O’Regan wants to keep Wexford’s party going

WEXFORD’S star U21 midfielder Michael O’Regan said his team revel in being written off.

The Slaneysiders claimed their first Leinster U21 title on Wednesday night after staving off a second-half fight back from Longford in Portlaoise. Their opponents had been the more fancied side but Wexford defied the odds with O’Regan leading the charge, his late free securing the win.

They are expected to lose to Tyrone or Cavan in their All-Ireland semi-final but O’Regan isn’t in the least bit worried.

“We had something like a scoring average of minus 33 points in the first rounds over the years. We were getting thrashed by 20 or 30 points and a lot of the lads would have been playing in those games,” he said.

“We came into the final as underdogs but it was nothing new to us. Against Louth we were underdogs. Against Kildare we were underdogs. Against Carlow, we were the same, so it suits us. We don’t mind the tag at all. It motivates lads. You go in with the idea you’ve nothing to lose and it’s a good thing.”

O’Regan revealed he and his team-mates never felt Longford were the better team — despite the bookmakers’ odds and the newspaper verdicts.

“We knew they were good footballers. We had watched a lot of videos of Longford and knew they weren’t the most stylish team but they worked very hard and competed for ball.”

After the celebrations, Wexford turn their attentions to their last-four game. However, O’Regan admits their nights out have played a part in their success.

“That’s the one thing about this year. We’re more of a band of brothers more so than the team. We’ve gone out together after each game, we have a bit of craic and it helps.”