Model making huge strides since their penalty pain
Seasons can turn in the blink of an eye, and the outrage coming from Wexford quarters after a dubious late penalty cost them a league victory against Leitrim in round three was obvious.
Footage of the penalty decision – which Leitrim slotted away for a victory that ultimately proved the difference-maker in their promotion from Division 4 – circulated far and wide, and it got worse every time it was watched.
It would almost have been acceptable for the Model men to throw every toy out of their pram and the wheels could easily have come off, but the response from John Hegarty’s side has been spectacular.
They may have been narrowly denied promotion but they finished their league campaign with four dominant victories – winning by an average of 11 points – as they got their season firmly back on track.
“We left it behind us, or so my therapist tells me we should anyway,” Hegarty quips. “In the dressing room afterwards, I won’t pretend, we were absolutely gutted, really devastated, because we just felt it was a really poor decision.
“We got together afterwards and we kind of accepted that it was then out of our hands and that all we could do was our bit and accumulate as many points as we could and see where that left us.
“There was no beating of the table and, ‘This is going to be put right’. We just said, ‘Let’s go about our business’ – and you couldn’t have asked any more, you actually couldn’t ask any more of them in how they have responded.
“It ultimately wasn’t enough and it did come down to that (the penalty call) but in any walk of life, if you say you’re going to do something, you do it and you follow through. That’s all you can control and all you can do and the lads have been exceptional.
“It could (suck the life out of you) because I would have felt that this group of players are ready to step up and we had high expectations and high standards of ourselves and we let ourselves down against Laois.
“We were really poor that night, we just didn’t perform. This was our shot at going to Leitrim and getting it all back on track and it didn’t work out that way, it could have gone the other way but thankfully it didn’t. If you’re going to play football for Wexford or Leitrim or Longford or lots of these counties, you have to be resilient. That has certainly shone through.”
Wexford carried that form into their Leinster SFC opener last weekend when they laid waste to Carlow with a whopping 4-19 tally accumulated as they continued their sensational scoring feats.
“Championship wins don’t come around too often for Wexford and you couldn’t have predicted the manner of that. To get a championship win like that is great,” Hegarty says.
That sets up a provincial quarter-final against Division 2 side Louth on Sunday, with the clash against Ger Brennan’s outfit representing a significant acceleration in class – something Hegarty is well aware of.
“We’re happy with how things have been going but we have been playing all Division 4 opponents, so it is a big step up and Louth are probably the second best team in Leinster having been in the Leinster final last year.
“They retained their Division 2 status this year and they are a couple of steps up from anything we’ve played.
“It’s going to be good to see how we measure up but there is an excitement to it and for all those complaining about it, it is still championship football.
“We’re of an era and an age where that’s what your whole year was built around. I’m looking forward to it but clearly, Louth are going to be significantly better than anyone else we’ve faced this year.”