A FEW days after Wexford's humiliating Leinster final defeat to Kilkenny, John Meyler received a phonecall of both condolence and encouragement from Babs Keating.

It was a class gesture from Keating, and one hugely appreciated by Meyler, but yesterday Keating extended his generosity too far. As much as he bemoaned in a postmatch interview a couple of on-field decisions by his players, they could justifiably question some of the decisions from the sideline. For Babs' pride, as much as Wexford's, decided this joyous All Ireland quarter-final.

Babs might say what he likes about Tom Ryan but last Thursday night the former Limerick manager rightly made the point that the omission of Eoin Kelly from the starting 15 was an insult to a wounded Wexford that could have deadly consequences. It did more than add fuel to Wexford's fire though; in effect, for all else Babs might have preached to his charges during the week, it was telling them they were "only playing Wexford". It also played tricks with Kelly's mind. Yesterday he seemed obliged to try the spectacular at every opportunity, as if only it would ensure his starting place for the next day, and the consequence was his worst championship display in four years.

The omission of Brendan Cummins also came back to haunt Tipp, even if it was obvious from the Offaly game it always would. Gerry Kennedy did pull off a couple of decent saves yesterday, but as stirring as his bravery and energy might be, two of Wexford's three goals would not have happened on Cummins' beat.

But enough about Tipp; this was about Wexford. Yesterday they played like a team liberated to show up on a field that didn't have Kilkenny warming up at the other end and duly rediscovered the spirit and purpose of this year's league, and the abandonment of 2001 and 2003. A sign of their superiority was that probably the best player on the field was Tipp full-back Declan Fanning, and a sign of their regained composure, the display of their own number three, the imperious Keith Rossiter. Alongside him, Malachy Travers and Paul Roche played with a nerve and crispness reminiscent of Flood and Kehoe in '96. Outside him, Declan Ruth hurled with his old authority back in his old niche of centre back.

Up front, they switched and spread the play to fine effect, with Rory Jacob and Barry Lambert tormenting their markers, combining for 2-4 of Wexford's total. David 'Doc' O'Connor came on to drill over two points from play. Fittingly though the matchwinner was Damien Fitzhenry, the last '96 Braveheart standing.

It was Fitzhenry who kept Wexford alive when Kelly went for the kill a few minutes after half-time, something just as crucial as that 67th minute free he walked up to drill to the roof of Gerry Kennedy's net. After the match Tipperary would protest furiously referee James McGrath's decision to move Fitzhenry's free across the 20-metre line for dissent, but Wexford deserved this.

They shot more wides than scores yesterday, and if they had converted half their chances, would have had reached the three-goal mark by half-time.

Instead, at that juncture, they had to settle for just one, and were trailing 1-8 to 1-5, a Lar Corbett goal two minutes after Rory Jacob's separating the sides. For all the ball Ruth was hitting, his marker Benny Dunne had picked off a couple of points. On the wing, Darragh Hickey was tormenting Diarmuid 'Gizzy' Lyng, slotting over three points with efficiency similar to Mark O'Leary in his prime. Stephen Nolan, for all his reliability from deadballs, was far too ponderous in open play, while the occasional poor first touch from Eoin Quigley, and the midfield pairing of Rory McCarthy and Darren Stamp, meant Fitzhenry's high-risk low-ball puckout strategy was becoming even riskier.

In truth, Tipp should have buried this game within five minutes of the re-start but instead they played as if they were nailed to a contract stating that every match of theirs this summer had to be a nerve-jangler. Corbett and Dunne shot from overly-ambitious positions while Kelly's second goal effort was denied.

And when in the 43rd minute Rory Jacob found an onrunning and unmarked Barry Lambert with a delightful diagonal pass and Lambert found the net, the momentum was with Wexford.

So was the force.

WEXFORD D Fitzhenry (1-0, free); M Travers, K Rossiter, P Roche; R Kehoe, D Ruth, D Lyng; R McCarthy (0-1), D Stamp; E Quigley (0-1), M Jordan, S Nolan (0-2, both '65s); B Lambert (1-2, one 65), M Jacob, R Jacob (1-2). Subs: C Kenny for McCarthy (half-time), D O'Connor (0-2) for S Nolan (44 mins), PJ Nolan for Jordan (48 mins), P White for M Jacob (63 mins), W Doran for PJ Nolan (71 mins).

TIPPERARY G Kennedy; E Buckley, D Fanning, A Byrne; E Corcoran, C O'Mahony, S Maher; H Maloney (0-2), S Butler; J Carroll (0-1), B Dunne (0-2), D Hickey (0-4); L Corbett (1-1), D Egan, W Ryan. Subs: E Kelly (0-3, two frees) for Egan (26 mins), S McGrath (0-1) for Ryan (half-time), D Fitzgerald for Byrne (42 mins), P Bourke for Butler (48 mins).

Referee J McGrath (Westmeath)