Kildare are through to the last four in Leinster after stumbling past Wexford in a low-quality encounter at changeable Croke Park, 0-9 to 0-8.

The unimpressive victors - who scored just twice in the second half - led by seven points to three at the end of a lacklustre opening period, where we had sun, rain, wind, lightning in a near-deserted stadium and a little bit of football thrown in for good measure.

Neil Flynn lofted over three first-half points for the victors, while Alan Smith contributed two. But in truth there wasn't much else to be writing home about.

John Tubritt had the Slaneysiders ahead inside 15 seconds but a Flynn brace in the eighth minute edged the Lilywhites in front. Morgan O'Flaherty - a late addition to the starting XV for his first championship appearance since 2013 - got forward to slot the winners' third point in the twelfth minute.

Corner back Ollie Lyons supplied the next Kildare score but Wexford hit back in the 20^th minute with a superb Donal Shanley free from the right sideline. Smith restored the Short Grass County's three-point advantage three minutes later. Flynn cutely made it 0-6 to 0-2, nudging his man out of the way before producing an excellent finish.

A flash of lightning was the harbinger of Wexford's third point courtesy of Colm Kehoe (free) and the weather was perhaps the main talking point of a low-key first half.

The losers owned the third quarter…

A brace of Shanley frees and a point from half-time substitute Shane Roche had the Model men back within the minimum twelve minutes after the restart. Kevin O'Grady equalised in the 49^th minute (his side's penultimate score) but substitute Eamonn Callaghan restored his side's advantage with his first touch in the 55^th - the Lilywhites' first score of the second half.

Fellow substitute Cian O'Donoghue popped up quickly to leave two between them. Shanley dinked over a free seven minutes from the end of normal time to set up a tense finale. With a provincial semi-final against Westmeath or Offaly up for grabs, the denouement was woeful. Kildare seemed intent on throwing the game away; Wexford didn't want to take it.

On the stroke of 70 minutes, the underdogs won a very presentable free-in: Shanley had been missing nothing from his wrong side but Ciaran Lyng got the nod and took the kick with his left foot - and missed. Six minutes of injury time later, we were put out of our misery.

If results are really all that count in gaelic football these days, then this was a great day for Kildare. The Model County slip into the Qualifiers with plenty of regrets.

Kildare - M Donnellan; P Kelly, D Hyland, O Lyons (0-1); E Doyle, F Conway, E Bolton; K Feely, T Moolick; R Houlihan, E O'Flaherty, P Cribbin; M O'Flaherty (0-1), A Smith (0-2), N Flynn (0-3, 2f). Subs: A Tyrrell for P Cribbin, C O'Donoghue (0-1) for E Bolton, E Callaghan (0-1) for A Smith, P O'Neill for E O'Flaherty, F Dowling for K Feely, K Murnaghan for M O'Flaherty.

Wexford - A Masterson; S Donohoe, J Wadding, J Rossiter; E Nolan, M Furlong, B Malone; C Kehoe (0-1), D Waters; K O'Grady (0-1), PJ Banville, B Brosnan; D Shanley (0-4f), C Lyng, J Tubritt (0-1). Subs: K Butler for M Furlong, S Roche (0-1) for J Tubritt, A Flynn for PJ Banville, R Tierney for C Kehoe, S Byrne for B Malone.

Referee - R Hickey.

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