Wexford `learning all the time'

Cyril Hughes makes no secret of the fact that he was unhappy with a number of aspects of his Wexford team's draw with Longford in the Leinster football championship last Sunday. He was particularly annoyed about the number of frees awarded to Longford which allowed them to make a late come-back to earn a replay.

At the same time he believes that Wexford will have benefited more from the match than Longford and that his own side will certainly have learned that there is no reason to presume victory when you are eight points ahead.

"Apart from the frees which gave Longford their opportunities, I feel that our lads went to sleep in the last 10 minutes. I can't explain why that happened but we have discussed it and it won't happen again. We just tied up in the last 10 minutes," he said.

As far as the refereeing of Joe Harlin from Meath is concerned he feels that he, the referee, was responding to a recent directive from Croke Park on the subject of personal fouls. "I think he over-reacted and I also believe that he was `conned' five or six times.

"When the opposition has a proven free-taker such as Dessie Barry such things can be costly. There were several occasions when Longford players took a dive and it's not always easy to detect.

"We have to remember that it is a physical game and that there will inevitably be bodily contact. I believe that if Meath and Offaly were playing there would not have been nearly as many frees in the match. There is a certain inconsistency among referees. We don't go in for fouling. In fact we concentrated in training in marking players without fouling. We concentrated on marking the ball.

"In the matches against Kerry and Dublin in the league for instance we conceded only two points from frees but 11 points were scored from frees against Longford. That doesn't make sense. In Sunday's match there were times when it seemed we were playing basketball on grass.

"But in the end we should not have conceded eight points so easily. Our concentration went. For instance, they didn't get their second point from play until the 52nd minute and then came back to draw. We have to sort this out but I am confident that we can do that.

"Mind you, Longford are a useful team and had some good results in the league. If you give them space they can play a very good brand of football".

Hughes is confident that he has built a good and very promising young team. "They are learning all the time and we learned a lot in the National League. We could have beaten Kerry and Dublin and we should certainly have beaten Sligo. As things stand we have six or seven players who are 21 or thereabouts. They are learning all the time.

"On Sunday, Dara Ryan was playing his first competitive match since coming back from Australia and then we have players like Daragh Breen, Leo O'Brien and Scot Doran, all of whom have great potential. They are very enthusiastic and have worked really hard.

"We did a lot of endurance training before Christmas and worked hard in the gym. Between matches and training we were working three or four times a week and I think that it will pay off for us on Sunday."

As a former dual player for Carlow and Leinster he understands the problems which arise between commitments to football and hurling. "It will always be a problem in a county like Wexford where the majority of the clubs play both games. We have hurlers such as John Hegarty and Leo O'Brien in our team for instance but there has to be co-operation at official level and Rory Kinsella (his hurling counterpart) get on very well but lads will be inclined to favour hurling if there is a problem."

He is clearly happy that he and his selectors are in a position to name an unchanged team. As far as Sunday's match is concerned one gets the impression from him that, even if Wexford are leading by a wide margin towards the end, there will be no let-up in their determination to put last Sunday behind them and qualify to meet Westmeath in the next round.

Meanwhile, Croke Park has confirmed that the National Hurling League final between Cork and Waterford will be played at Semple Stadium, Thurles, on Sunday May 17th starting at 3.30. The referee will be Aodhan MacSuibhne from Dublin.

The match will be preceded by the Vocational Schools Inter-County hurling final between Cork and Galway.

Wexford (SF v Tipperary): J Cooper; C Roche, P Wallace, D Breen; D Redmond, D Ryan, L O'Brien; J Harrington, O Kinlough; R Kinsella, M Mahon, S Doran; J Lawlor, J Byrne, J Hegarty.