HUGE HURLING BOOST
Wexford promotion front-runners after comeback win
WEXFORD MANAGER Davy Fitzgerald hailed his side’s resilience after they took control of Division 1B with a stunning victory over Galway in Pearse Stadium, Salthill, on Sunday.
The Model county men were 2-7 to 0-6 down approaching half-time after goals from Joseph Cooney and Johnny Coen but closed the gap to two before the break and went on to overhaul their hosts in a dominant final quarter.
‘Well done to the boys, I’m really proud of them,’ said a delighted Davy.
‘They ground out a result that not many people probably thought we would have got. It didn’t look great at one stage in the first-half. We were playing with a strong wind and were six or seven points down, but they dug it out and kept with it.
‘I felt we gave up two soft goals that we should never have given up and the stats at half-time said on possessions and turnovers we were ahead.
‘I said that to the boys and told them that the only thing that was costing us was mistakes we didn’t need to make. So there was no major panic, we just made a few small changes and we were grand.
‘We were against a strong wind in the second-half and got it back to one or two, but next thing they got a goal and went up five. But we stuck with it, got back there, and I feel deservedly won the game,’ he added.
Fitzgerald had played down Wexford’s promotion prospects ahead of his first league campaign in charge of the county, but they are now firmly in the driving seat after beating divisional favourites Limerick and Galway.
‘1B is in our own hands. Let’s see what happens,’ he said.
‘We have Kerry, Offaly and Laois, and we cannot afford to be any way lackadasical against them. Offaly beat Wexford last year, Laois only lost by a point so we have to be careful, to treat them with the utmost respect and be really up for those games.
‘We’ve got two good victories, but if we take our eye off the ball now, we’ll be in trouble.’
The Wexford supremo again cautioned against over-expectation as the buzz around Wexford continues to grow.
‘We’ve made progress, but I still think there is a lot more to be done. We have to keep building on this. I still see it as a long-term project. It’s only February so we have to be realistic.
‘It’s in our own hands, the promotion push,’ he said. The attendance of 7,006 included a vocal Wexford support.
‘Incredible’ was Fitzgerald’s reaction to the travelling spectators.
‘I’m delighted we are giving them something to shout about. At different times it did look like a game going away from us. The end was exciting. I just knew we were going to get over the line.
‘The Wexford confidence over the last number of years, they just needed confidence. I could see that in them, but in order to get that confidence, I just felt we needed to be up and playing early. I wouldn’t have gone out as hard as early in Clare in other years, you’d try and time it a bit better for later in the year.’
Wexford have invested fully in the league though.
‘That’s a big step that we didn’t throw in the towel when we easily could have. That is important,’ Fitzgerald added.