Four talking points as Wexford lose out to Limerick in Allianz League final decider

The Wexford Senior Footballers travelled to Headquarters – Croke Park – on Saturday afternoon…

Silverware was up for grabs for John Hegarty’s Wexford Senior footballers, but they failed to get over the line with Limerick winning out on a score-line of 3-11 to 0-18.

Here, we’ll look through some of the major talking points from the game.

Goals win games:

It’s cliché, but again, this cliché turned out to be true this time around. Although Wexford put up a good point tally, scoring 0-18 with 0-12 coming from play, it’s never going to be easy when you concede three goals. Of Limerick’s 3-11, 3-08 came from play. Crucially, Limerick’s goals almost always seemed to come at the perfect time and against the run of play. Wexford would eat back into their lead, drawing the game, before Limerick would go up and score another goal. This happened on three separate occasions, allowing the Treaty County to hold onto their lead, always keeping Wexford chasing and on the back-foot. Limerick’s goals came from Darragh Ó Siochrú, Peter Nash and Tommie Childs .

Wexford’s key men:

From a spectator’s perspective, it was an excellent game to watch. The game was played at a high-tempo and a number of Wexford players stood out on the big occasion. Wexford defenders, Eoin Porter and Shelmaliers clubman Eoghan Nolan were Wexford’s stand-out players in the defence. They were regularly seen chasing down the field starting Wexford’s attack. In midfield, Kilanerin clubman Niall Hughes starred, scoring 0-02 points from play.

In attack, however, Wexford seemed to struggle to stamp their authority on the game. Testament to this is the fact that Wexford’s forwards scored just four points from play between team, with points coming from substitute Graeme Cullen, Kevin O’Grady, and wing-forward Paraic Hughes also snatching two points. Wexford attacker Shane Pettit was close to finding the net when he raced through on the Hill 16 goal before seeing his low shot bounce back off the post. In Wexford’s previous games, their attacking style and their attackers were regularly on the score-sheet – a major reason which helped them secure promotion.

Wexford’s last chance:

Losing by two points with three minutes to go, Wexford needed a 2-pointer to level the game and force extra time. On the 69th minute mark, Wexford had possession in the Limerick half. It was interesting to see midfielder, Niall Hughes, indicate to his fellow players to set it up for a two-pointer. Whereas before, the only thing to do would be to go for a goal and try work it through the Limerick defence, the new rules have added an extra dimension for the closing stages of closely-contested games. Wexford worked the ball well across the field, trying to find an opportunity to go for the two-pointer. After another 3 minutes of working the ball, the opportunity eventually fell for Niall Hughes. Hughes’ attempt had the distance but went slightly wide to the delight of Limerick supporters; at the same time, it was great to see the opportunity attempted as opposed to losing the ball.

Not all is lost:

Not all is lost for the Wexford Senior footballers. Of course, it would have been nice to climb the steps of the Hogan Stands, lift the cup, and bring it back to Wexford. But, at the end of the day, Wexford have still been promoted. That was the aim that they’ve set out for the past number of seasons – and in 2025, they secured that. It was a fantastic year for the Wexford Senior footballers, winning seven from seven in their Allianz League group games. Brining back silverware would have been the icing on the cake, but with promotion gained for next season, all in Wexford are still very happy. There’s somewhat of a revival happening in Wexford football and it’s great to see. Hopefully, with the success from this campaign, Wexford can build on that and can continue to perform in Division 3 next season.

There’s still a lot to look forward to this season also, and the Wexford footballers will not have any time to dwell on their Allianz League final loss. Wexford’s first match in the Leinster Senior Football Championship will be against Laois – and it’s safe to say they won’t be fearing them when they arrive in Wexford Park next Saturday on April 5th for the opening round of the Leinster football championship. A win for Wexford will see them face Louth in the Leinster quarter-final the following weekend.