Sense of relief for Wexford manager

Jason Ryan broke out into a broad grin when asked if he felt Wexford had room for improvement, after their battling draw with Longford.

“We definitely have room for improvement. We looked nervous in the first half. I felt that we didn’t get to grips at midfield. In the second half Longford won something like eight kick-outs compared to two [for us] and that is not good considering midfield is meant to be one of Longford’s areas where people felt they weren’t up to scratch.”

Although his team had victory snatched from their grasp in the dying embers of the game, Ryan was happy to focus on the fact his team are still in the Leinster championship.

“We are happy not to lose. We had lost two games in a row [to Longford] and it is good to get out of that. We got into that kind of run in 2009 when we couldn’t buy a win. That year we got a draw against Monaghan in our last National League game and it just raised everybody’s confidence.

“We put ourselves into positions at times during the game to take control of it, but every time we did Longford just came back.

“Paul Barden is just a nightmare. He keeps on bouncing back. You think you have him under control, but he plugs away and causes problems.

“They have such athletic players; Glenn Ryan deserves a lot of credit. Tactically they are set up well and they made life difficult for us. In the second half their runners caused us problems.

“We have a week to prepare and it looks like we will be playing in Tullamore on Sunday.”

Five-point wing-back Adrian Flynn did earn praise but it wasn’t without qualification. “He is a threat. He kicked over some great scores and released some great ball, added the Wexford boss. There were moments in the first half of the game that when he analyses it he won’t want to see again. That is the way he plays, he plays the game on an edge. I would rather have him with us than against us.”

Ryan had yet to see a replay of the incident that led to referee Michael Collins awarding Longford an injury-time free to secure the equaliser but praised the Cork official’s performance.

“I thought Michael Collins allowed the game to flow freely. In other games Sean McCormack might have put over a few more points from frees or even Ben [Brosnan] or Ciaran [Lyng], but Michael let the game flow well.

“From the sideline in Croke Park it can be hard to judge because you are in a little hole looking up on to the pitch.

“Michael does keep up with the play and we have to give him credit for that. If a referee gives a call there is no point even talking about it.”