The Wexford Senior hurling team defeated Galway in Chadwicks Wexford Park on Saturday afternoon…
At the end of the game, the score-board read 1-28 to 0-23 in favour of the Model County. It was Wexford’s first win of the Championship, having drawn with Dublin in the first round and then lost to Antrim in the second round.
One of the talking points of the game was the sending off of Wexford’s corner-forward, Cian Byrne after he was adjudged to have dangerously charged at Galway’s Donal O’Shea. It meant Wexford had to play the final 20 minutes of the game with fourteen men.
A video of the incident has since surfaced online.
Speaking to RTE Sport after the game, Wexford manager Keith Rossiter didn’t believe the tackle warranted a sending off, claiming that Byrne doesn’t have a “dirty stroke in his body.”
“I thought it wasn’t a sending off. It’s the smallest man on the field and the player sort of turned back into him.
“I know the helmet came off, and I know you can serious injuries from head injuries, but in fairness to Cian there’s not a dirty stroke in his body.
“We’ll be looking at the video but I think it was harsh. You have a fourth official, you have a linesman and a referee, a bit of common sense between them…
“I looked at Henry and he’s saying ‘That’s a yellow card Keith, it was an accident’. To turn around with a red…
“That did put us under pressure and it could have gone either way for us. But in fairness the lads got energy from it and dug in even deeper, which was brilliant to see,” he said.
Likewise, on South East Radio after the game, both Tom Dempsey and Cyril Farrell believed that Wexford should look to have the red card overturned by appealing the decision.
Despite the sending off, Wexford still went on to claim an important an historic win. It was their first time beating Galway in the Championship since 1996.
To Wexford’s delight, Wexford will have two weeks to recover before their next clash. Their next clash takes place in Dr Cullen Park against Carlow, a team that will fighting with tooth and nail to ensure they secure their Liam McCarthy status for next year.
Read more about the talking points from Wexford’s win over Galway here.
Jason Redmond
From Gorey, Jason is the owner of Wexford Weekly. He is also a post-primary English and History teacher.
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