ON THE LINE with Alan Aherne Players will learn a great deal from this leap to higher level

THE WEXFORD support in Croke Park on Sunday was wonderful, and I believe it was loosely divided into two categories. On the one hand, you had those who perhaps hadn’t been at a lot of games in recent years and who were intent on re-living the glory days of 1996.

They were carried to Dublin on a wave of optimism and the belief that our win over Kilkenny was a definite sign of bigger and better things. They brought great colour and noise to the occasion, and I for one hope they’re here to stay as it was an uplifting sight to see headquarters in such a vibrant state on Leinster final day.

On the other hand then, you had those of us who have seen the development of this team from its first Walsh Cup game onwards, not to mention the many campaigns full of highs and lows since we last tasted All-Ireland glory 21 years ago.

The people in this category were more cautious in their outlook, acutely aware that Galway were a step ahead in terms of development and had the considerable advantage too of experiencing so many big occasions on the hallowed turf before.

It must be a daunting task for any mere mortal to line out for his county in a provincial final, and I have the height of admiration for the Wexford players who couldn’t be faulted in any way for effort or desire.

My own belief was that we needed to stay in the game for the first 20 minutes and take it from there, so I was more than pleased to see the lads going toe-to-toe with the favourites throughout the early exchanges.

My only concern was that Galway appeared to be getting their scores a lot easier, and more than once they responded immediately to a hard-earned Wexford point with a reply from the puck-out.

Their fielding ability was awesome, and we were always going to struggle ultimately when they were winning primary possession in the air with such grace and style.

Every game of course will be followed by what ifs, and many wondered in the hours after the full-time whistle if a penalty goal early in the second-half would have made a difference.

We’ll never know of course, but I genuinely believe that Galway were playing at a level slightly above us and they would have recovered.

They certainly would have had more than enough time, but it was immaterial one way or the other as Colm Callanan made a vital save.

Naturally disappointment is the over-riding emotion given that the expectations were so high, but Sunday’s game showed that this Wexford team is still a work in progress and the players will be all the better for the experience.

We’re still in the last six in Ireland and have a Division 1A league campaign to look forward to in 2018, so there is certainly no reason to be downhearted right now.

We were very competitive for a long stretch of our first Leinster final appearance since 2008, and that has to be a positive considering the base we started from back in January.

Now that the appetite is clearly back among supporters, it would be nice to see even a small fraction of our following getting behind the three inter-county teams with big games to play over the coming days.

The Minor footballers are first up with a Leinster semi-final against Louth in Innovate Wexford Park tonight (Tuesday), and Nowlan Park is the destination for Wednesday’s provincial Under-21 hurling decider against Kilkenny.

Saturday afternoon will see Seamus McEnaney’s native Monaghan travel to the south-east for round two of the football qualifiers, so there’s a lot to be potentially gained or lost over the next five days.

We’ve a great deal to be positive about and thankful for, with so many teams still involved in championship action in early July, and there may be a few twists and turns yet before we reach September.

Well done to Galway for the moment on a richly-deserved win, but we haven’t gone away yet! WEXFORD FOLLOWERS travelled to Croke Park on Sunday with hope in their hearts, but they had to contend with a reality check on the field of play as an accomplished Galway side claimed a first Leinster Senior hurling championship crown since 2012 with a commanding nine-point victory.

The record provincial final attendance of 60,032 owed a great deal to the sense of expectation all over the county as everyone looked forward to a first appearance at this level for nine years with heightened anticipation.

However, while Wexford were competitive for long spells and stayed with their rivals until midway through the third quarter, ultimately Galway’s greater experience had a telling impact as they underlined exactly why they’re regarded as favourites for a first All-Ireland success since 1988.

The underdogs struggled in several areas, not least the complete dominance in the air of the victors whose ability to grab the sliothar from the clouds was evident both in defence and attack.

Whether it was making clean catches from Mark Fanning’s puck-outs or their forwards winning individual duels at the other end, Galway had a considerable advantage in this department and it had a major bearing on the outcome.

The westerners were content to pick off their points and won comfortably for the second game running without registering a goal. And though Matthew O’Hanlon and James Breen deserve immense credit for holding Joe Canning and Conor Whelan respectively scoreless from play, the unrelated Cooneys were on fire up front for the winners.

Joseph registered five points from play while Conor was even better. In fact, he was virtually unmarkable as just one of his eight points came from a placed ball, scoring three off Willie Devereux, two when marked by Simon Donohoe, and another two when pitted against Liam Ryan.

