It’s exciting to be back among the big boys, says Dempsey
WEXFORD and Cork astride the top of the Allianz League table with the live television cameras ready to roll – Tom Dempsey could be forgiven if this afternoon’s game brings him back to the famous trilogy of 25 years ago. Back then, the same teams fought out a three-legged final of the competition that etched its way into hurling folklore and the Buffers Alley player had a central role in all the drama that took place over three consecutive weekends in May at Semple Stadium.
It wasn’t just the one that got away, says Dempsey, it was the
year that got away. ‘Ironically, I was captain that year. It was a great year for Wexford hurling but it was probably the most disappointing year. I felt we were certainly within the top two, three teams in Ireland at the time. So it was a real heartbreaker.
‘We drew the Leinster final with Kilkenny as well and they went on to win the All-Ireland comfortably. We were four points up with about six minutes to go in the Leinster final. We should have won something that year but maybe the psychology of the thing didn’t help us – you have to ask whether we fully believed we could win something because we were good enough.’
That was the Wexford team of Martin Storey, Liam Dunne, George O’Connor, Larry O’Gorman and company, the talented cast of characters who would finally make the breakthrough three years later. But in 1993, it was filed away under yet another hard luck story, albeit a thrilling one.
‘There are Wexford people of a certain age who would remember it as one of the highlights,’ explains Dempsey. ‘It was so dramatic. The second game went to extra time – it was drawn – then the third game was played on a Saturday.
‘We had chances to win the first and the second game. Scoreable opportunities but we didn’t take them. We have to take blame.
‘But I do believe that if we had won the League we possibly would have won the All-Ireland.’
When Wexford did finally lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup under Liam Griffin’s guidance in 1996, Dempsey achieved his own slice of immortality with the crucial goal in the final. He tells a story about the League trilogy to illustrate just how different the times were.
‘I remember meeting up with the Cork team after the first day. I actually think we had a few drinks. There was some kind of reception by whoever was sponsoring and the players all went. We would have had a nice relationship with the Cork players at that time.
‘I think it was in the Anner [Hotel]. It was taken that you had a bit of fun afterwards. It’s not that the players weren’t as dedicated, it’s just it wasn’t frowned upon.
‘Sometimes I think that the GAA players are almost too strictly monitored.
‘I would be in no way promoting drink. You just need a little bit of down time. I would worry a bit that we’re gone very, very professional. But then young fellas seem to enjoy it, they put a lot into it.
‘The idea today of a young player playing for Wexford or Cork in that situation, knowing there was a League final replay the week after, would be almost laughable.’
The post-match routines of Davy Fitzgerald’s Wexford or John Meyler’s Cork are unlikely to involve a social gathering at the Ferrycarrig Hotel after this afternoon’s televised meeting.
And yet, what really would there be to lose if they did meet up and mingle. Here are two teams bursting with bright, young talent on an upward curve, Cork beating Kilkenny for the first time since 2012 last weekend and Wexford turning over All-Ireland finalists Waterford away from home.
Not that Dempsey is reading in to the standings after just one round of action.
‘Look, we’re not getting carried away. There is a buzz in Wexford. We have an incredible support
base. You could have in excess of 10,000 people at the game.
In fairness to Davy Fitzgerald, if I bring you back to January last year, before the League started, who would have thought that Wexford, in their second League game this year, would be playing top of the table in Division 1A?
‘It just emphasises where Davy has brought them. Nobody expected us even to be promoted.’
The victory over Waterford was instructive with Wexford utilising Diarmuid O’Keeffe to serious effect in a roving role around midfield. He had a ding-dong battle with Jamie Barron, the Waterford All-Star midfielder who made the Hurler of the Year shortlist.
The fluid nature of Davy Fitzgerald’s set-up with a sweeper adding defensive cover at the back means that when his team have possession, O’Keeffe quickly becomes an attacking threat. Twice, he set off on darting runs from the middle third to ping over classy points.
Blotted out in that first half when Waterford laboured against the wind, Barron suddenly came into his own after the break. Mirroring O’Keeffe, he danced his way into space to hit a first point before cutting over a sweet sideline just to showcase the range of his ability.
That midfield battle will be crucial to today’s outcome. Darragh Fitzgibbon already looks like he is ready to kick on from a breakthrough first summer in the Cork engine room. An athlete in the modern mould, that electric burst of acceleration took him away from trouble time and time again against Kilkenny when his link-up play really impressed.
Luke Meade set the tone from the bench with his energy and workrate and on the evidence of the first round against Kilkenny, Tim O’Mahony is another Mark Coleman-type player. Composed beyond his years in possession, he picked the right pass, the right option, almost every time.
His fielding and positioning at number six, too, was very impressive for a player making his National League debut.
‘Different teams have different designs on the League,’ suggests Dempsey.
‘Tipperary, Galway and possibly Waterford, they’re looking at it that only Championship will be acceptable for them. Cork, Clare and Wexford might have a different slant on it, that a League run might be more worthwhile.
‘So we’re not running away with ourselves. If we could win, it would put us in the situation where we could stay in Division 1A.
‘We’re not claiming that we’re going to win the League or All-Ireland but isn’t it great that Wexford are back competing.’
I would be worried that we are gone very, very professional