Wexford finish with 13 men but draw with Offaly

A 13-man Wexford side salvaged a draw with wasteful Offaly in Saturday's rain-lashed second round Allianz Hurling League Division 1A duel at Chadwicks Wexford Park.

The strongly fancied hosts had to wait until the 61st minute to hit the front for the first time – a free from distance by 'keeper Mark Fanning grabbing a 0-16 to 0-15 lead.

But Offaly were boosted by a 65th minute equalising goal from Brian Duignan shortly before Wexford lost a second player to a straight red-card – defender Charlie McGuckin following Jack O’Connor’s earlier dismissal.

And the visitors looked set to snatch a merited victory through Duignan (free) and David King.

Tenacious Wexford battled through the teeming rain though to eventually secure back-to-back draws, after the opening day deadlock with Kilkenny, as inspirational captain Lee Chin and ultimately Seamus Casey intervened before a raucous 3,664 attendance.

It was a certainly a close call for Wexford, who are left to review this off-colour showing before returning to action on February 25th at home to Clare, with Offaly facing the daunting trip to Kilkenny in better heart after this improved showing.

Offaly opened purposefully when crafting a 0-5 to 0-1 advantage inside eight minutes amid damp but calm conditions, a surge crowned by a quick-fire double from centre-back Cillian Kiely, with fellow defender Ben Conneely also on target.

All the momentum was with the midlanders against a sluggish home-side, with Johnny Kelly’s charges unfortunate not to generate a significant lead when firing eight wides inside the first thirty minutes – five more than Wexford at that stage.

Nevertheless, Offaly maintained an edge as Killian Sampson and Charlie Mitchell chipped in to maintain a four point gap (0-9 to