GAELIC GAMES:IF THE football qualifiers are about keeping your head when all about you are losing theirs then the earth is still Wexford's, and everything that's in it.
Manager Jason Ryan has had a few distractions since losing the Leinster final to Dublin, including the pain of coming to terms with that narrow defeat – and yet he’s nothing but positive about the opportunity presented by Saturday’s fourth-round qualifier against Limerick.
In fact in the immediate aftermath of the Dublin defeat last Sunday week, which effectively hinged on Wexford conceding an own goal, Ryan claimed he would have no difficulty getting his team right for the qualifiers.
“And that has been the case,” he says. “I think the fact the competition runs on so quick you can’t afford to dwell on anything. The Dublin game is gone now, we must move on. I’m sure in the off-season we’ll think back on the Dublin game again and wonder what could have been, but we can’t think about it now.
“And a lot of this team have never played this late in the championship, in the last 12, and some of the older guys who were involved at this stage in 2008 appreciate the chance as well. The fact that we’re only one game away from an All-Ireland quarter-final is a real carrot, and something to push on for, so I feel the motivations are good.
“At the same time it is like starting into a new competition, or starting the championship again after the national league. As well as you think you’ve prepared you won’t really know where you’re at until you get stuck into the first game. And it is a whole new competition for us. The provincial championship is over, and the ultimate goal here is to get to the All-Ireland. That’s different, and knockout obviously as well.”
One further distraction Ryan could have done without was the round of Wexford club hurling championship matches last weekend. Centre back and captain David Murphy actually sustained a back injury playing for St Mary’s Rosslare in their intermediate grade, although he should be recovered for Saturday’s game in Portlaoise. “A lot of the lads had club championship matches on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights,” says Ryan, “but thankfully came through all right, and we’re just bringing it back together now. We trained Sunday morning, and again on Tuesday, but we should have pretty much the full complement of players.
“It wasn’t ideal, and we pointed that out, and made the suggestion to the county board to play a round of club football championship instead. That wouldn’t have been ideal either, but would have been the lesser of the two evils. Instead they went ahead with the hurling, and that also impacted on our training.
“We didn’t have the lads for the week after the Dublin game, because for a dual county like Wexford, we have lots of lads playing both codes for their club. The club football matches would at least meant they were playing in the same code as they will be this weekend.
“But we can all feel disgruntled about certain things in the GAA and disciplinary things and so on but the one brilliant thing the GAA have done is brought in the back door in football. For us it’s great to know that even though we lost to Dublin we do have another bite of the cherry, and brilliant to be still in the championship.”
Wexford at least had the two weeks to get their heads right again and they won’t fear Limerick, same as Limerick won’t fear them: in fact Limerick beat them in the league, 2-14 to 0-12, and although they were eventually relegated from division three, Ryan is in no way complacent.
“Limerick must be the most unlucky team in the country over the last few years. They have so many close matches with Cork and Kerry on so many occasions.
“And it would be really foolish of us to underestimate their battling qualities, and the height of skill level that so many of their players have. So it is a real challenge for us, yes, but then we’re down to the last 12 counties in the country, so no matter who you meet at this stage it’s going to be a challenge.”
