Happy memories at the helm
Masterson reflects on three rewarding years as boss
THE WEXFORD ladies’ football job was an interesting proposition when Anthony Masterson took over for the 2017 season.
They had won an All-Ireland Junior title in 2014 and made more progress when former Kildare goalkeeper Shane McCormack took charge for the following campaign.
It just didn’t seem like his setup quite had the tools to go to the next level, and Masterson looked like a shrewd appointment. He was someone who had spent time under several top managers playing for Wexford, was experienced at both county and club level, and had a genuine interest in ladies’ football.
‘I had been involved with the Castletown ladies, I had been asked to help out,’ he explained.
‘My mother used to coach Castletown women 20 years ago, and the ladies’ side of the club folded for a while. It got up and running about 2011 or so and I had been helping out. We won the Junior ‘B’ title and we got to the Junior ‘A’ final.
‘I just received a phone call from Denis Nolan a couple of weeks after I retired. It was probably the furthest thing from my mind at that stage.
‘I did a bit of history, a bit of a background check, and by all accounts there was the basis of a good team there, going on previous results.
‘They had won the All-Ireland Junior in 2014 and had been there or thereabouts trying to knock on the door in Leinster in Intermediate and the All-Ireland. I just thought it was a good, attractive job.
‘Look, to manage any Wexford team is an honour, and to manage an adult team is an honour, so I thought it would be a good stepping stone in my career.’
It all got under way in St. Patrick’s Park against a fancied Tipperary side in Division 3 of the National League. It would become the rivalry of the season, arguably in the whole of ladies’ football, but Tipperary managed to just get the upper hand time and again.
The first of those meetings was no different, as Anthony remembered. ‘We were six points up on Tipperary and they came back and beat us by a goal, but I was actually very pleased leaving that as I knew Tipperary were one of the main teams to beat.
‘I know the first week in February there’s not much to be judged on, but the girls went at Tipperary really well and we competed with them at a good level, so we knew we were going to be there or thereabouts as the year progressed.’
And so they were. Fiona Rochford kicked a memorable equalising point as the same sides drew the league final in Clane in April.
The replay sent Wexford all the way to Birr, and they were arguably robbed of the league title by one of the worst refereeing decisions ever seen in the game.
‘The last 15 minutes was pure drama,’ Masterson recalled. ‘Mary Rose (Kelly) made a few saves, their ’keeper had a few saves, Aisling Moloney notably got sinbinned, Bernie (Breen) got sinbinned for us.
‘They had two other players sinbinned and if you remember there was an incident in the last couple of minutes, we could have been level actually and Sarah Harding-Kenny went through (on goal).
‘Sure the video clearly showed she was taken out of it but she was done for charging and she got the yellow card. Tipperary went down and kicked two frees in the last minute or two to win the game.’
The heartbreak didn’t stop there in Masterson’s first campaign. Wexford agonisingly lost a Leinster final they should have won against Meath and soon it was time to face up to by now familiar foes Tipperary in the the All-Ireland quarter-final.
This time the Slaneysiders took the game all the way to extra-time, eventually falling by one point. Tipperary went on to win the All-Ireland.
A total of four games were played between the teams in 2017 and Wexford didn’t win one, yet still only had a -6 points difference over those fixtures; that’s how closely matched they were.
Yet those games gave Wexford added confidence and they had other targets in mind for 2018. ‘We knew we had the team to win an All-Ireland so that was our main goal,’ Masterson admitted.
‘I think we went really hard at Division 3 and we took a slightly different approach, that we wanted to peak for championship as well. We got through Division 3, we beat Meath in a brilliant final in Birr again.
‘Another televised game, brilliant for the girls. They were really proud and delighted to be representing Wexford, and to get the recognition on TV was huge for the game in Wexford.’
The league success finally saw
Wexford claim silverware for the first time since 2014, but they had bigger fish to fry. However, more disappointment was around the corner as they stumbled during the summer months.
Wexford looked good in dispatching Kildare in the Leinster quarters but were shocked by Laois in Bellefield, and it hurt.
Masterson recalled that ‘maybe complacency was there’ because Wicklow had caused a huge upset and beat Meath in the quarter-final.
