We don’t intend to be bridesmaids again, says defiant Conran

THE Wexford dressing room was eerily quiet as players tried to come to terms with what might have been after they came back from the dead to force a replay next Saturday at the same venue.

Defiant coach John Conran, said his charges were very disappointed at not winning the game and, while agreeing that the element of surprise which they carried into the match was now gone, Wexford were in no mood to give Cork the initiative for the replay.

“Our lads showed tremendous heart in coming back from a position where all seemed lost, but we’ve been in this spot before,” he said. “Two years ago, against Tipperary, we had another tremendous contest, but we failed in the replay and we don’t intend being bridesmaids again.

“We got the start we wanted, however, if you look at it from the other side, Cork hadn’t played in Croke Park in a couple of years and once they acclimatised, the game developed into a titanic struggle all through.

“It’s going to be an entirely different match next day out.

“All credit to our lads for the manner in which they imposed themselves very early on, and we were well worth our four-point half-time lead. I said to the lads at the break, we had nothing won yet and to go out and increase that lead, but, all credit to Cork, they came back at us very strongly in the second half and, as always happens in games of this magnitude, they had their period of dominance which saw them take a three-point lead towards the end of the game, and I have to be perfectly honest when I say I thought it was gone from us.

“The game was now in injury time and I could see no way back, but the lads hung in there and had at least four attacks which were repulsed by Cork but, if you throw enough sh** at a wall, some of it is bound to stick, and Rory McCarthy squeezed home the equalising goal that gave us a draw, I feel we more than deserved”.

Asked if he wanted Wexford to be written off by the media for the replay, a defiant Conran replied: “I hope we are”.

Larry Murphy said Wexford seemed to be making a habit of getting out of jail, “but we are still in the title race and that’s what matters most.

“It appeared to be a cracking match, where I would have preferred to win a bad one than lose a good one.

“I was off the field when Rory got the equaliser, but I was hoping against hope that we would get a break which would keep us in the championship.

“Fair play to him because, as a midfielder, he should not have been at corner-forward. To see his shot hit the back of the Cork net was brilliant.

“It showed the concentration levels of the lads to never give it up and it was another classic example of a game never being over until the final whistle.”

The hero for Wexford, Rory McCarthy, made light of his equalising goal, but was delighted nonetheless, to earn his side a second chance.

Asked what he was doing in at corner forward, McCarthy replied that someone had told him the game was in injury time, “so I decided to stay where I was in the hope that a break might come and, thankfully, it did.

“It was probably the only decent strike I got in all day, but it was a nice one to get.”

Rory Jacob felt Wexford are lucky to be still in the championship race: “Over the full match, Cork had more chances than we had. They defended superbly in the second half and are taskmasters at hooking and blocking.

“It got very tight in there towards the end and I thought we’d never get the goal chance, but all credit to Rory. He stuck it home when it came his way and it’s all to play for next Saturday.”