Hi °C | Lo °C Wexford qualified for the semi-finals with a dramatic win at St Loman's Lakepoint Park in Mullingar, Robert Dempsey netting his second goal of the night in the dying seconds of extra-time to earn his side a one-point win.
There was never much between the teams in an error-ridden first half, at the end of which Wexford led by 1-4 to 0-5 courtesy of a Dempsey goal in the 16th minute.
The standard of play was also poor in the second half, with both sides relying mainly on free-kicks for scores and they were tied at the end of 60 minutes on a scoreline of Wexford 1-8 Westmeath 0-11.
Despite losing Kelvin Reilly to a straight red card five minutes into extra-time, Westmeath looked set to pull off a win against the odds and they led by a point at the break (0-12 to 1-8).
But Dempsey pounced on a last-gasp defensive error by the home side to send his team to a last-four clash with Longford.
Scorers – Wexford: R Dempsey 2-0, L Devereux (1f), AJ Lehan (2f) 0-2 each, A Tobin 0-4 (4f), J Tubritt, C Kehoe 0-1each. Westmeath: J Heslin 0-7 (6f), S Daly 0-4 (4f), K Reilly, M Rock, A Coffey, L Dolan 0-1 each.
Wexford – M O'Toole; D Foley, T Cullen, A Cash; J Kelly, D O'Keefe, L Chin; C Kehoe, E O'Byrne; J Tubritt, C O'Brien, AJ Lehan; L Devereux, G Cullen, R Dempsey. Subs: M Cody for O'Byrne (34), A Tobin for Lehan (44), E Shiely for O'Brien (44), P Breen for Devereux (57), K Butler for Foley (e-t 15), S Corrigan for Cullen (e-t, 19).
Westmeath – K Maguire; J Rock, J O'Toole, G McCallon; K Daly, S Gilmore, P Joyce; J Heslin, T English; K Reilly, S Daly, P Holloway; J Gonoud, D McCormack, A Coffey. Subs: M Rock for Gonoud (47), D Whelan for Joyce (49), L Dolan for McCormack (56).
Ref – F Barry (Kildare).
