Brosnan to the fore as Wexford stun Offaly

Veteran Ben Brosnan turned back the years with a match-winning 1-08 as Wexford rocked Offaly in Sunday's Leinster SFC opener at sunny Chadwicks Wexford Park.

Brosnan lorded matters as Wexford responded emphatically to Offaly springing into a 1-07 to 0-06 lead after 39 minutes as the 34-year-old kicked 1-05 to reassert home authority by 1-12 to 1-07 after 54 minutes and they held firmly thereafter.

And the prize is another home tie against provincial powerhouse Dublin next Saturday after the Dubs were given a searching test by Wexford in last year's championship.

Offaly were nursing the considerable blow of losing the attacking potency of the McNamee cousins, Niall and Ruairí, together with the star of last year’s All-Ireland Undere-20 glory Jack Bryant through injury.

Wexford twice claimed the early initiative through Brosnan (one free), with Offaly 'keeper Paddy Dunican and wing-back Colm Doyle bridging those gaps.

A sublime angled Mark Abbott score from the right on twelve minutes gave Offaly their first taste of the lead, and Johnny Murphy (free) doubled it 0-04 to 0-02.

Eoghan Nolan pegged back a mark before Offaly defender Declan Hogan made a goal-saving intervention as Mark Rossiter eyed the town-end net in the twentieth minute.

The Wexford goal survived a couple of narrow escapes following a subsequent exchange of points, as Anton Sullivan broke down a delivery to Dylan Hyland whose shot was smothered by 'keeper Darragh Brooks, before Bernard Allen was wide from the breaking ball.

While Brosnan levelled matters for a third time, Offaly were eventually shading matters 0-6 to 0-5 at the break after Bill Carroll completed a counter-attack.

And after exchanging pointed frees on the restart, Offaly applied the first significant