The concession of the four unanswered points in the minutes before half-time was a big blow as Wexford went from a position of being one up to trailing by 0-14 to 0-11 at the break.

Part of the problem throughout that opening period was the ability of Galway to reply instantly to several scores from their rivals, with points rapidly cancelled out from the resultant puck-out.

And there was a huge moment four minutes after the re-start when Conor McDonald beat Pádraic Mannion in a tussle from a Fanning puck-out and fed Aidan Nolan who was fouled before his effort on goal was saved.

Referee Colm Lyons awarded a penalty and, rather oddly, the netminder wasn’t summoned upfield to take it. Instead the responsibility fell to McDonald whose low shot into the ground produced a fine save from Colm Callanan who dived to his left and turned it around the post.

Even though Lee Chin pointed the ’65 to narrow the gap to 14-12, the game was ultimately won and lost in a devastating nine-minute period that immediately followed when Galway reeled off seven points on the bounce.

They reacted a lot better to the penalty incident than a deflated Wexford, with Joe Canning firing over a ’65 and a free while the outstanding Conor Cooney pointed from an Aidan Harte clearance in between.

McDonald hit a snapshot wide after a stray Harte handpass, but Niall Burke caught the puck-out and shook Simon Donohoe off before increasing the lead to 18-12.

All of a sudden a considerable gap had appeared for the first time, and there was no way back for Wexford.

A Paul Morris wide led to another Callanan puck-out caught cleanly, this time by Joseph Cooney who duly split the posts.

And after Thomas Monaghan missed the target for Galway, their backs underlined they were equally as strong in the air as their forwards when Pádraic Mannion grabbed Fanning’s re-start and was fouled.

Joe Canning did the needful from 86 metres, and when Joseph Cooney didn’t break stride with a brilliant pick-up and point on the run, Wexford were trailing 21-12 with just over 20 minutes left.

Clearly they were in dire need of a goal, and when it did come they were too far behind for it to have any meaningful impact.

Hawk-Eye intervened first to confirm a Lee Chin shot had gone over rather than wide, having ruled one out from McDonald earlier, and then David Redmond lobbed a ball towards Jack Guiney on the edge of the square in the 52nd minute.

The big Rathnure man’s original connection on the ball took it away from the posts to the right, but he retrieved it on the endline and knocked it back across goal for the onrushing Diarmuid O’Keeffe to tap home from close range.

Galway were briefly discommoded, with Joseph Cooney hitting a shot short before Thomas Monaghan struck a wide, and when Conor McDonald pointed a free after a foul on Willie Devereux, the margin was down to 0-21 to 1-14.

That scoring burst of 1-2 without reply had renewed Wexford hopes, but the response from Galway was emphatic and underlined why it will take an excellent team to beat them in the All-Ireland series.

A Joe Canning handpass found go-to man Conor Cooney for yet another point to steady the ship, and the latter then tapped over his sole free after Conor Whelan caught a long line ball and was fouled.

Mark Fanning’s attempted short puckout went over the sideline on the Cusack Stand side, and Canning didn’t need a second invitation as he promptly planted it back over the bar with interest (0-24 to 1-14).

Conor Cooney and Niall Burke piled on the agony with further points before David Redmond made inroads into the square in the 62nd minute, but he was bottled up quickly and the half-chance was lost.

Matthew O’Hanlon struck a wide from a Guiney handpass before McDonald pointed after a foul on Paul Morris, but Joseph Cooney responded less than 40 seconds later to underline one of the key themes of the game.

Young Cathal Dunbar, deservedly pushed up the pecking order after his Under-21 hat-trick against Carlow, scored a neat solo point on his first championship appearance off the bench this year, having been introduced in three of the four games in 2016.

It was a glimpse of promise for the future, but Galway substitutes Shane Maloney and Thomas Monaghan re- sponded with points converted a late consolation

The first-half had been ford will have been very have ended it three points

McDonald could only Callanan grateful hand ate point attempt, and clearance led to the

Cooney on what was a Galway jersey.

He was policed Devereux, with Liam

Niall Burke on the edge Lee Chin partnered midfield with Aidan Nolan Shaun Murphy’s sweeping that Aidan Harte was the other end.

Joe Canning doubled James Breen held

Wexford got off the minute when Chin made from the puck-out and

A stray Shaun Murphy planted between the Mannion in the seventh McDonald responded before levelling from O’Keeffe was impeded.

Conor Cooney caught ey delivery over Willie and made it 4-3 but from an initial fumble pass to equalise on of the Wexford defenders combined 1-4 from play all-out attacking policy has possession.

Conor Cooney restored