DREAM TEAM OOZES CLASS
Final selection is revealed
FEAST YOUR eyes on the hurling team to the right - and then close them for a while and think of the impact these fifteen outstanding players would make if it was possible to get them together for a game.
Our imaginations have been sustaining us in these difficult times, and my colleague Brendan Furlong was no different in that regard.
He set about the difficult task of selecting his best Wexford hurling team from 1970 to the present day, having enjoyed the privilege of watching our best exponents of the game doing their stuff over the past half-century.
And while a side of this nature will never meet with universal agreement, it must be said that the quality on view sums up the vast reserves of talent that the county has produced over the years.
The goalkeeper, defenders and midfielders had been disclosed in our two most recent editions, and this week the full crew is revealed with the naming of the six attackers.
And there’s an interesting breakdown within the selection, made up of four distinct eras in the main.
First off, we have the survivors from the 1968 All-Ireland success who played on into the seventies and, in three cases, the eighties.
That category features ’68 captain Dan Quigley, Tom Neville (also a medal winner in 1960), star attacker Tony Doran, used substitute John Quigley, and Mick Jacob who was on the bench that day.
All five, along with Martin Quigley, played in the 1970 final loss, with Doran, Jacob and the two Quigleys also adding Leinster medals in 1976 and ’77 before coming up short against Cork.
The final fifteen then moves swiftly on to 1996, with that tremendous team represented by Damien Fitzhenry, Liam Dunne, Larry O’Gorman, George O’Connor and Martin Storey.
The present-day side is represented by current All Stars Diarmuid O’Keeffe and Lee Chin along with full-back Liam Ryan, meaning that Darragh Ryan is the only player who doesn’t fit neatly into a specific category or era.
It is a measure of his ability that he was chosen after soldiering in a spell from 1998 to 2006 when success was confined to a sole Leinster title in 2004.
The late Tom Neville is the only player selected with more than one All-Ireland Senior medal to his name, and that in itself highlights how difficult it has been for Wexford to make it to the summit in the period under review.
The county has gained 33 All Star hurling awards in all since the scheme began in 1971, and twelve of the men picked have shared 23 of those individual trophies.
However, it’s worth naming the other ten recipients for a couple of reasons: firstly, to hammer home the difficulty involved in choosing a team given the wealth of talent on offer; and secondly, to consider the high quality of back-up that would be available to step in for the chosen fifteen.
Those All Stars who didn’t make the side are seventies stalwarts Colm Doran, Willie Murphy, Christy Keogh and Ned Buggy, the stylish and under-rated John Conran, 1990 full-back Eamon Cleary, and
’96 quartet Adrian Fenlon, Rory McCarthy, Larry Murphy and Tom Dempsey.
In terms of club representation, there’s nine in total: three apiece from Rathnure and Oulart-The Ballagh, two each from St. Anne’s and Faythe Harriers, plus one from Duffry Rovers, Geraldine O’Hanrahans, Rapparees, St. Martin’s and Buffers Alley.
Special mention must be made of the Quigley family who are represented on the treble, with Dan, John and Martin all part of this formidable fifteen.
The contribution of the Rathnure brothers to the G.A.A. in Wexford has been immense, with the above-named trio having represented the county in Senior championship football on several occasions too.
And let’s not forget the involvement of Pat and Jim Quigley either, as they were also part and parcel of an era when hurling was thriving at every level.
Having looked at Brendan’s completed team, now the floor is yours, dear reader. We’ve already received some submissions of best sides, and we would still like to hear from you with your choice.
Send all teams to a.aherne@ peoplenews.ie and, if you are too young to be able to hark back to 1970, then feel free to limit your selection to your own timespan watching inter-county hurling.
Brendan plans on turning his attention to a best football team over the next three weeks, so your own selections will also be welcomed for that code.
If nothing else, it will keep our minds sharp and lead to some lively debate!
SEE ALSO PAGE 41