Four areas where the Wexford hurlers need to improve following Antrim loss

The Wexford Senior hurling team lost out to Antrim in Corrigan Park on Saturday afternoon…

Corrigan Park, with the scenic Black Mountain in the background, played host to Wexford against Antrim in the second round of the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.

And what can be described as a dark day for Wexford hurling, can be contrasted with a brilliant day for the Saffrons. Despite being at home, Antrim were 5/1 underdogs to win the game, odds that were justified after Kilkenny trashed them by 32 points in the previous game in Round 1 of the Leinster SHC.

On the other hand, Wexford entered the game hoping to bounce back too. They had drawn to Dublin in the first round of the Championship, having been up by five points with just 2 minutes remaining on the clock.

It means that Wexford have drawn one and lost one in their opening two games, and unfortunately, these were games that needed to be won to stake a claim in the Leinster Senior Championship. Annoyingly, Wexford fans may have a bitter taste in their mouth following the opening two rounds, especially given the fact that the team could have and should have won both.

Similar to Wexford’s clash against Dublin last week, Wexford had their foothold on the game in the second-half. The Yellowbellies were up by six points against Antrim mid-way through the second half, but once Antrim hit their purple patch, Wexford found it difficult to maintain them.

After travelling to both games and analysing their performances, it’s easy to pinpoint some areas that Wexford need to focus on and improve if they are to have any say on the remainder of the Championship.

Wexford’s remaining Leinster SHC fixtures:

Wexford vs Galway

Carlow vs Wexford

Kilkenny vs Wexford

More scoring forwards:

Against Dublin in the opening round, Wexford were very reliant on Faythe Harriers club-man, Lee Chin. Many have pointed out that if Wexford didn’t have Chin, they would be doomed. But the fact is that they do have him. When he’s on the square, there needs to be more direct-ball into him because his strength, power, and skill so close to goal causes havoc. His second goal for Wexford yesterday illustrated his danger in the inside forward line, ploughing past three Antrim defenders before burying the ball low into the corner of Ryan Elliott’s net. Unfortunately, from a Wexford perspective, the Yellowbellies have become far too reliant on Lee Chin though.

To be fair, against Antrim, young sharpshooter Cian Byrne stood up, scoring 0-04 from play, while Conor McDonald caused damage too when he did get the ball, winning a penalty, setting up two scores in the first-half, and scoring two good points from play in the second-half. Against Antrim, Wexford needed more players to stand up. The half-forward line were quite passive, struggling to win their own ball or have any significant impact on the game. O’Connor was excellent against Dublin, but they need to get him on the ball more and in the half-forward line as opposed to the midfield line or even centre-back line. All good counties at inter-county level will have multiple scoring forwards on the score-board, but this just isn’t happening for Wexford at the moment.

See the game out:

It’s become a Wexford tradition of late, and it’s an annoying one. Just when you think Wexford are in the driving seat, they allow their opponents to get back into the game and allow teams to hit their purple patch. It’s something that Wexford has seemed to struggle with since losing the 2019 All-Ireland semi final to Tipperary. Last year, Wexford were 17 points up against Westmeath only to allow Westmeath to come back and win the game. In this year’s championship, Wexford were five points up against Dublin, only to allow them to draw the game, despite the fact that only two minutes remained on the clock. And then against Antrim, Wexford were again six points up, only to allow them back into the game to win by two at the end.

It’s hard to pin-point why this continues to happen for the Wexford Senior hurlers. Is it a mentality factor? Is is just complacency and taking the foot off the pedal? Is it sitting back and inviting pressure? Either way, if Wexford are to be in contention for anything, they’ll need to start seeing games out and find a way to finish them. In my view, it’s a mixture of all three. We think we have it won, we take the foot off the pedal, but we also sit back and try to see the game out, instead of continuing with what’s actually working and being aggressive in attack.

Remain consistent:

What is up with Wexford and being favourites? Wexford are a box office team for all the wrong reasons because as a Wexford supporter, you never really know what could happen. It wouldn’t have been surprising if Wexford bet Antrim by 20 points yesterday, but leaving Corrigan Park, it wasn’t surprising that they struggled and lost the match too. Over the last few years in particular, Wexford seem to hate the tag of favourites and adore the tag of underdogs, with last year’s clashes against Westmeath and then Kilkenny in the final round coming to mind.

Wexford’s game against Carlow in Round 4 will see Wexford as strong favourites to win the game, but it’s a game that many Wexford supporters could be slightly concerned about given their struggle to perform when they’re expected to win. If it wasn’t for Carlow conceding a late lax goal against Dublin, it could have been a different story and Carlow could have won. Like Antrim, Carlow would have targeted Wexford’s trip to Dr Cullen Park – and right now, it’s being dubbed as a relegation battle as a loss for either team will see them as hot favourites to go down to the Joe McDonagh Cup for the 2025 season. With Wexford’s recent performances, there’s no doubt that Carlow will fancy their chances against Wexford in Dr Cullen Park too.

Playing out of defence:

Wexford’s running style came to the fore during the Davy Fitzgerald Wexford era. It’s a game-plan that he implemented and when it works, it’s great to see. A similar style is still evident with the current crop of players, but the plan doesn’t look to be as polished. Wexford’s half-back line, in particular playing small quick passes across their own line or forward to the midfield line, is causing problems, and often, Wexford are the architect of their own downfall. At Corrigan Park, the Wexford half-back line were caught on multiple occasions attempting to play the ball out of defence, providing relatively easy scoring opportunities for the Antrim attack. It’s the way hurling has gone now, and playing this style can be pleasing on the eye when it works – but horrible when it doesn’t. It seems like they are sometimes trying to do too much, especially with such good ball-winners in the full-forward line.

Wexford’s next match is a home clash against Galway next Saturday. And although Wexford’s loss to Antrim has hurt, the Championship isn’t over yet.

This Championship will go down to the wire. There’s still plenty of hurling to do, with Antrim, Dublin and Wexford fighting for a place against each other. As mentioned previously, Wexford are box office. And although they may be box office for the wrong reasons, there’s never a dull moment because you never know what to expect. That’s exactly the reason why Wexford could still pull it out of the bag against Galway, Carlow, and Kilkenny. Wins here, depending on other results, could see them in contention for a place in the top three. After all, it’s Wexford we’re talking about here. Who knows?