2019 Wexford Senior Football Championship Explained

Competition:	Wexford S.F.C.
Season:	2019
Winners:	Castletown Liam Mellows (11th S.F.C. Title)
Relegated:	St Anne's Rathangan
Continentalcup1:	Leinster SCFC
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:	???
Continentalcup2:	All Ireland SCFC
Continentalcup2 Qualifiers:	n/a
Continentalcup3:	Winning Manager
Continentalcup3 Qualifiers:	Timmy Walsh
Continentalcup4:	Winning Captain
Continentalcup4 Qualifiers:	Brendan Halpin
Continentalcup5:	Man of the Match
Continentalcup5 Qualifiers:	James Holmes
Matches:	38
Prevseason:	2018
Nextseason:	2020

The 2019 Wexford Senior Football Championship is the 121st edition of the Wexford GAA's premier club Gaelic football tournament for senior graded teams in County Wexford, Ireland. The tournament consists of 12 teams, with the winner going on to represent Wexford in the Leinster Senior Club Football Championship. The championship starts with a group stage and then progresses to a knock out stage.

Shelmaliers were the defending champions after they defeated Kilanerin–Ballyfad in the previous years final after a replay to claim their first ever title. The defence of their title this season however came undone at the quarter-final stage when succumbing to Gusserane O'Rahilly's. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

This was Horeswood's return to the senior grade after claiming the 2018 Wexford I.F.C. title. They made the straight bounce-back up to the senior grade, spending just one year as an Intermediate club after suffering relegation from the S.F.C. in 2017. ^[4]

On 13 October 2019, Castletown Liam Mellows claimed their 11th Wexford S.F.C. crown when defeating Gusserane O'Rahilly's by 3-16 to 2-10 in the final at Wexford Park. This ended a nine year barren spell for the club and also brought them equal with St John's Volunteers at the top of the all time Wexford S.F.C. roll of honour. ^[5]

St Anne's Rathangan were relegated to the 2020 I.F.C. after losing their Relegation Final to Kilanerin–Ballyfad. This ended their 29-year tenure in the senior ranks since their promotion in 1990. ^[6]

Team Changes

^{[7] [8] [9] [10]}

The following teams have changed division since the 2018 championship season.

To S.F.C.

Promoted from 2018 Wexford I.F.C.

• Horeswood - (Intermediate Champions)

From S.F.C.

Relegated to 2019 Wexford I.F.C.

• Taghmon–Camross

Group stage

There are 2 groups called Group A and B. The top 4 in each group qualify for the quarter-finals. The bottom finisher in each group will qualify for the Relegation Final.

Group A

Team
St Martin's	5	4	1	0	84	72	+12	8
Castletown Liam Mellows	5	3	2	0	84	53	+31	6
St James'	5	3	2	0	72	74	-2	6
Gusserane O'Rahilly's	5	3	2	0	83	88	-5	6
Sarsfields	5	1	3	1	72	86	-14	3
Kilanerin–Ballyfad	5	0	4	1	67	89	-22	1

Round 1

• St James' 3-13, 1-16 Sarsfields, 29/3/2019,
• Gusserane O'Rahilly's 5-9, 1-16 Kilanerin–Ballyfad, 29/3/2019,
• St Martin's 1-15, 2-8 Castletown, 29/3/2019,

Round 2

• Castletown 0-17, 0-4 Gusserane O'Rahilly's, 5/4/2019,
• St James' 2-7, 1-9 Kilanerin–Ballyfad, 5/4/2019,
• St Martin's 0-15, 1-6 Sarsfields, 6/4/2019,

Round 3

• Gusserane O'Rahilly's 2-13, 1-12 St James', 3/8/2019,
• St Martin's 2-14, 0-14 Killanerin–Ballyfad, 6/8/2019,
• Castletown 2-18, 1-8 Sarsfields, 6/8/2019,

Round 4

• St Martin's 1-10, 0-10 St James', 25/8/2019,
• Sarsfields 2-13, 2-5 Gusserane O'Rahilly's, 25/8/2019,
• Castletown 2-12, 0-8 Killanerin–Ballyfad, 25/8/2019,

Round 5

• Gusserane O'Rahilly's 4-13, 2-12 St Martin's, 31/8/2019,
• St James' 1-9, 0-11 Castletown, 31/9/2019,
• Killanerin–Ballyfad 1-11, 1-11 Sarsfields, 31/9/2019,

