Bizarre ending to Wexford vs Laois u-20 match as referee makes crazy decision

The Wexford u-20 hurlers returned to action this afternoon…

The match took place in Wexford Park at 2pm.

With one minute remaining, Wexford were up by one point. However, the referee judged the Wexford defender for over-carrying and awarded a free in, which the Laois attacker slotted over from the 21.

Into the first minute of injury time, the referee awarded another free to Laois on Wexford’s 65. To Wexford’s delight, the ball sailed wide.

But the main drama was yet to come.

Wexford were awarded a free on their own 45 on the covered stand side of Wexford Park.

Full-back Eoin Whelan stepped up to take the free. He hit the ball directly to centre-forward, Simon Roche, who caught the ball from the free and had just turned his marker.

At this point, the Dublin referee blew the whistle, not allowing Roche to even have a chance of a shot.

It was a bizarre decision and no doubt the biggest talking point from the game. The referee quickly went down the tunnel of Wexford Park to the sounds of boos ringing out from the home support.

The match finished as a draw, level at 18 points apiece. Despite the decision, Wexford have finished as runners up in their group behind Kilkenny. It means that Wexford have advanced into the U-20 Leinster hurling quarter-final which will take place on Wednesday 8th May, with Laois going into the preliminary quarter-final stages following today’s result.

After the game, Wexford GAA commented on the matter:

“Referee blows the whistle just as Simon Roche is about to shoot from a scoreable position for what would have been a winning score. We don’t normally comment on refs, but that’s the most controversial decision of several controversial ones today,” they said.