WEXFORD RISING
Almost 20 years since their last All-Ireland, something is stirring in the south-east
UP in the commentary box at Nowlan Park last Sunday, Billy Byrne surely allowed himself a wry smile. It was just like old times: a ding-dong battle between Kilkenny and Wexford that featured a dramatic late Wexford goal.
And the score that electrified the attendance of over 8,000 for this first round Allianz Hurling League game was like a throwback to the 1990s when Byrne caused havoc for his county on the edge of the square and made a hero of himself off the bench in the 1997 Leinster final.
The long booming clearance to the full-forward line at the weekend might as well have been borrowed from another age. This time it was target man Lee Chin who latched on to the break and snapped a swift ground-stroke goalwards. Eoin Murphy showed the reactions of a current All-Star goalkeeper to somehow block it out before substitute Cian Byrne slid in and did his best to mirror Byrne’s famous goal finish. With the click ticking into injury time, it proved enough to salvage a draw.
It was just the latest thrilling instalment between the age-old rivals that seemed to make a mockery of the idea that Wexford could be relegated from the Leinster Championship for the 2024 campaign. But that was the very real fear hanging in the air at Wexford Park last May when the Cats came to Wexford town. A shock defeat against Westmeath in the previous round was especially traumatic given Wexford held a 17-point lead at one stage. It meant that a combination of defeat to three-in-a-row Leinster champions Kilkenny, allied to a Westmeath victory over Antrim, and they would be relegated to the Joe McDonagh Cup.
As a blow to the county’s status, it was unthinkable, in many ways. For the game in general as much as anything else given what Wexford hurling traditionally brings to the table in terms of passion and support.
Wexford responded by winning a nine-goal thriller – another memorable companion-piece to beating Kilkenny in Nowlan Park the previous campaign for the first time.
So is there something stirring again in Wexford after going stride for stride once more with the All-Ireland finalists?
With long-time servant Keith Rossiter taking over the managerial baton, that was one question being asked on Sunday. It’s early days but a winning run to secure the Walsh Cup has already brought early silverware and as the manager put it: ‘Three wins and a draw – I’d settle for that. If you told me that now two months now when I took over the job that that’s how it would go I’d be very happy. It’s great for everyone, brings a buzz around training.’
That buzz was certainly in the air at Nowlan Park.
First, the plusses. Conor Foley was a revelation at fullback. Not just an imposing physical presence who made a big defensive play late on but a dynamic figure who obviously learned from regular number three Liam Ryan in how to steal upfield and hit a score — he banged over two in the second half, the second an inspirational score from inside his own half. Damien Reck also brought dynamism to the half-back line.
The other side of that was Wexford’s high foul count. The two second half penalties conceded — which substitute Billy Drennan converted — illustrated that. And the same two defenders were pinged for those penalties. Foley was booked in the 55th minute for pulling across Martin Keoghan as he cut in after getting around Eoin Ryan too easily. That bookended a fiveminute period when Wexford conceded 1-2 from placed balls. That was just at a crucial period in the game when Séamus Casey’s superbly taken goal had put them in front for the very first time at 1-11 to 0-12. So Wexford’s game management needs interrogating. Again, they were way too open at the back at the end of added time when Billy Ryan was pulled down by Reck, earning the Wexford defender a black card. Added to his thirdquarter yellow — an unnecessary one apparently flashed for dissent — it left Wexford down a man for the crucial closing stages.
For that second penalty, all the defenders were sucked out to the 45-metre line — it was unforgivable really that nobody was minding the house. The RTÉ commentary even mentioned the ‘acres of space in behind’.
That they showed the ‘special fight’ as Rossiter called it is admirable in one sense but the rashness in tackling was underlined when barrelled over in the back for the very last chance — only for Drennan to uncharacteristically mishit the chance of a winner.
Rossiter has shown a fair bit of gumption to not go with the outand-out sweeper role that Kevin Foley made his own, dating back to the Davy Fitzgerald era — the same player put in an impressive shift at wing-forward — but Wexford need to find a way of generating extra defensive cover out of possession, maybe in the way that Will O’Donoghue does so effectively for Limerick.
Chin had a big part to play in the late equalising goal. Ironically, it was encouraging in its own way that he was more quietly efficient than outstanding, that Wexford didn’t need him to carry the day to get a result.
Two missed frees into the wind in the first half though again hints at the need to improve scoring percentage from placed balls — particularly come the Championship when it’s all about fine margins. That those two wides were the only two Wexford had in the first half suggests that lessons needed to be learned from the 19wide horror show against Dublin in last year’s Leinster round-robin that basically cost the Model men a shot at the All-Ireland series and put them in all that potential relegation bother.
Which meant that when it came to the ‘relegation’ final round
“The buzz was in the air at Nowlan Park”
against Kilkenny, what turned out to be one of the games of the year wasn’t even deemed worthy of television coverage or a GAAGO paywall.
‘Look, there will be time enough for telly,’ countered Rossiter on Sunday. ‘We’ve work to do. The time to be on the telly is when you’re in the Championship. Come the middle of April, that’s the time to show us. Please God we’ll be doing as well as we are at the minute, fighting as much as we are.’
If Kilkenny had big names missing last Sunday in the likes of rested defensive trio Huw Lawlor, Mikey Butler and Paddy Deegan, Wexford, too, have defensive pillars to return in the shape of Liam Ryan and Matthew O’Hanlon.
The stakes are high this year compared to other years. The top three in the League are guaranteed top-flight status in the new rejigged Division 1A that will be in operation in 2025. It’s a top flight that will feature only seven teams with the next best seven playing in Division 1B.
Now they just need to back the performance at Nowlan Park up at home to Offaly this Saturday.
And continue to prove there is something stirring in Wexford.