‘They had qualified for the Leinster final and like, not being disrespectful to Wicklow, but we felt we were a few points better than them at that stage. Maybe the girls thought if we beat Laois we were going to be Leinster champions that year.
‘We just got caught in the last last five or ten minutes and inevitably Laois went on to beat Wicklow by six or seven points in the Leinster final.’
Tyrone dispatched Wexford in the All-Ireland quarters in a game where Masterson said his charges ‘just didn’t perform. I think Tyrone were fully worthy of beating us that day.’
The disappointment lasted a winter and Wexford came into 2019 with plenty to prove.
They were able to use the league as preparation for the championship, as they were back in Division 2 for the first time in twelve years with no pressure to get results.
They coped well and were comfortable in mid-table, giving Masterson and his side an extended break before they headed into the championship.
A first round bye meant Kildare were the semi-final opponents and, while Wexford made heavy weather of it, they advanced to another final with Meath.
Wexford battered the Royals in that game and should have been out of sight. They nearly got caught by a late sucker punch but managed to hang on and win a memorable Leinster crown.
Mastonson admitted that it meant much more to his side than their league title a year before.
‘It did, I don’t think I realised it until I saw it because it convinces me to say that maybe two tiers can work in the G.A.A. championship because the girls treat their tier, whether it’s Junior, Intermediate or Senior, they treat it like it’s the very top level.
‘In fairness in Leinster, there was only Dublin and Westmeath (Senior), so it was very, very strong, teams like Kildare, Meath and Laois, very strong traditional teams competing in that grade.
‘It was a big, big championship for the girls to win, it definitely meant a lot to them. I think it probably meant more to them than the All-Ireland Junior in 2014 as well.’
Flying on the crest of a wave, Wexford went into the All-Ireland series where Masterson said they had one of their best days under him.
‘We went to Clare away in the first game. To be honest with you, over the three years that was probably one of the most special wins we had.
‘It was a long journey down to Doonbeg. The County Board backed us and we stayed down in Treacy’s in Ennis.
‘It was a new experience for the girls to be going away for a big championship match like that.
We prepared perfectly, everything went to plan, and we put in a brilliant performance.’
That win along with victory over Laois propelled Wexford into another tough All-Ireland quarter-final with Meath, and this time the Royals got their revenge in a game that just didn’t go right for his side.
‘We were really devastated after losing that match because we felt that Croke Park was a realistic goal for us. It would have been brilliant for the girls to get to Croke Park, brilliant for the whole of the management team and everyone that was involved with me.
‘We had put a massive effort in, and put a huge emphasis on trying to turn the tide for the girls and trying to turn them into a professional team and have a really professional set-up and really strong backroom team there over the three years.
‘It was really unfortunate, a sad way to end it. I thought long and hard after it and decided to step down a few weeks later.’
Things have hit the skids this year without Masterson at the helm. Results have been nothing short of shocking as the squad that the former Wexford goalkeeper built was shredded to pieces over the winter.
When Masterson talks about how things are going, the hurt is obvious in his voice.
He doesn’t hold back, admitting: ‘There’s no point saying anything different, it’s very, very disappointing to see how the girls are getting on at the moment.
‘We really felt we had put a foundation in place and that’s something that we wanted to leave. We thought we had laid the blocks for a really, really strong house to be built on top of the foundations, and unfortunately it hasn’t kicked off at the moment.
‘I’m very disappointed with the response of the girls. I’m not going to hold it in by saying nothing because obviously when I meet the girls or say anything to them I’d say that as well.
‘I’m obviously very disappointed in the reaction of the girls to the new set-up this year. Unfortunately, there was 15 to 18 girls off last year’s panel that didn’t come back this year for different reasons.
‘I can understand the likes of Mary Rose (Kelly), Fiona Rochford, Bernie (Breen) and a couple of the older girls, Marica Cullen (as well), have decided to retire, but there was a few younger girls there that I would have hoped would have given more.
‘I still hope they will, I still hope they can. There’s a few girls away travelling, there’s a few girls away with work, so I’m hoping this break will get them back into things and maybe this break can be a bonus to the Wexford ladies.
‘Maybe they can get a few players back in when championship re-groups, and they can give the Leinster another rattle and try to achieve their dream and get to Croke Park.
‘It’s very disappointing to see what’s happened at the moment, there’s no doubt about it.’