Skipper defiant as Wexford’s underdogs look to lower Banner
Well beaten by Kilkenny in the Leinster final, they now face high-flying Clare in Croke Park on Sunday in the All-Ireland quarter-final and are written off as no-hopers by many.
Who would lead them into the maelstrom?
Because his club won the Wexford senior championship last year, that honour falls to Keith Rossiter of Oulart-the-Ballagh.
Typical Wexfordman, it’s a challenge that leaves him undaunted.
After losing to Cork in the Munster semi-final, Clare recovered strongly, came through their All-Ireland qualifying group — the tougher qualifying group — unbeaten, practically unchallenged, are hotly fancied now to qualify for the All-Ireland semi-final at least. Doesn’t faze Keith.
He said: “Clare are good, a team of vast experience, and are going all out this year to make a name for themselves — a few of them might be retiring in the next couple of years and they want to leave on a high. But the way it is at the moment, going into an All-Ireland quarter-final all opponents are as tough as each other, that’s how I feel about it; you’re up against the best, you just have to take what you get.”
There are a number of reasons why Wexford are so unfancied this weekend — poor league form, blown away by the same opposition at the same stage of the All-Ireland last year, injuries to Darragh Ryan and Darren Stamp and the retirement of silky midfielder Adrian Fenlon.
Foremost, however, was Wexford’s poor performance against Kilkenny in the Leinster final loss.
Prior to that game Rossiter was bullish, determined to put it up to the perennial Leinster powerhouses.
Three weeks on, he has no explanation for what happened.
“No-one knows, it was just one of those days, we never got going at all. We can’t say we left it behind as we never performed even near our potential. We were only at about 50% and that was very disappointing.
“We got it back to two points in the second half, then Kilkenny upped it another gear and we didn’t respond. Then they went five or six points ahead and that was it, game over. What made it worse, we had two teams involved that day (the footballers were beaten in the Leinster senior football semi-final), and we lost the two. We’re all looking forward to Sunday now. Hopefully we can make up for those losses.”
Of no consolation to Rossiter was his own sterling performance as stand-in full-back in the continued absence of Darragh Ryan.
“It’s a team game,” he says, “I’d rather if we got the win, even if I’d played badly.”
Mind you, word from Wexford is that big Darragh — along with veteran forward Paul Codd — is back in full training for the past couple of weeks; good news, even if it does mean Rossiter will have to give up the number 3 slot he’s filled with distinction so far in the championship.
“I wouldn’t mind giving it up to Darragh Ryan, no, he’s one of the top full-backs around; he’s back in full training, gives the management another option, though I don’t know yet how he’s fixed to start. At least he’s an option.”
More good news for Wexford was the display by Michael Jacob as a half-time substitute in the Leinster final. He hit 1-4, all from play, a return that caused many to question why he wasn’t in from the start. Understandably, Rossiter wasn’t going to be drawn into that debate; understandably also, however, given that he grew up with Michael and Rory Jacob, he is delighted for his clubmate. “He came in with a point to prove, and did that, played very well, was probably our best player on the day. The management had made their decision before the Leinster final, felt that other lads were going better in training and in the matches leading up to that game, and you have to give everyone their chance. Michael got his chance at half-time and in fairness to him, he took it.”
Noticeable also was that Rory’s game improved with his brother on the pitch. “It must be good to have your brother playing beside you; they grew up hurling together, have a good understanding, good combination, they’re bound to be more confident in that situation.”
What of Wexford Sunday, however; can they feel confidence? Will it be a repeat of last year’s one-way affair, when Clare bullied them from the throw-in, horsed them out of it, or can Wexford do what they did earlier this year in the league, reverse that result by giving Clare a taste of their own physicality?
“Both those games are in the past so neither is really relevant,” says the Wexford captain. “I’ve often said, you can’t really go by what happened in the league, it’s just warm-up for championship, played at a totally different pace, totally different time of the year. The ball is travelling a lot faster now, but hopefully we can have the same result as we had in the league.”
