Six talking points following the Wexford hurling loss to Clare

The Wexford Senior hurling team were out in action against Clare on Sunday…

Wexford suffered a three-point defeat in Ennis, meaning that promotion is now out of their hands — with Clare and Dublin set to return to the top table of the Allianz Hurling League for 2027. Here, we look at the some of the talking points following the game.

Wexford fumbles:

Wexford’s game was marred with errors. Persisting with the running game and playing out from the back, it was a game-plan that did not work against Clare. It was an area where Wexford lost a lot of ball. Wexford manager Keith Rossiter pinpointed this as an area which went wrong against Clare, but it’s an area which seems to go wrong more often than not. When it works, it’s great — but when it doesn’t, it’s terrible to watch. Rossiter believed that running out from the back, taking a pass too many, or fumbling the ball like this accounted for 6 or 7 easy points for Clare.

Considering Wexford lost by 3, it’s a game that could have been won with less mistakes. Really, Wexford were the architect of their own downfall in Ennis on Sunday afternoon.

In the attack, especially the full-forward line, the ball couldn’t really stick — with Clare’s full-back line coming out with most of the ball when it went in. Anytime it did go in, Wexford were hitting the corners — and our lack of goalscoring threat was clear to see. There’s no doubt that Rory O’Connor’s direct running game is sorely missed.

Deserved victory for Clare:

Wexford did relatively well in the second half. At one stage, the Wexford hurlers pulled the game back to just one point before Clare went up and scored another two. Even though it was a game marred with mistakes for Wexford, their will to win could not be questioned.

Some could argue that after Chin’s last minute chance it should have resulted in a penalty for a foul on the onrushing Rory Higgins. From a neutral perspective though, it wasn’t a game that Wexford deserved to draw or win. Some supporters were also quick to mention the performance of the referee overall, but Wexford’s loss cannot be blamed on that either. We simply were second best. Although they did fight to the end, Clare deserved their victory and not many would argue differently.

Promotion hopes gone:

Promotion is now out of Wexford’s hands and it will take a miracle for them to be promoted to the top tier of the Allianz League for 2027. Clare and Dublin will be promoted. The Dublin game, where we had two extra men and were winning, came back to haunt us as expected. It means Wexford’s promotion hopes for 2027 are completely diminished — and that they’ll remain in Division 1B for another year.

All things considered, it’s probably not a bad thing for an up-and-coming Wexford team though. It will allow the management team to blood new players next year too. Considering Wexford only scraped past Down and Antrim, it’s probably not a bad thing that the Model County will remain in Division 1B for another year either.

Being straight, we’re still a quite a big step behind the bigger hurling counties like Tipperary, Limerick, and Cork — and Division 1B hurling is where we are at right now.

Simon Roche performance:

One of the major positives from this campaign has been Simon Roche. The Oulart-The Ballagh youngster was a menace in the Wexford attack on Sunday. The Oulart clubman finished with a personal tally of 1-6 from play and picked up the TG4 Man of the Match award after the game. The Oulart man has been taken off the free-taking duties with Lee Chin’s return, but he has been Wexford’s stand-out performer this season — and our top-scorer in the Allianz League. One can only hope that he continues his good run of form and brings it into the Leinster Hurling Championship for 2026.

Donohoe’s injury:

It wasn’t talked about after the game by Keith Rossiter, but Wexford defender Simon Donohoe went off injured in the second half after making a darting run up the field. Donohoe has been a long-standing player on this Wexford team and he rarely goes off injured, marking his 100th appearance for the Yellowbellies last year. Upon viewing, it looked like a hamstring injury which could rule him out of the next game and potentially the start of Wexford’s campaign in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.

If that’s the case, it looks like St Martins’ Philip Dempsey could be one of the Wexford defenders to step up to the plate. Other players like Liam Ryan, Jack O’Connor and Cian Byrne are still set to return to the panel — and the starting fitteen — so not all is lost just yet.

Upcoming Kildare clashes:

Wexford will take on Kildare in the final round of the Allianz Hurling League. They will meet the same opponents in the opening round of the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship. Given that they’ll play each other just three weeks later in the Leinster Championship, it will be interesting to see what type of teams both management sides put out.

Their League fixture will take place in Wexford Park (March 21), but their Championship fixture is an away clash in Kildare (April 18). In one sense, it would be great to lay down a maker against a team that we know we’re going to be taking on in Championship. But on the other side, it could be best to keep our best fifteen until Championship and not risk any further injuries. The final round will be an interesting one from a strategic viewpoint.