Irish Daily Star - Inside Sport
MODEL MAN CHIN SET TO DELIVER
WEXFORD have been three points away from two wins, but their season is hanging by a thread after a draw with Galway and a defeat by Dublin. It took Lee Chin to come off the bench and hit the final four points to rescue them against Galway, after they had trailed by six points going into the last 10 minutes.
Chin (29) also came off the bench against Dublin to hit six points from dead balls, but this time Wexford came up short by a single point. If All Star Chin was fully fit there’s a fair chance Wexford would be sitting on full points. They’d certainly have more than one point. Chin has been missed for his leadership, freetaking ability and physical presence.
Wexford are not a huge side, bar Matthew O’Hanlon, Paudie Foley and Liam Ryan.
Chin gives them that physicality and athleticism required for Championship hurling.
Role
It is unclear what role he will play against Laois tonight with Wexford’s season on the line.
Chin’s Faythe Harriers clubmate Larry O’Gorman says: “I expect a big game from Wexford and a big reply from them and I’m expecting a win, but it’s going to be a tough one.
“Hopefully Lee Chin will get back up and running again and get 70 minutes of hurling into him rather than only getting 15 or 20. “We need the likes of him and Jack O’Connor to come in, add a bit of steel and be the driving force in the forward line. “Jack O’Connor would be a great ball-winner. We don’t really have much of a ball-winner in the half-forward line at the present moment, and that’s the reason why we are struggling to score from the half-forward line.
“Lee and Jack O’Connor’s physical presence would have been missed in those games. We’re not a big team anymore. We’re inclined to be pushed around a small bit.
“Dublin and Galway did push us around
when it got to the physical side of it.
“We are trying to work the ball through the lines and we’re physically not able to break them down.
System
“So, we need to come up with a new system, a new plan. At the moment the only way we can get scores is putting ball into the danger zone the opposition full-back line.
“When C o n or Mac(Donald) and Rory O’Connor are on form, the more ball they get in the hand, the greater chance we have to get scores on the board.”
Jack O’Connor is also a free taker so Wexford are effectively without their two first choice dead ball specialists.
“The way the game is gone today, you’re nearly always guaranteed 10 or 12 points from free-takers,” added 1996 Hurler of the Year and All-Ireland winner O’Gorman.
“We haven’t got that. We do have great freetaking ability. Rory O’Connor was very successful against Cork and Offaly at Wexford Park in the League.
“But the Championship so far hasn’t shown up too much in terms of taking those opportunities. So we are struggling in that position.
“Lee Chin is a good free-taker. We are missing his experience in taking frees. I was speaking to DJ Carey lately and he was telling me Wexford have struggled over the last couple of years with (not having) a permanent, solid free-taker.
“People outside of Wexford are also talking about it.
“Padraig Foley, in most previous games he was taking long-range frees.
“Now we’ve the goalkeeper (Mark Fanning) coming out taking longrange frees. We have Lee Chin sometimes going out into the half-back line, Rory O’Connor.
Struggle
“We haven’t got a settled free-taker at the present moment. We can struggle. We could lose five or six points in every game, which we did against Galway and Dublin. Maybe that’s the reason why we didn’t come out with a victory in those games.
“It’s vitally important. Dublin have it. Waterford have it. Kilkenny have it. Galway have it. They all have great free-takers.
“It’s a position we need to look at seriously and we have to address it.”