Malachy Clerkin The most potent 15 minutes of Wexford's year – and of David Power's time in charge – came after half-time in their Leinster Championship game against Westmeath a fortnight ago.
They’ve had a rotten 12 months, losing experienced players by the new time and having to start anew with a terribly young squad.
But when they kicked six points out of seven in that second half against not a bad Westmeath side, there was a spark of something. Ciarán Lyng and Ben Brosnan will always make hay if the can find their way into a game and they had Westmeath on the run.
However, in the end, they conceded 1-9 in the closing 10 minutes. One step forward, slap-bang onto the sweet spot of a haymaker to send them careering back.
They could have found a more benign draw than this. Down lost little enough in defeat against Derry, rallying back from four points down after having a man harshly sent off.
Donal O’Hare looks likely to have recovered from a calf problem and if they can replicate anything of the form that got them promoted to Division One for 2016, they ought to have far too much experience and scoring power for their hosts.
