Notifications on Twitter & Whatsapp had to go.. I had to block out the noise

KARL O’KANE

DIARMUID O’KEEFFE started his week by turning off the notifications on his Twitter and Whatsapp accounts.

He had an idea of what was coming after Wexford’s collapse against Westmeath on their home patch.

Darragh Egan’s men were 2-14 to 0-3 up after 32 minutes and seemingly cruising to victory at the time, but two late Niall Mitchell goals completed one of the greatest comebacks in GAA history.

It left Wexford in grave danger of relegation to the

Joe Mcdonagh Cup if they lost to Kilkenny last Sunday

In the end they ground it out in front of their own fans, showing massive resolve to claim a victory despite shipping five goals – every one of them potentially major psychological blows when you’re in a fragile state.

“It was a massive day for Wexford people, Wexford hurling and Wexford GAA,” said O’keeffe. “Driving in on the bus, you see a lot of young lads on the street holding their hurls and a lot of things go through your head.

“Thank God we prevailed in the end. Everyone dug deep and led by example.

“There wasn’t a word on the bus coming in because lads realised what was on the line.

“Look, we put ourselves in that position and we had to do something big to try to get out of it.

“You see the 20s losing the Leinster final (to Offaly last week). They’re the next crop.

“If we want to be competing in provincial finals going forward, we have to be playing at that consistent standard.

“It was a massive, massive day. We’re very grateful that we stay there for next year.”

O’keeffe took his own action to make sure his head was right for what was coming down the line

He continued: “Do you know what? On the bus on Sunday evening (after the Westmeath defeat) I turned off notifications, deactivated Twitter and Whatsapp.

“I’m not on anything else – bodies and minds right for the Kilkenny challenge.

They did one intense training session for 45 minutes last Wednesday night, and that was it.

What was on the line was very clear. Wexford haven’t played second tier championship hurling since the 1920s.

O’keeffe himself had fallen out of favour in recent weeks and wasn’t used in the Dublin defeat at Croke Park, while only coming on in stoppage time against Westmeath.

Last Sunday the 31 year old former All Star was restored to the midfield.

But after Wexford shipped two early goals with their defence being torn asunder, O’keeffe took up a familiar sweeper role.

It shored things up and helped Wexford back into the game as he got on a mountain of ball, but Kilkenny still got in for three more goals.

You’d wonder how many they might have got if Wexford had stayed man on man with Simon Donohoe and Matthew O’hanlon struggling to get to grips with Kilkenny dangermen Eoin Cody and TJ Reid and

Tom Phelan wreaking havoc.

O’keeffe says: “You keep plugging away and get back into contention.

“I think if you have a seventh defender, you really shouldn’t be conceding five goals – should you?

“The lads tell me to do a job and I do it to the best of my ability – like everyone else.

“We all applied ourselves and got a result, something we probably didn’t do in previous weeks. It’s freakish (Westmeath loss).

“We spoke in the dressing room briefly about just being big Wexford men and going to every ball because so much was relying on it. That’s all it was.”