The Wexford Senior hurlers had their third clash of their Allianz Hurling League campaign over the weekend…
Keith Rossiter’s Wexford side defeated Carlow in Wexford Park on Saturday afternoon by 10 points on a score-line of 2-28 to 1-21. It was nip and tuck for large periods of the game, but a late surge from Wexford helped to steer the hosts to victory.
Three from three:
Wexford’s win against Carlow means that they are now three from three in the Allianz Hurling League. Albeit, the three teams that they have faced so far (Antrim, Down, Carlow) are games that the Model County were expected to win. In all three games, they didn’t make it easy for themselves. They needed a last minute free from Mark Fanning to secure the points over Antrim, two late points from Simon Roche and Conor Hearne to come away from Down with the win, and then a late surge in the final quarter to win against Carlow.
In their most-recent clash against Carlow, the Barrowsiders were up by one point on the 53rd minute mark (1-18 – 1-19). However, Wexford responded excellently to Carlow, outscoring them 1-10 to 0-02 in the last section of the game. There are some positives to take from wins like this too and it’s these tests, where they have to grind out results, which will stand to the young players moving forward. With three games played, Wexford now sit in second position of the 1B Allianz Hurling League with six points, but tougher tests are yet to come.
Performances from Kinsella and Roche:
There’s no doubt that two players stood up in Wexford’s attack. Thomas ‘Tucker’ Kinsella from the Askamore club scored 0-06 from play and was a menace in attack. The Askamore player reminds me somewhat to Paul Morris, a man who’s dead accurate and always good for a score when given the appropriate ball. Some of his scores were ridiculous. His last score, from the 14-metre line on the stand side was the pick of the bunch in my opinion, showing his class and composure. His other scores showcased his ability though with scores on the run off his left on both side-lines. It was a game where everything seemed to go right for the Wexford attacker.
Even though Kinsella scored 6 points from play, Oulart-The Ballagh clubman Simon Roche was really on a different level. He scored 0-14, with four points coming from play. The young Oulart man also played a pivotal role in setting up multiple scores for his team-mates and seemed to be always in the action. He was awarded the Man of the Match award by TG4 and it was richly-deserved. It was interesting to note too that when Lee Chin came on to the field on the 46th minute mark, Rossiter kept Roche on free-taking duties. Overall, 13 points from play came from Wexford’s full-forward line of Kinsella, Roche, and Jack Redmond.
Chin’s return:
One of the biggest cheers of the night came when Faythe Harriers club man, Lee Chin, made his return to the pitch for the Purple and Gold. It was Chin’s first competitive minutes of the season. In his brief spell on the pitch, he scored 2 points from play. One was a crucial score too and came when Wexford were behind by one point.
Lee Chin signs hurls for the kids after last nights game in Wexford.. pic.twitter.com/Yam4CCn4e4
— james lawlor 📸 (@JamesLawPhotos) February 8, 2026
“It cannot be over-emphasised the importance of Lee Chin to this group. I know he’s back in training but he transforms this team single-handedly,” Neil McManus said in a recent podcast with RTE.
With Chin on the field, Wexford are a different animal. Both Simon Donohoe and Cian Byrne also came off the bench for Wexford in the closing stages, which helped to steady the ship against a battle-hardened Carlow side under the stewardship of former Ferns St Aidans manager, Pat Bennet.
Tougher tests ahead:
Wexford have now played Antrim, Down, and Carlow. Without taking anything away from those counties, these were three games that Wexford were expected to win despite a large number of newcomers in the set-up.
Wexford have tougher tests ahead now. Their next clash comes against Dublin in Croke Park in two week’s time. It’ll be part of a double-header in Croke Park, with the Dublin footballers taking on Kerry in their respective Allianz League encounter. Another tricky away clash will come against Brian Lohan’s Clare side. Wexford’s last clash in the Allianz League will be against Kildare (home) who over the weekend, comfortably defeated Davy Fitzgerald’s Antrim side.
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Teams / Scorers:
Wexford: Mark Fanning (1-00, 1-00 pen); Darragh Carley, Conor Foley, Damien Reck; Philip Dempsey, Richie Lawlor, Eamon Wickham; Conor Hearne (0-01), David Codd; Darren Codd (0-02), Kevin Foley, Ross Banville (1-00); Simon Roche (0-14, 0-10fs), Jack Redmond (0-03), Tomás Kinsella (0-06).
Subs: Lee Chin (0-02) for David Codd (48), James Byrne for Banville (54), Simon Donohoe for Dempsey (63), Cian Byrne for Redmond (65), Diarmuid O’Leary for Wickham (71).
Carlow: Brian Tracey; Niall Bolger, Dion Wall, Paul Doyle; Fiach Ó Toole, Kevin McDonald (0-01), Evan Kealy; Fiachra Fitzpatrick (1-00), Jon Nolan (0-01); Jack Treacy (0-01), Donagh Murphy (0-01), Conor Kehoe; Chris Nolan (0-03), John Michael Nolan, Marty Kavanagh (0-14, 0-13fs).
Subs: Paddy Boland for John Michael Nolan (HT), Ted Joyce for Kehoe (43), Kevin Kavanagh for Murphy (60), Páidí O’Shea for Kealy (61), John Doyle for Treacy (70+1).
Referee: Thomas Gleeson (Dublin).
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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