Wexford manager Keith Rossiter said his side brought a knockout championship mentality in their landmark eight-point victory over Galway in yesterday's Leinster Hurling Championship encounter in Chadwick's Wexford Park.
The home side had minimal room for error after their shock two-point loss in Belfast the week before and ripped into their lethargic opponents with abandon, cutting loose in the second half after Rory O'Connor's goal established a four-point gap.
Unlike in Corrigan Park, where Lee Chin carried almost the entirety of the scoring load, their star attacker had ample support on this occasion, with O'Connor and Conor McDonald rampant in the inside forward line.
Though they were forced to play the final 20 minutes with 14 men after Cian Byrne's sending off on a straight red card, their lead was never seriously threatened late on, and they ran out eight-point winners, securing their first championship victory over Galway since 1996.
For Rossiter, it was a first championship win at his third attempt. The manager attributed the performance to the realisation that their season was on the line.
"It keeps the dream alive and keeps us in the hunt. It’s a great win. We’ll enjoy tonight.
"A lot of good performances on the field that we were sort of waiting for the last two weeks."
As with last year, when Wexford secured a final round victory over Kilkenny to secure their Liam MacCarthy status, the influence of a raucous home crowd was heralded as a major factor.
"I’m just delighted for the players that they put in the performance for the supporters that came out to see us today.
"The easiest thing for the supporters today was don’t come out. We had a loss and a draw [in the first two games] but in fairness they came out today in their numbers.
"They got us over the line, especially when we got the man sent off. We were playing with 16 and it got back to 15 when Cian was sent off, so it made a massive difference."
Corner-forward Byrne was issued with a reckless high challenge on Donal O'Shea, the Galway substitute being caught flush in the face, his helmet flying off in the collision.
Rossiter, however, argued the call was harsh, saying there was no malice in the challenge and that the team of officials could have shown more leniency.
"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."
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