Leinster SHC semi-final: Dublin v Wexford, Nowlan Park, 3.30, Referee C McAllister (Cork)

On the basis that their presence here today would have furnished equal cause for gratification, it is no slight on Offaly to declare that Wexford's quarter-final win warmed the heart. A championship occasion at Wexford Park, a noisy crowd, a spirited performance by the hosts; whatever happens from here on, Colm Bonnar will at least have one evening to look back on with satisfaction from a season that included defeat by Antrim and the debacle that was the Division 2 final. To return to an assertion made on these pages a few years back, there is no more cheering an index of the health of the old game than a colourful and competitive Wexford team.

Clearly Bonnar has decided that, if nothing else, his charges won't be thrown around. At centre-back against Offaly, Richie Kehoe provided steel and presence under the dropping ball, while Stephen Banville's resumption of normal service following his eclipse in Thurles a few weeks earlier was both crucial on the night and encouraging with the long term in mind. Remembering his two goals against Waterford last summer and the calmness with which he despatched them, it was mildly surprising that Stephen Doyle wasn't employed closer to the opposition posts. Here's someone who today can feast on the crumbs that fall from Banville's table.

Today marks the third summer in succession the pair have met at the same venue. Dublin lost it at the death two seasons ago and had too little of the play in the second half to have argued overmuch about the outcome. Last year, however, they should have won it and might have won it well. The shadow of the recent past may enervate them as much as energise them; the absence of Ronan Fallon unquestionably tends towards the former scenario.

Anybody's game. The presence of Anthony Daly in the other corner notwithstanding, Wexford may just have found a rhythm when it matters.

Verdict Wexford by two

Wexford D Fitzhenry; M Travers, P Roche, D O'Connor; M Jacob, R Kehoe, C Kenny; D Lyng, P Atkinson; W Doran, T Waters, R Jacob; D Redmond, S Banville, S Doyle

DUBLIN G Maguire; N Corcoran, T Brady, O Gough; S Hiney, J Boland, M Carton; J McCaffrey, S Durkin; D Treacy, L Ryan, K Flynn; D O'Callaghan, L Rushe, A McCrabbe.