St Annes march on into Wexford Senior Hurling Final after win over the Shelmaliers

On Sunday we saw the first of the two Wexford Senior Hurling Championship semi-finals in Wexford Park, between St Anne’s and the Shemailers…

Ahead of the clash, both teams had a good record. St Anne’s hammered the Rappareees on a score line 0-33 to 1-15 in their quarter-final last Saturday. As for the Shelmaliers, they stumbled their way to a 0-14 to 1-08 victory against Crossabeg/Ballymurn in a poor game at Wexford Park a fortnight ago.

It was a blustery day in Wexford Park, but Sunday’s two semi-finals went ahead despite the concern of Storm Ashely disrupting the games.

The first half begun and St Anne’s had the advantage of playing with wind and they took advantage of the windy conditions with some fantastic scorers from inside their own 65. The Shelmaliers couldn’t handle the tough conditions in the first half; it proved costly for them especially from their own puck outs, gifting St Anne’s some handy points from play.

St Anne’s were well on top coming into half time; they led the Shelmarliers 0-12 to 0-02 at half time. One of the key players for St Annes, who was almost unmarkable at times was wing-forward, Aidan Rochford, who slotted over four points from play in the first half.

Barry O'Connor cuts through a gale force wind to score the goal that proved that adverse weather conditions were not going to stop the Martins on their road to this years Pettitt's Senior Hurling Championship country final. pic.twitter.com/rrS9v8ZQIQ
— Wexford GAA (@OfficialWexGAA) October 20, 2024

It was a uphill battle for the Shelmaliers in the second half. After only scoring two points in the first half, they would need to take advantage of the wind in the second half. The Shelmarliers threatened to put their own stamp on the match, but already, some may have been feeling like it was too little too late.

But, similar to the first-half, the windy Wexford Park conditions proved difficult for both teams. Whereas the Shels struggled to get points on the board in the first-half, this was the same case for the Annes in the second-half, only scoring two points of their own, both coming from frees – one on the 42nd minute mark and another on the 46th minute mark from free-taker Darragh Furlong.

A penalty for the Shelmaliers had revitalised the team, bringing the scores to 0-14 to 1-07. The gap was reduced from seven points to four and no doubt, it was going to be a tense finish to the end of the game. But St Annes continued to hassle in the defence, making it difficult for the Shels to take their chances.

The two second-half points that they scored proved to be the difference, with St Annes running out two point winners in the end, on a score-line of 0-14 to 1-09.

St Annes will now take on St Martins in the Wexford SHC final, after St Martins comfortably defeated reigning champions Naomh Eanna in the other-semi-final. It means that once again, there will be a new winner of the Wexford SHC. The two-in-a-row has not been completed since Oulart-The Ballagh’s wins in 2015 and 2016, highlighting the competitiveness of the Wexford Senior Hurling Championship.

Full time:

St Annes 0-14

Shelmaliers 1-09

Referee: Eamonn Furlong

First-half domination helps to see St Martins through to the Wexford Senior Hurling final

In related Wexford hurling news, Oulart-The Ballagh survived the relegation drop, sending Cloughbawn back down into the Intermediate ranks after just one year.

You can also read Adam’s report from the other Wexford Senior hurling semi-final between St Martins and Naomh Eanna here.

Featured Image: Nicola Reddy Photography