Fine finishing will fill pacey Wexford with confidence

WEXFORD SENIOR footballers continued their run of good form with an impressive performance against our neighbours Carlow in the first round of the Leinster championship on Sunday.

The two-week break after the last league game seemed to be the perfect preparation as Wexford looked fresh and eager to show how they can play.

Winter weather conditions made it difficult for both sides on a day more suitable for indoor sports, but to give credit to the ground staff, the pitch at Chadwicks Wexford Park was in excellent condition.

The opening 15 minutes were uneventful and error-strewn as a wind-assisted Wexford led by the minimum on a score of 0-4 to 0-3.

However, Wexford then turned on the style and scored eight unanswered points to lead by nine points at half-time.

They pressed up on the Carlow kick-out and put the opposition defence under extreme pressure, forcing them into many turnovers and mistakes.

Carlow seemed a bit demoralised by the forceful play of Wexford and failed to recover in the second-half, despite playing with the elements. Wexford were even more impressive in the second-half, scoring another 4-7 to complete a 23-point hammering.

I felt that playing against the wind suited our style of play. There is so much pace in the team and so many willing runners, and the gale-force wind forced the team in to carrying the ball.

They created so many overlaps and broke through the defence at will, but the important thing was that they were so clinical in taking advantage of the chances created.

It was an impressive display of finishing and one that will give confidence going forward, as yet again nine different players got on the scoresheet. One amazing statistic from the game was that Wexford only had one wide throughout, something I can never remember happening before.

There are many things to admire about the way Wexford are playing now, with just a few being their pace, workrate, and ability to turn defence into attack at speed.

The style of play is enjoyable to watch, and they are certainly an improving team. Wexford won’t get carried away by this victory, as the performance from Carlow was extremely disappointing, except for the first 15 minutes.

They were out-fought, out-thought, and out-played in all sectors of the field and will face a tough few weeks ahead of them in preparation for the Tailteann Cup.

The next obstacle for our lads is a tough game next Sunday against Louth, who secured safety in Division 2 by beating Kildare in their last league game.

Over the last few years, they made great progress under Mickey Harte and are currently managed and coached by All-Ireland winners Ger Brennan and James McCartan, and four times Sigerson-winning manager with DCU, Niall Moyna.

Louth will be favourites having operated at a higher level and have some dangerous forwards in Ryan Burns, Tom Jackson and their star man, Sam Mulroy.

Much will depend on how Wexford will handle the threat of these players. I am impressed with the improvement in Wexford this year and I think, given the way they are playing, they are well capable of defying the odds and qualifying for a Leinster semi-final.

One complaint I have about last weekend was the price of tickets. Twenty-five euro is a bit steep for a first round Leinster championship match between two Division 4 teams.

That price and the weather meant there was a very small crowd on Sunday. It must be stressed this had nothing to do with Wexford County Board, but those in power must be more realistic when they are setting admission fees.

Wexford are playing well and are good to watch, so they need to make it reasonable and affordable for the supporters to attend.