Wexford answer their critics and save their skins with Kilkenny epic
FIGHTING SPIRIT: Wexford’s Conor McDonald celebrates after the game. Pic: ©INPHO/Ken Sutton
Wexford manager Darragh Egan admitted to a sense of relief after this but lauded the ability of his players to ignore the fallout from the loss to Westmeath and secure the county’s place in next season’s Liam MacCarthy Cup with an epic defeat of Kilkenny.
The 2019 provincial champions led Westmeath by 17 points approaching half-time eight days ago and then promptly collapsed to an incomprehensible defeat that left them dangling on the edge of a drop-down to the Joe McDonagh Cup.
Another Westmeath win would have saved them regardless of this result but their loss at home to Antrim ultimately meant that Wexford would only be able to save themselves. They did it despite a dreadful opening quarter.
“Everything was questioned,” Egan said. “Our character, our tactics, our setup. And you know what? They had every right to do that after forfeiting a 17-point loss (sic) last week. They had every right to have a cut off us but it is a lesson for people down here.
“We need to not get too low with the losses and not too high with the wins but the group did well to block it out during the week and the Wexford people spoke with their feet with their support here today. People could have stayed away but, by Jesus, they didn’t.”
The squad talked out their issues in the dressing-room after that defeat to the midland county last week. They followed it up with a recovery session in the chilly waters off Curracloe beach and were then promptly caught cold by the Cats here.
Eoin Cody had the first of his three goals claimed inside two minutes. Martin Keoghan had another in the time it takes to boil a kettle. With the first quarter done, Wexford were almost dusted, the deficit already at eight points.
If this was the truest test of their character then they passed it with flying colours and the comeback was kickstarted by captain and talisman Lee Chin whose penalty goal was just one slice of a performance that was nothing short of herculean.
Kevin Foley claimed another goal, Liam Og McGovern added a quick one-two of three-pointers after the break and the turnaround was so complete that Wexford found themselves ahead by the break and seven points up nine minutes after the restart.
The basic stats were astonishing, their dominance obvious in the fact that they hit 4-8 to Kilkenny’s five points in that 27-minute stretch after Diarmuid O’Keeffe was deployed as a sweeper but this was a game that couldn’t help but tease and torture and delight.
Back came Kilkenny off the ropes, goals from Cody (two) and Tom Phelan buttressing a spell where they claimed 3-5 to 0-5 and a two-point lead with it. There would be no losers here, just one side that happened to be further back on the scoreboard come the final whistle.
That just happened to be Kilkenny who managed just one of the last six points scored but Padraig Walsh was peeved by a point attempt waved wide and Alan Murphy found the net a millisecond after Colm Lyons blew for a free out deep into injury-time.
It was that close but credit to Wexford who tallied eight wides in the first-half and only one in a manic second and took their lead from Chin who was sensational up front just weeks after suffering a Grade 2 AC tear.
The madness dialled up a level at the final whistle, the locals in a crowd of 9,725 pouring onto the grass as ‘Dancing at the Crossroads’ blared, but it is Kilkenny who will play in the Leinster final and All-Ireland series. Wexford’s summer is over. Already.
Egan, who is eager to continue on as manager while aware that some would like to see him “go up the road and not come back again”, was mindful of that and stressed that this escape act has to be the start of something rather than the end of a nightmare.
“We need to learn from loads over the last three or four months because it just has not been good enough. We were six or seven minutes from being in an All-Ireland semi-final last year. We were four minutes from being in the Joe McDonagh next year.
“If we can strike a chord somewhere in the middle we will have a big say in how things go over the next few years. We have loads of improvements to make, loads of young players to integrate and if we can manage that appropriately it could be huge for us.”
L Chin (1-10, 1-0 penalty, 0-6 frees, 0-1 ‘65’); L Og McGovern (2-1); K Foley (1-1); R O’Connor (0-4); C Dunbar (0-2, 0-1 sideline); O Foley (0-2); L Ryan, D O’Keeffe, C McDonald (all 0-1).
E Cody (3-1): TJ Reid (0-7, 0-4 frees, 0-1 ‘65’); T Phelan (1-4); M Keoghan (1-0); P Walsh, A Mullen, W Walsh, A Murphy, C Delaney and B Ryan (all 0-1).
J Lawlor; Joe O’Connor, L Ryan, C Devitt; S Donohoe, M O’Hanlon, I Carty; D O’Keeffe, K Foley; Jack O’Connor, L Og McGovern, O Foley; R O’Connor, C McDonald, L Chin.
C Foley for Joe O’Connor (19); C Dunbar for Jack O’Connor (55); C Hearne for Foley (65).
E Murphy; M Butler, H Lawlor, T Walsh; D Blanchfield, P Walsh, D Corcoran; A Mullen, W Walsh; T Phelan, J Donnelly, B Drennan; M Keoghan, TJ Reid, E Cody.
C Delaney for Butler (13); B Ryan for Keoghan (14); C Fogarty for Mullen (25); A Murphy for Drennan (49); C Buckley for Walsh (66); M Dwyer for McGovern (69).
C Lyons (Cork).
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