That was certainly no walk in the park for Davy’s charges

INEEDED a good walk to clear my head after that engrossing finish to Sunday’s hurling championship opener, and it came courtesy of the latest directive from Wexford County Board. It is common practice in the G.A.A. for working journalists to be granted car parking access as near as possible to the ground.

Quite apart from the basic courtesy involved, it’s also seen as an acknowledgement that the media have a job to do and deadlines to meet, so providing a space is one less headache for members of the fourth estate to endure on match day.

Accordingly, from the moment the new Wexford Park opened in 2001, I was furnished with a pass that granted my car access for every game, big or small.

The chief officers of the Board at the time were Sheamus Howlin and Mick Kinsella, two men who always afforded nothing but courtesy and assistance to the press and who were big enough to accept constructive criticism, roll with the punches, and fight their own corner if required without holding any petty grudges.

On my behalf, I feel that I have done enough in terms of covering G.A.A. affairs in this newspaper for almost 27 years at this stage to still warrant a pass, not forgetting the period from 1992 to 2006 when I served as a voluntary officer in various capacities.

All good things must come to an end though, and that day arrived for me in the form of a letter from the County Board sent on February 16 that accompanied a new pass.

I was informed that, from now on, I am only entitled to parking, if available, for local club championship games, because on the days of provincial or national matches, Leinster Council or Croke Park ‘take ownership’ of the car park.

As a result, I’ve been getting used to joining those arriving and leaving the ground on Shanks’ mare, and I was glad of the brisk and bracing walk down Summerhill to our town centre office after Sunday’s game as my head was spinning.

The earlier trip up wasn’t so inviting I must admit, with the gradual rise from the Talbot Street junction past the lower St. Peter’s College entrance a good test of the calf muscles in particular.

In actual fact, it might be worth mentioning it to Davy as a possible circuit for next season’s winter training.

In fairness to the Wexford players, they have really stepped up their fitness in order to adapt to their manager’s preferred running game, and that was never more evident than at the very end on Sunday when Diarmuid O’Keeffe took off like a rocket to set up the insurance point for Harry Kehoe.

To be forewarned is to be forearmed, and Wexford were well prepared for the Dublin onslaught after watching the Sky Blues giving Kilkenny a major scare one week earlier.

Composure, and the ability to perform under pressure, is such a key aspect of sport at the highest level, and it was pleasing to note that we had enough of those qualities to strike the last three game-clinching points.

A bit like my own new-style journeys to and from our main county ground, Davy and company need to treat this championship campaign like a marathon rather than a sprint.

It’s a case of building up for each game, getting the recovery work done in between, and moving on swiftly to the next challenge.

And while we will be fancied by everyone to defeat Offaly in Tullamore next Saturday, the midlanders will be fighting for their lives after successive defeats to Galway and Kilkenny, so we shouldn’t expect to get anything soft.

Wins that are hard-earned are a lot more valuable in the long run anyway, and that’s why the defeat of Dublin should really stand to us.

As for me, if we get a result similar to last Sunday when Galway visit us on June 2, there will be a real spring in my step going down Summerhill and the County Board won’t cost me another thought.

FOOTNOTE: Best wishes for a very speedy recovery on two fronts to Daithí Waters who, I believe, aggravated his knee injury and also fractured an eye socket in the course of Wexford’s football loss to Laois on Saturday week.

A true warrior in the best sense of the word, it’s a pity that we don’t have a few more like him.