Whoever said Leinster hurling was predictable has been silenced now

IAM avoiding negative issues this week, such as the lack of small ball coverage on terrestrial television to focus on a hurling championship which is as intriguing and exciting as anything we have seen for many years, both in Leinster and Munster.

A lot of the narrative, and quite rightly so, has centred on the failure to showcase and promote some wonderful games in the appropriate way, but for now we must accept what’s there and just hope the necessary improvements are made in the promotion and access to our games over the next year.

Now we need to enjoy a spectacle like no other that sees us go into the final weekend in this “Tales of the Unexpected” campaign that sees eight of the top ten teams with realistic chances of provincial final and knockout stage appearances.

My fear of the Bunclody traffic directed me to have the dinner on Sunday morning to get a clear run at the day (it’s amazing the gems of wisdom picked up from Pat Shortt and John Kenny over the years), and I found myself eating a 99 in Carlow town at about 11 a.m.

I love the morning of a big game and as I wandered up to the picturesque Netwatch Cullen Park my mind was curious as to how Carlow would react to some of the new challenges this day would bring.

Normally in games such as this, Carlow would be underdogs and indeed that was probably still the case, but their fabulous performance against the Cats the previous week lent an air of expectation which would be a psychological element that they may not have been used to.

There would have been an obvious high from that game that could affect focus, allied to the physical cost that any battle with Kilkenny inevitably brings.

Wexford, on the other hand, went in with the extra week’s rest and before a ball was struck, I really did feel that we had many things going for us on the day.

On entering the ground, I was met by old friend Eddie Byrne (a proud Mount Leinster Rangers man) who directed me to my post. Eddie is an example of what makes us proud of our association and a man who has dedicated his life to the GAA.

We probably could have chatted all day, and I left his company thinking how lucky we are to have people like the great Carlow man in our Association.

I sat behind the goal for a while, watching Fitzy put our goalies through their paces, and just took in the atmosphere and colour for a while until about 15 minutes before the action began.

What followed was from start to finish a wonderful display of hurling from the men in purple and gold. True, Carlow didn’t hurl to near their usual standards, with only Chris Nolan, Conor Kehoe and, in the early stages, Paddy Boland carrying the battle, but I’m not sure too many teams would have stayed with Wexford in their first-half form.

Touch, delivery, support play, intensity but above all accuracy were trademarks of a first-half display that was almost flawless.

At one stage early in the second-half when 17 points up, Westmeath came into my head, but these young men were in no humour to let anything like that happen again.

Lee Chin (send on his All Star now) went up the line with seven minutes to go with as much intent as he had shown in the first five minutes, and in effect Wexford dominated the second-half as they had the first.

John Michael Nolan received a second yellow tackling Lee, and I feel it wasn’t merited as he had just made contact with the Wexford man’s hurl.

Brian Treacy was uncharacteristically slow to deliver after two minutes, and Carlow conceded a goal which really set the tone.

As Wexford gave an exhibition of shooting, the confidence of the Carlow men dipped accordingly and the game was well over as a contest at an early stage. Fourteen different scorers with top-class performances all over the field rounded off a Carlsberg day for Keith Rossiter and his men.

Our scoring difference was given a huge injection and if we end up on equal points to Dublin, we are in a great position for the third spot, while having the head-to-head advantage on Galway also.

The worst outcome would be a draw in Salthill and a loss to our neighbours, but in truth both games should be seen as Leinster semi-finals with a win securing the valued Croke Park berth.

With no disrespect to Galway and Kilkenny, wouldn’t it be great to see a Dublin versus Wexford final for a change? Who said Leinster was predictable?

What can we expect next Sunday? A cup of tea and a friendly welcome on arrival is always guaranteed. A huge crowd, atmosphere to kill for, intensity, aggression (the right kind), a hugely motivated team in stripes, no favours, and please God a game for the ages.

I just love Wexford-Kilkenny games but I am never under any illusion as to what to expect as they are the masters of the ancient game.

On the flip side, Wexford love the black and amber challenge, our recent record is good, and given our form we travel as always with hope. Some battle lies ahead and bring it on.

Up Wexford.