Wexford skipper sitting comfortably at Leinster’s top table

FOR all that Jason Ryan has done to assist Wexford in making the grade in the Leinster SFC in his first year in charge, team captain Colm Morris agrees that the credit for qualifying for a final after a wait of 52 years deserves to be shared among a lot of people.

Thinking back to his first season, in 1999/2000, he recalled the first of a number of bad days when they came through a Round Robin system and flopped against Dublin in Croke Park. Now he reflects on how much they have advanced and how they have overcome their inhibitions of taking on the more established counties.

Matty Forde and full-back Philip Wallace are others who were there with him from the start.

“We have come on in leaps and bounds since then and confidence has improved every year. You look forward now to playing in Croke Park and having days like Sunday. All the hard work is paying off,’’ Morris commented.

What was lacking most in the past, he agrees, was the ability to get over the finishing line. Yet, in recent times, they have proved more than a match for some of the big names in Leinster and this year they have consolidated a growing reputation by winning Division 3 of the NFL (beating Fermanagh in a replayed final after extra-time) and gaining the added status of being the only unbeaten team in the country.

Qualifying in their fifth consecutive semi-final, he recalled how they had been five points ahead of Laois 12 months ago and how they had promised a breakthrough against the Dubs a few years earlier. “Maybe it was missing the belief that we could go on and that we could match these teams.

“Jason took on Clongeen in Wexford, they won the club championship last year and he brought in a few more of these lads. They brought confidence into the panel. We started to believe we could win games and drag out results at the end of games.”

The team boss, for his part, has been quick to acknowledge the role of Waterford man Michael Casey, the team trainer, and Morris emphasises the importance of their twin contributions.

“Training is very good. You do a lot of football work with Jason and Michael Casey does the physical training — toing and froing between the two of them. It’s tough but it’s enjoyable when you are winning.

“The good thing about it is that everything is orientated towards playing football. You’re not doing the long distance runs you used to do. It’s all with the ball now. That’s why it is so enjoyable.’’

He paid tribute to people like former star Ger Halligan, who was manager at the start of the decade and people like JJ Barrett, Pat Roe, Dom Twomey (who had been a selector in Dublin with Tommy Carr) and Paul Bealin.

“All of them have added something to our game, either a bit more belief or more skill. They also brought a bit more professionalism to our game. It’s all coming together now. Jason is trying to mix it all together and bring just that bit more belief into the team.’’

Fermanagh’s unexpected win on Saturday was a huge boost for them, he said. And noting how Down overcame Armagh and how Limerick were unfortunate against Cork, he commented: “our division doesn’t seem to be working out that badly.”

Prepared to accept that Dublin mightn’t necessarily be their opponents in the final on July 20, he senses that there is more talk in the media about them being contenders for the Sam Maguire.

“Our focus is on Leinster and I’m sure it’s the same with Westmeath. We’ll leave Dublin worry about the All-Ireland.’’

Meanwhile, Laois manager Liam Kearns, who was very gracious in defeat, accepts that it will be difficult to resurrect their challenge in the qualifier system. “A lot more fancied teams than us have gone into the graveyard. It is a daunting task, but the panel is very young and hopefully they will learn from Sunday. We have no choice but to learn,’’ he said.

“Wexford were on top in most sectors. We had problems for most of the game. We used five subs, the fifth with 15 minutes to go and you know you are in trouble in that situation.’’

And while a number of their bigger players had under-performed, he pointed out that several of the squad came into the game with injuries. It meant, for instance, that they weren’t able to start their senior midfielders Padraig Clancy and Brendan Quigley.

Kearns also conceded his team hadn’t played with the same resolve they had displayed in their quarter-final win over Wicklow in Dr Cullen Park.

“The intention was to go out and play to the same pace, but we didn’t do that. Whether that was down to Wexford, or we didn’t come out of the blocks, is hard to say. But we definitely didn’t have the same urgency, or the same running. We just didn’t play at all except for snatches.

“I don’t think it was a lack of belief. I just think it didn’t happen for us. You need your big players to perform if you are to win and it just didn’t happen for them. They’re not robots either. I think we had a collective off day and Wexford had a really good day.”