Promotion remains the top priority as Wexford get ready for Wicklow derby clash

The Wexford Senior Football manager was the most recent guest on a brand-new podcast, focussing on Gaelic football within the county…

The former Wexford Senior football manager, Shane Roche, sat down to interview the current manager, John Hegarty, who is now in his third year in charge of the Wexford Senior football team.

For John Hegarty and the Wexford Senior footballers, promotion to Division 3 is the main priority for the set-up. Wexford have won three from three in their opening Allianz League games, with a derby clash against Wicklow coming up this Sunday.

“Any team that is in Division 4, their only target in life is to get promoted. In the world of Division 4, all that matters is League points. Because if you’re going to develop as a team, you need to be in Division 3. Then, when you’re in Division 3, all you think about is getting to Division 2. When you’re in Division 2, it then becomes a luxury where you can pick and choose to target some league games, develop your squad, or look to improve for the summer. But, when in Division 4 you need to get promoted to develop as a team. That was – and still is – our number one ambition this year,” he said.

Wexford currently sit on top of the Allianz League table. And with that, Hegarty describes it as a “nice pressure to have.”

“The mindset in Division 4 is different. You need to win 6 out of your seven games. We know that last year; we won 5 out of our 7 games. We lost the last one by a point and we had a hugely positive score-difference, but it wasn’t enough. 3 from 3 doesn’t take any of the pressure off. It’s still next game, next game. But it’s a different type of pressure. This time last year, we lost 2 games out of three and we were playing catch up. This is a good pressure. This is challenging yourself. We could sit here feeling wonderful, but if results don’t go right this weekend, it could end up that we’re chasing again. We could be second or third within one result. In Division 4, all results matter,” he said.

The new football podcast was launched by Love Wexford town – and it’s due to be a weekly occurrence on our social media timelines.

The Wexford Senior footballers take on Wicklow at home on Sunday February 23rd at 2pm. The Wexford Senior football team has been named for the clash.