'It's nearly impossible to put your finger on it,' says Kevin Foley on Wexford's inconsistency

Foley was asked to explain how they can go from losing to Westmeath to beating Kilkenny in the space of a week.

INCONSISTENT: Wexford hurler Kevin Foley at the launch for the 2024 Dioralyte Walsh Cup Final. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Wexford, the great unfathomable.

Even Kevin Foley, a key cog in the wheel for a decade now, can't figure out their inconsistencies.

"It's nearly impossible to put your finger on it," he says when asked to explain how they can go from losing to Westmeath to beating Kilkenny in the space of a week.

That happened last May in the Leinster championship, when they finished the campaign on a high by beating the eventual Leinster champions and All-Ireland finalists but still exited the Championship.

Truth be told, after coughing up a 17-point lead against Westmeath the previous weekend, they were probably relieved just to have avoided relegation to the Joe McDonagh Cup.

The curious mishmash of wizardry and wastefulness has been there throughout Foley's decade-long Wexford career. When Davy Fitzgerald took over for 2017, he claimed the county had almost been lost from the top level. Two years later they were provincial champions.

They have another cup in their sights now having made it through to Sunday's Dioralyte Walsh Cup final against Galway in Carlow.

"The question I suppose is the consistency, why isn't it happening every game or why does it take a certain game to draw it out of us?" acknowledged Foley.

"Definitely there are a lot of passionate people down in Wexford and they love their GAA to be fair but it's about channelling that and directing that through for every game, whether it be league or Championship, and we need to build on that consistency and prove that we are not going to turn it on and off, that it's there throughout."

Part of new manager Keith Rossiter's brief is to eliminate those yin and yang swings from Wexford's play.

"It's down to the players at the end of the day and the 15 starting, the 26 on the panel, that's what it boils down to," said versatile midfielder Foley. "We know we have a good side and a good squad that we're building again this year. There's plenty of new talent in, so it's just getting to that level again to compete with the best."

Foley poses ahead of Sunday's final between Galway and Wexford. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Foley didn't actually play in that game against Westmeath. He was rested and looked on through his fingers as the team, leading by 2-14 to 0-3 approaching half-time, caved in and eventually lost by two. Relegation was a genuine concern.

"The toughest bit was maybe an hour or two after, when we realised what had happened and the way the result had gone," said Foley. "We knew we had to beat Kilkenny and if we didn't, we knew what was going to happen on that side. We couldn't dwell on it, it was a quick turnaround and maybe it was for the better that we didn't have two or three weeks to go over it all too much."

Rossiter has since replaced Darragh Egan as manager. To call the Oulart-The Ballagh man a former Wexford full-back doesn't do justice to his CV. Since hanging up his hurl he has coached extensively and brought last year's Wexford U-20s to a Leinster final. Cian Dunne struck 0-14 in the provincial defeat to Offaly and has been upgraded for Dioralyte Walsh Cup duty.

"Cian is a good guy, there are a couple of other guys making huge waves there as well," said Foley. "The likes of Corey Byrne-Dunbar, a good few of the lads are getting plenty of game time. Eoin Ryan is another one, Conor Foley is a super hurler too. Conor played senior last year but he was involved with the U-20s."

Foley isn't about to play down the significance of a potential Walsh Cup title though it's Sunday week's league opener that is foremost on the players' minds now. Wexford will play Kilkenny, in Kilkenny, and having beaten the Cats in the recent Walsh Cup semi-final, and last summer, it's proof that they can hack it at the top level.

"It is but then the other side of it is that the week before we beat them last year we lost (to Westmeath), that'll remind you how competitive it is and how dangerous it is when you're not tuned in," said Foley.