Lack of progress demands thorough Co. Board debate

THE VAST majority of inter-county football teams begin each campaign without any realistic chance of All-Ireland success. Indeed, given Dublin’s complete dominance, the Leinster crown is also fully beyond the grasp of the remaining contenders who are there just to make up the numbers at this stage.

Therefore, one might ask what exactly does a county like Wexford have to play for? I believe most supporters would settle for some degree of progress being made year on year, and that may be measured on two fronts: advancement in the National League, and a win or two in either the Leinster championship or the All-Ireland qualifiers, and preferably both of course.

On that basis then, did Wexford move forward from where they were at this time last year? In my opinion the answer is an emphatic ‘no’ in the wake of Saturday’s exit at the hands of Fermanagh.

The facts simply don’t lie, and let’s take a look at them just to underline that point.

First of all we’ll deal with the National League. In David Power’s two years in charge, Wexford have plummeted to the backwoods of Division 4 and failed to bounce back at the first attempt.

Prior to the current campaign it was clear that the two big games were the away clashes against Antrim and Louth. These were the ‘must-win’ matches in order to secure promotion, but the team came up short in both.

Those defeats need to be looked at in the context of how our conquerors fared in the championship. Both are now in the same boat as ourselves, having departed early from the race with a brace of defeats apiece.

That’s seven games in total and six losses for the three counties in contention for promotion from Division 4 (Louth beat Carlow). I think that says it all about the low standard Wexford played at this season.

Just two counties from the bottom rung - Leitrim and Carlow - have survived into July, and with all due respect that’s only because their first round qualifier games were against teams from their own level in Waterford and Wicklow respectively.

I was in Netwatch Cullen Park on Saturday week for the clash of our Leinster neighbours and, while they were evenly matched, the standard was only barely above what I witnessed in the provincial Junior final in Dowdallshill three nights later.

This is the first time in 13 years that Wexford exited the championship without winning at least one game. That previously occurred in 2003 when Laois and Derry did the damage.

I am reluctant to comment about the defeat to Kildare as I wasn’t there due to a family event, the only league or championship game I missed this year.

The general view was that Kildare were awful, but that made me wonder: if they were that poor, what does it say about Wexford when we couldn’t beat them?

I was completely baffled by a couple of things against Fermanagh. Firstly, wing-back Aidan Breen made not one, not two, but three clean catches from his own kick-outs in the second-half above the head of Kevin O’Grady before the mentors made a change in that area, closing the door after the horse had bolted.

The defender was jumping directly in front of them, so why did it take so long to attempt to counter-act an obvious mis-match?

Secondly, how and why was Adrian Flynn the first forward to be taken off? Wexford had scored three points in the second-half before his removal; he figured prominently in the lead-up to the first two, while his persistence under pressure from three opponents near the sideline led indirectly to the third. It was a bizarre call in my view.

It seems like hurling manager Liam Dunne cannot open his mouth at this stage without a thorough analysis of every single word uttered, amid the constant sharpening of knives behind his back.

David Power has indirectly benefited from this obsession with his counterpart because he has been allowed to operate completely under the radar.

At the very least, I hope that the County Board now undertakes a thorough analysis of our football fortunes.

If not, they will have failed the players whose commitment to an admittedly thankless cause cannot be questioned.