ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Quarter-final against Cats a serious step-up for hurlers
DAVY FITZGERALD’S re-invention of Wexford may be coming along nicely, but he is still adamant there is huge room for improvement ahead of their Allianz League quarter-final with Kilkenny in Nowlan Park on Sunday (4 p.m.).
At the start of the campaign few envisaged the Model county ending their group games with a one hundred per cent record, which sees them set up a quarter-final clash away to neighbours Kilkenny.
As for Laois it’s into a dreaded relegation play-off with Kerry to determine their status for next season, but they still managed to seriously challenge Wexford through stages of their fifth round encounter.
Wexford may have done the business but their finishing was woeful. ‘We just have to improve,’ the manager said, and that was an understatement given the way the game unfolded.
‘We had so much of the possession, and created so many chances, but like the Offaly game we just failed to put them away. We must learn to put those chances away.
‘The stats will show the number of wides (18), we must have had double the wide count compared to Laois. There is no doubt there is room for improvement ahead of the quarter-final.
‘I think for the first-half we dominated possession and created the most scoring chances, but twelve wides is unacceptable, despite playing into the wind. It’s obvious that these misses kept them in the game and we allowed ourselves to be put on the back foot in the closing stages.
‘There is no doubt but there is room for lots of improvement. I’m sure the players realise that. Still, we won our five games. It’s a long time since we achieved that.
‘We know we have an awful lot of work to do but we will have little time before the quarter-final. It will be a further step up but we showed against Limerick and Galway we are capable of stepping up. That is our challenge for the next game.
‘We would have been disappointed with that display but our next challenge is the quarter-final. Absolutely it’s going to take a massive improvement for us to progress through that challenge.’
Fitzgerald will be banking on Wexford upsetting the formbook, but still they’re the only side in the top two divisions with an unblemished record, which should count for something.
Apart from the Limerick and Galway games, Wexford dominated their remaining fixtures, but their inaccuracy, particularly in the Offaly and Laois matches, must be a source of concern.
‘That’s something we’ll just have to continue working on this week,’ Fitzgerald said. ‘Against the better sides we will not get that amount of chances, so it’s simply making the chances that come our way count.
‘There is no magic wand. We just have to keep working on it in the hope it comes right. This is a new challenge in the quarter-final but it’s where we will be next season.’
One comfort for Fitzgerald is that Wexford will embrace the age-old Kilkenny rivalry, so his one fervent hope now remaining is that the players get their radar on course and then we could be in for one hell of a game.
Meanwhile, Wexford footballers, having already achieved promotion, complete their group games when they travel to Netwatch Cullen Park to take on Carlow in their final game in Division 4 at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Having fielded a wholly experimental side in their comprehensive loss to Westmeath, a rehearsal for the league final next Saturday week, Wexford will be seeking to return to winning ways ahead of that final game, but it will be difficult against the Barrowsiders on home soil.