We must take bull by the horns, says Model ace O’Hanlon

Sipping coffee on the Grand Vía, a spectator at the world renowned San Isidro bullfighting festival and absorbing Madrid’s rich cultural heritage — Matthew O’Hanlon’s landscape cut a very different view this time last year.

Thoughts of bursting a gut below in Wexford Park, pulling on the purple and gold shirt or counting down the days to their Leinster championship opener a million miles removed.

Since first lining out for the Wexford minor hurlers in the spring of 2008, O’Hanlon’s life has been consumed by inter-county demands. Minor football selection followed suit the subsequent year, the New Ross native graduating to both codes at U21 level before earning his senior hurling debut in 2011.