's goal in the fourth minute of injury time made the final score look a lot closer than the game actually was.

This is Davy Fitz's first season in charge of Wexford and when the disappointment of this game settles, they will look back on a season where they gained promotion from Division 1B in the league and had a fantastic 1-20 to 3-11 victory over Kilkenny in the Leinster championship.

In Lee Chin, they have a fine talent and with the likes of Rory O'Connor joining him, Wexford hurling is back in good condition after a few seasons in the doldrums.

Waterford will now move on to the semi-finals and won't be afraid of who they get in the draw. They also recorded a great victory over Kilkenny in the last round and McGrath and his team will be quietly confident of booking an All-Ireland final place.

Waterford: Stephen O'Keeffe, Shane Fives, Barry Coughlan, Noel Connors, Tadhg de Burca, Austin Gleeson (0-03), Philip Mahony; Jamie Barron, Conor Gleeson (0-01), Kevin Moran (1-02), Pauric Mahony (0-10, 10f), Jake Dillon (0-01), Shane Bennett, Michael Walsh (0-01), Darragh Fives (0-01).

Subs: Maurice Shanahan (0-02) for Jake Dillon (44), Brian O'Halloran (0-02) for Shane Bennett (46), Stephen Bennett for Michael Walsh (53), Colin Dunford for Jamie Barron (23),

Wexford: Mark Fanning; Willie Devereux, Liam Ryan (0-01), James Breen; Eoin Moore (0-01), Mathew O'Hanlon, Diarmuid O'Keeffe (0-02), Shaun Murphy, Rory O'Connor (0-02), David Redmond, Lee Chin (0-03, 3f), Jack Guiney (0-06, 6f), Podge Doran, Conor McDonald (0-01), Paul Morris (0-01).

Subs: Aidan Nolan for David Redmond (25), Jack O'Connor (1-02) for Paul Morris (42), Shane Tompkins for Doran (63),

Referee: Fergal Horgan (Tipperary)