We’re believing we can win big games now and this is vital
J.J. DOYLE remarked in the aftermath of Saturday's wonderful victory that players in Wexford are in the process of making the transition to believing they can win games rather than just hoping.
At summer’s end when the 2014 analysis is completed, I feel this statement will best reflect the progress we have made and going forward we need to appreciate the amount of work needed to complete this subtle change of attitude.
A major positive from the summer has been our ability to close out tight games at both Under-21 and Senior levels as our history has been poor in this respect. This latest success is particularly notable given that Galway were All-Ireland Minor champions three years ago and came to Thurles with a belief that their winning streak can be continued.
The battle ahead is daunting when we will face what many consider the best under-age side of recent years but I ask the question, is this any tougher a task than when we learned the away draw with Clare in Ennis a couple of months back?
The top-class nature of the game was epitomised by some fabulous performances all round, and it would be remiss of me not to mention Pádraic Brehony's contribution in the first 40 minutes. The Wexford backs kept their composure however and Eoin Conroy's marking job in the second-half contributed greatly to the victory.
The statistics showed a possession of 51% in Wexford's favour and I feel this summed up the deserved nature of the victory. Clare will point to exceptional players in their ranks but for me Liam Ryan (who probably got my nod for man of the match), Andrew Kenny, Jack Guiney, Pádraig Foley, Kevin Foley and Conor Mac will stand with any class of company in the country.
By mentioning players it is not in any way to minimise the contribution of all 19 used as this performance was indeed a team effort. An example here is Rhys Clarke who although substituted made a strong contribution in the first 20 minutes, and a number of players who took time to settle had the character and maturity to play their way into the game.
Back in the nineties when I had a shock of blonde hair on my head, many dreamed that a Wexford v. Clare final would be the crowning glory of the era. The dream never materialised and faded (a bit like my hair) with the years until now. It will be an incredibly colourful occasion with Clare as odds-on winners. That will suit J.J. and this excellent Wexford team just fine.
We lived to fight another day (barely) in the camogie semi-final, and Cork will look back with regret on a chance missed. The style of the game didn't suit us with a fussy referee ensuring a stop-start nature to proceedings, and we never settled into the free-flowing type of hurling that we are so good at.
Una Leacy's welcome half-time introduction and brilliant execution of the vital goal served to get us out of jail. Best were Jackie Quigley, Shauna Sinnott and Noeleen Lambert and, given our potential to improve, I think we can just squeeze through if we take the necessary messages from this game.
I don't normally like to finish on a negative note, but the timing arrangements for Saturday last were ridiculous. We could be getting a little paranoid in Wexford given the stand ticket fiasco a couple a weeks ago, but this latest decision to put the two Wexford games four hours apart just took the biscuit.
It meant that our supporters went into the ground shortly after one and in most cases left about seven hours later. It could have been avoided by playing our Under-21 game second. I'd be interested to hear the reason for this decision.