‘They go for one another, I think that’s the big thing’

FORMER Wexford star Billy Byrne isn’t trying to hide from it.

There have been enough dark times for Wexford hurling over the last decade or more, he explains. And now that there’s some excitement building around the current panel, he’s not about to downplay it.

Wexford’s stock has risen dramatically since Davy Fitzgerald took charge. This time 12 months ago, they had one foot back in the top flight. And after four games in Division 1A, they are joint top of the table with their status secured for another season and 1996 All-Ireland winner Byrne is delighted with their continued progress.

“The big thing was would they be able to get up to the pace of 1A, that was the question everyone was asking,” Byrne reflected.

“(Fitzgerald) has a very good squad but they are very young and to be able to handle 1A hurling was there to be looked at. But so far they have. They do start a bit slow but once they get into the pace of it they can handle it well so far.”

Fitzgerald accepted that his side likely had more fitness work done than their rivals as they raced to secure promotion from 1B last year. Byrne (right) believes they may have held a little more back this time.

“He has them fit and they are physical. Other teams might match them later in the year but I still think he has them in a good place. Last year they had done a serious amount of work at this time of year but they actually haven’t done as much this year. So he has probably left something there. But as a supporter it’s a good place to be because a lot of people couldn’t see us being there.”

Byrne is not entirely surprised by Wexford’s change in fortunes. He has been involved in a number of Wexford underage teams down through the years and always felt the county were producing good players.

“There’s doom and gloom when you haven’t done anything in such a long period, the doom and gloom just gathers. As far as young lads and teams coming through at underage? We always felt we had a serious amount of talent in the county. A hell of a lot of work has gone into underage down here in Wexford in the last number of years and I think it’s showing.

“Where you see most of it is in colleges. Five or six years ago we wouldn’t have had too many people on DCU or UCD or IT Carlow or WIT teams, maybe one or two. Now we have four or five Wexford fellas back-boning a lot of these teams and that’s where you get your strength from.

“DCU had five Wexford players on the team beaten by UL (in the Fitzgibbon Cup final). With IT Carlow there was two, UCD there was three or four and then you bring all them together after playing top-class hurling at college level. You put them in against Tony Kelly and John McGrath and when you start playing them at college level you get the confidence to play them at any level.”

Last week’s win over Clare was important on a number of fronts. The Banner were the country’s form team going into the game as they boasted a 100pc record in Division 1A. That win also came on the back of Wexford’s narrow defeat at the hands of Tipperary the week before. And perhaps most significantly, they managed it without the services of Lee Chin for the second half after he was forced off injured at the break.

“Davy has given them an awful lot of confidence when they take the field in a Wexford jersey,” Byrne continued. “They go for one another, I think that’s the big thing at the minute. The clubs down here when they play one another it’d be tough enough and it’d be heavy going but I think that’s what has made it, there is mutual respect, the young lads coming through do respect one another.

“The panel they are going to have to carry into the championship will have to be a big panel. Lee Chin got injured last week and we mightn’t have him now (this weekend). Aidan Nolan has done a lot of going, (Liam) Ryan too, they have nearly been out every weekend and nearly a rest would be due to them.

“And that’s where you need your panel coming in. The likes of Lee Chin getting injured and you’re able to bring in young Rory O’Connor to do what he has done. And there are two or three other young lads capable of stepping up to the mark. But look, there’s a long way to go, we are in February. You see the way Kilkenny are starting to shape up, Tipperary too. They are the big teams out there, Galway and Limerick are coming strong in 1B. It’s an exciting time for hurling, there are eight or nine teams well capable of making a serious impact on the championship.”

Wexford face Kilkenny in Nowlan Park on Sunday. And after beating them twice last season, Byrne is expecting a backlash.

“The shackles are off Kilkenny, there’s no great pressure on them and I think they’ll be a team that come the end of the summer that will be still there. Hopefully we will as well.”