Withdrawal of two county teams is a backwards move

IT’S NOT the malaise that shadows Wexford G.A.A. that exercises the mind most, rather it’s the inability of the county to deal with a problem. Once again the farce that grips Wexford’s participation in the Leinster Junior football and Intermediate hurling championships has once again surfaced.

Given the county’s general lack of provincial honours, apart from our Under-21 hurlers, Wexford has actually enjoyed success in both grades, winning two of the last three provincial Junior football titles, while at the same time enjoying an Intermediate provincial title victory.

While the warning signs were there this year, given the lack of organisation for the respective championships, little did one expect that a recommendation would be sprung on the clubs at last Tuesday night’s County Board meeting not to enter teams in both provincial championships in 2018.

It’s difficult to throw real light on the farce, though, since without any consultation at club level, let alone with players, the meeting accepted the recommendation without a dissenting voice.

So let’s cast a light even further back. In 2014, Wexford failed to enter both Intermediate hurling and Junior football.

Following a prolonged campaign led by this column, Wexford were re-introduced to both grades, winning a provincial hurling title in 2015, and winning two successive Leinster Junior football crowns.

For a county starved of silverware this was welcome, but now in 2017 do we once again envisage the dismantling of both codes? The answer is yes.

The decision has been taken not to enter either code, leaving players without an opportunity to represent the county at adult level, as the county will have just one adult set-up, namely Senior.

It’s believed that Wexford’s decision was influenced by the problems in fielding teams this year. The successful delivery of both football and hurling at this level is of huge importance for the future growth of the game in the county. Solutions are needed from the ground up as the problem stems from the top down.

One would like to have a full investigation to determine how they arrived at their decision. It was messy from the outset.

In the weeks leading up to the respective provincial championship games this year, Wexford had no management in place. Seamus McEnaney was handed the Junior football poisoned chalice only weeks before their Meath game, leaving them with no realistic chance of making it three titles in a row.

And for Intermediate hurling, J.J. Doyle - who assumed the managerial role in the week leading up to the Kilkenny game - was unable to even name a squad of players on the previous weekend, so it was no surprise when they were humiliated by a third string opposition.

So Wexford’s solution to a problem created at the top is to forego the opportunity of participating in 2018. This is not just another blip, it’s a staggering decision, offering no encouragement to players to feature for their county once they emerge from the under-age grades.

Wexford’s top table rolled out a ‘lame duck’ excuse to the clubs. The clubs listened and their utter failure to respond is a harsh enough lesson for the players to accept.

This year’s debacle was caused by the failure to have team management appointed, since the players had already shown that once properly organised they’re capable of delivering silverware in these grades. This is a watershed moment for Wexford G.A.A. officers who would have suffered embarrassment in front of less than 4,000 people who attended last Sunday’s county football final had their decision been public knowledge. What really hurt was that the Board honoured, as their jubilee team, the Wexford Junior footballers who were All-Ireland champions in 1992.

St. Martin’s were primed to complete the Senior double but they dramatically came unstuck against an excellent Enniscorthy Starlights in the football final. Just a week after annexing the Senior hurling title they came up short in the football decider.

The final brought together two clubs which had already lit up the Senior hurling title race, but it was Starlights who proved best on this occasion with a sparkling performance over the 60 minutes.

The Cathedral town side bridged a 13-year gap, and their exploits should prove a tremendous boost to the club. It was long overdue so let’s hope they can build on this success. It was delightful to see so many smiling Enniscorthy faces on the final whistle.