FRONTING UP
Spread of scorers driving on Wexford Young guns are seizing chances
AIDAN NOLAN’S lastgasp winning point on Sunday underlined the breadth of scoring options which has given Wexford a sharp edge this spring. In firing over the winner against Tipperary, Nolan became the 16th Wexford player to hit the target in their opening three Allianz League games this spring.
That is more than anyone else — although Limerick (15) and Tipperary (14) are hot on their heels — and it is telling with Wexford, after two wins, within touching distance of a quarter-final spot.
One of the reasons given for their failure to break into hurling’s top four has been the absence of a marquee forward, a heavy scorer on which to hang their hopes. However, they are turning that perceived weakness into a strength.
In hitting that injury-time winner, Nolan became his team’s eighth different scorer on the day and that spread of scorers is something which has been cultivated, explains Wexford centre-back Matthew O’Hanlon.
‘The way the game has gone now when you are playing top teams, you can’t overly rely on one player every single day you go out because the odds are your top forward is going to be marked out of it so other guys need to step up,’ O’Hanlon said
‘From our point of view it’s great to see such a good spread of scorers this year, especially with the likes of Ian Byrne and Seamus Casey getting a chance in the forwards for the first time.’
The two rookie forwards led the way against Tipperary, Byrne was the top scorer with six points from frees and provided the assist for Casey’s 46th-minute goal.
Trailing by eight points at one stage, that score proved crucial and its execution impressed O’Hanlon (right).
‘It opened up [in front of him] but in fairness to Seamus he brought it right in and made sure of it. When it’s your League debut and you get a chance like that, you might be thinking, “Jesus, when I get this I need to hit it straight away”. ‘But in fairness, he showed a bit of composure. It was a big, big score for us and we really kicked on from there.’ How big a result that will be in relation to Wexford’s season only time will tell, but coming on the back of a win on the road against Cork, it has lifted spirits. More than the League points, though, it is the sense that Wexford are working towards developing a new depth to their squad which is offering huge encouragement. ‘Without relegation this year some managers are taking it differently to others and that allows them to experiment with new players and give other guys a chance. ‘But we always knew we were trying to build and build for later in the year, so to get another four or five debutants out there against a team of Tipperary’s quality and get a result as well, is absolutely brilliant for us.
‘If you look at the last few years, it was probably the same 19 or 20 players in the League that played and this year there has been a lot of change with some really good young guys getting promoted to it.
‘Ultimately if you are not going to try them in the League, you are not going to play them in the Championship and that’s the way it is at this level.
‘Outside of Ian and Seamus, Shane Reck made his full debut against Tipperary and I thought he did really well.’
Meanwhile, O’Hanlon is hoping he’s over the fitness issues that dogged him last year.
‘I tore my MCL, tore my calf and pulled my hamstring three or four times. I couldn’t really get the momentum to get my fitness up to where it needed to be.
‘This year I came back in a lot better shape and I think I’m reaping the rewards from it now and I’m able to last the full 70 minutes. Hopefully I can keep it going now.’