Group B

Team
Shelmaliers	5	2	0	3	81	67	+14	7
Glynn–Barntown	5	2	1	2	73	69	+4	6
Horeswood	5	2	2	1	80	80	+0	5
Starlights	5	2	2	1	72	73	-1	5
St Mogue's Fethard	5	2	2	1	66	69	-3	5
St Anne's Rathangan	5	0	3	2	67	81	-14	2

Round 1

• Glynn–Barntown 2-11, 1-14 Horeswood, 29/3/2019,
• Starlights 2-13, 0-13 St Anne's, 30/3/2019,
• Shelmaliers 2-12, 1-7 Fethard, 30/3/2019,

Round 2

• Glynn–Barntown 2-7, 0-12 Starlights, 6/4/2019,
• Fethard 2-12, 1-15 St Anne's, 7/4/2019,
• Shelmaliers 4-12, 3-9 Horeswood, 7/4/2019,

Round 3

• Glynn–Barntown 2-11, 1-7 St Anne's, 3/8/2019,
• Shelmaliers 0-14, 2-8 Starlights, 6/8/2019,
• Fethard 0-11, 0-7 Horeswood, 6/8/2019,

Round 4

• Fethard 2-11, 1-10 Glynn–Barntown, 24/8/2019,
• Shelmaliers 0-12, 0-12 St Anne's, 24/8/2019,
• Horeswood 2-17, 1-11 Starlights, 25/8/2019,

Round 5

• Starlights 2-7, 0-13 Fethard, 30/8/2019,
• Horeswood 2-9, 1-11 St Anne's, 30/8/2019,
• Shelmaliers 0-13, 2-7 Glynn–Barntown, 30/8/2019,

Relegation Final

The bottom finisher from both groups qualify for the Relegation final. The loser will be relegated to the 2020 Intermediate Championship.

• Killanerin–Ballyfad 2-14, 0-13 St Anne's Rathangan, Bellefield, 13/9/2019,

Finals

The top 4 teams from each group qualify for the quarter-finals with 1st -vs- 4th and 2nd -vs- 3rd in each case.

Quarter-finals

• Glynn–Barntown 3-11, 1-8 St James', Wexford Park, 14/9/2019,
• St Martin's 0-13, 0-8 Starlights, Wexford Park, 14/9/2019,
• Castletown 3-15, 2-11 Horeswood, Wexford Park, 15/9/2019,
• Gusserane O'Rahilly's 2-18, 1-19 Shelmaliers, Wexford Park, 15/9/2019,

Semi-finals

• Castletown 1-10, 0-11 St Martin's, Wexford Park, 29/9/2019,
• Gusserane O'Rahilly's 2-12, 1-12 Glynn–Barntown, Wexford Park, 29/9/2019,

Final

• Castletown 3-16, 2-10 Gusserane O'Rahilly's, Wexford Park, 13/10/2019,

Leinster Senior Club Football Championship

See main article: 2019–20 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Wexford SFC final: Shelmaliers and Kilanerin in dramatic draw. 14 October 2018. Irishtimes.com. 14 October 2018.
2. Web site: Shelmaliers crush Kilanerin to take Wexford title at second attempt. 21 October 2018. Irishtimes.com. 21 October 2018.
3. Web site: Gusserane dethrone Shels. 15 September 2019. Independent.ie. 15 September 2019.
4. Web site: Quick return by Horeswood. 27 October 2018. Independent.ie. 27 October 2018.
5. Web site: Wexford SFC: Castletown end nine-year barren spell. 13 October 2019. Irishtimes.com. 13 October 2019.
6. Web site: Kilanerin Survive Relegation As Wexford Hero Matty Forde Comes Good In Extra Time. 14 September 2019. Wexfordweekly.com. 14 September 2019.
7. Web site: Wexford People Archives. 16 January 2018. Irishnewsarchive.com. 16 January 2018.
8. Web site: Wexford People Sport - GAA. 16 January 2018. Wexfordpeople.ie. 16 January 2018.
9. Web site: Wexford GAA Official Website. 3 February 2018. Wexfordgaa.ie. 3 February 2018.
10. Web site: HoganStand Wexford. 3 February 2018. Hoganstand.com. 3 February 2018.