WILLIE HAS FAITH IN PLAN DAVY
Wexford set for first Leinster final since ’08
IN other years, Wexford may have crumbled in the opening moments of their Leinster semi-final v Kilkenny. Giving away an early penalty, conceding a first-minute goal, those are the sort of things that led to a familiar sense of dread among the YellowBellies in the ground.
However, the Wexford side of 2017 are made of much sterner stuff. TJ Reid’s early goal didn’t faze them one bit.
Willie Devereux was part of a full-back line able to park its concession and remain true to the game-plan set out by Davy Fitzgerald.
‘You have to stick to the plan, you have no other choice,’ the corner-back recalls of those nervous opening couple of minutes.
‘Things happen. It’s a penalty, they will get a goal in the first minute but the upside is you have 69 minutes or more to get that back around.
‘I’d rather they got it in the first minute than the last. We stick to our plan no matter really a few things have happened, anything could happen so you just get on with it.’
And the corner-back said that Wexford drew on the fact that they had beaten Kilkenny already this season, albeit in the National League.
‘I didn’t hear of us being favourites before the Kilkenny game. I didn’t see us as favourites and I don’t think anyone around here did,’ the defender points out. ‘But we went in to play a game, our own game, and we knew that we had beaten them once already. We knew what was coming to face us in Wexford Park but we had our own plan and thankfully it went well.’
The Slaneysiders are in their first provincial decider in nine years this Sunday and while they will be rank outsiders against a Galway side who are a favourites to win the All-Ireland title, Devereux and his team-mates can draw on their League experience again, when they went up to Salthill and shocked the Tribesmen.
Wexford effectively sealed promotion to the top tier that February day by stunning Galway. And they had to come back twice within that game. With less than 20 minutes to go, they were six points down but out-scored their hosts 1-6 to 0-1 in the closing stages.
Devereux isn’t reading too much into events at Pearse Stadium, though. ‘Yeah, we beat them in the League after we kind of got on top of them in the second-half. But I remember that Joe Canning only came off the bench that day. I will be shocked if he only comes on a substitute this Sunday,’ Devereux smiled.
‘It will be a completely different Galway team. We all know that. It’s a Leinster final, not a League game. It is in Croke Park, not a game in Salthill in February, so we will have to have everything ready.’
Devereux sees few weaknesses in Sunday’s opponents.
‘When you look through their team, they have great forwards, they are a big and physical team and very skilful, as well.
They have been to a couple of All-Ireland finals, they will have an edge in experience but Davy will put something in place for us.’
Having dropped off the panel last year as he felt that he wasn’t getting enough opportunity under Liam Dunne, who did give him his Championship debut, Devereux says he feels refreshed this year.
‘I did different things when I was away from panel last year. I didn’t sit around wishing I was in with the lads. When you were watching Championship games, when they beat Cork last year, of course you want to be there.
‘If you didn’t want to be there, there’d be something wrong with you after experiencing and putting a lot of work into it.
‘But I had my own things going on and I was happy doing that. And then I got the opportunity to come back with the lads.’
And he has responded to Fitzgerald’s management style. ‘I find he is just honest,’ Devereux says of the charismatic Clareman, ‘He is very honest with me.
‘He tells me what he wants. He tells me what he likes. He tells me what he doesn’t like.
‘Basically, he just lays it out straight that to us. He doesn’t sugarcoat it. He doesn’t wrap it up. He just tells you straight what he wants you do it.’
It’s a method that seems to be working thus far, for both Devereux and Wexford.