The Kilkenny keeper at the heart of Wexford’s showpiece

Oylegate-Glenbrien hoping to bridge 60 year wait and Aaron Duggan is keen to repay the club which welcomed him with open arms.

60 YEAR WAIT: Aaron Duggan is hoping to play his part to help Oylegate-Glenbrien bridge their 60 year wait for senior county final win. Pic: Aaron Duggan

Fionn is three and he has two jerseys. One Wexford, one Kilkenny. As long as he has a hurley in his hand and a smile on his face, his father Aaron Duggan is happy. That is the unembellished goal.

Duggan wore the black and amber with pride, playing U21 for two years alongside the likes of Cillian Buckley, Padraig Walsh and Richie Reid as well as their intermediate All-Ireland winning goalkeeper in 2016. On Sunday he will take his place between the posts for Wexford’s showpiece. His recent showings ensure he is also being touted to line out for Wexford in the future too.

The county final sees Oylegate-Glenbrien take on Naomh Éanna in their first senior decider since 1963. This wasn’t the stated ambition at the start of the season. Far from it. Confidence built gradually with every victory. Overcoming holders Ferns was a big step. They stormed past St Anne’s in the semi-final by seven points. One frontier left.

“We never spoke about it from the get-go,” says Duggan matter-of-factly. “The main thing was don’t be in that relegation zone. I thought we were in the harder group. It was there to see in the quarter-finals actually.” 

Their championship kicked off with a 3-15 to 1-16 defeat against finalists Naomh Éanna. Duggan’s relationship with Wexford began long before that. Five years ago, he met his partner, Meaghan.

“We were fortunate to have a little boy, he will be three in September. I took the big move to Wexford then. That was the start of lockdown when I came down. The few months before that I was hurling with Dicksboro.

“I work in Kilkenny at the moment and it would’ve been a lot of time away from the family. Once I am hurling, I am happy. I miss Kilkenny a bit, but we all know family comes first. There were no grudges or anything like that. They made it clear if I ever moved back they would be there with open arms.” 

He hurled outfield until he was 14. At that grade club legend Michael Walsh was their manager. The two-time All-Ireland winner and two-time All-Star was a netminding expert. His father, Ollie Walsh, was one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. It was Michael who first asked Duggan if he could give them a dig out. History. Hope. An honour.

“We were actually stuck for a 7s game down near the Waterford border. He picked me up and asked, ‘would you mind standing in goals for us?’ Mickey made it so enjoyable, I had him for a number of years. I fell in love with it from that day on.

“He was just a great person to look up to, especially given how good he was in goals and his father. It was sort of like, if this man asked me to go maybe he sees something in me.” 

What of the contentious Wexford championship format? Since covid the county has played their senior championships sequentially, hurling first, followed by football. At the time it was particularly popular from a dual-player perspective.

Duggan clarifies they don’t have as many footballers, although a few will play junior. The format means games are crammed, one after another with few opportunities for rest. A challenge, for sure, but one that can have serious consequences for upcoming prospects.

“It took me a while to get used to it. I think it is a bit mad. No break, this big straight run. I can only imagine how hard it is on the outfield players. You play a county semi-final and a week later you are going to Wexford Park for another final. You don’t get to enjoy buildup really either because it is so rushed.

“You always use the club championship to watch young lads who are coming through, who is the next big thing but if they hurt a hamstring, they’ll miss an entire season and have no chance to play. That takes away their chance to get in with Wexford as well. It has a big knock-on.” 

He raves about his current club-mates, Shane and Damien Reck. Defensive stalwarts for the county and driving influences for Oylegate-Glenbrien. Now that it has been confirmed Keith Rossiter will succeed Darragh Egan as Wexford senior manager, speculation will mount that Duggan might receive a phone call. Nothing new there. Not worth taking heed of until the need arises.

“People would say it to me or ask me about it. We heard you got a call. It never came and that’s the only time it would ever cross my mind about hurling with Wexford really. ‘He said, she said’ sort of stuff.

“I think you just have to go match by match, training by training. I don’t let myself get too distracted by what might happen in the future. We all have our own goals and are working towards them, but I take it day-by-day.” 

It doesn’t matter now. Sunday is all that matters now. 60 years is a long time to wait. Duggan didn’t even realise that famine existed until the leadup to their semi-final. The club welcomed him unconditionally from the start and he was always keen to repay them. That resolve has since grown stronger.

“That drove me on even more coming into last Sunday,” he says with pride. “The people of this parish hadn’t seen a county final for 60 years. They experienced it in intermediate but have waited for a day like this. It put more drive into me to get it done when I realised just how badly they wanted it. I mean, jeez, you’d grown men crying while thanking you the other day. This great club back in a senior county final. That is something you can’t buy. If that doesn’t warm your heart, I don’t know what would.”