Rare under-21 final appearance adds to Wexford’s hunger

There are two things Wexford manager JJ Doyle needs to consider about the Bord Gáis Energy All-Ireland under-21 hurling final: the undeniable strength of opponents Clare, seeking a third title in succession, and the relative inexperience of Wexford, whose last and only title was won in 1965.

Doyle admits he is considering it both ways because while Saturday evening’s showdown in Thurles is magnified once again by the presence of an exceptional Clare team, Wexford are primed for the occasion as it presents so rare a chance.

“We’ve one title in 50 years, and that was the second year the competition was staged,” says Doyle. “I can’t explain why it’s been so long, but it certainly highlights for us how important it is to take your chance when you get it.

“So our only focus is to go out and give the performance of our lives on Saturday evening.

“If that’s not good enough then Clare will have won one hell of a game. Because we honestly believe if we perform to our best we can win. A one-point defeat won’t be a good result for us. The only good result for us is if we win.

“Of course we know the challenge Clare present. They have some of the best hurlers in the country, not just at under-21. Tony Kelly, Aaron Cunningham, Shane O’Donnell. But this Clare team is not going for three-in-a-row. Clare are going for the three, obviously, but there’s only four players left from the first win in 2012, and they’ll have five or six lads playing in their first All-Ireland final.”

Doyle speaks like a manager who aims high, and has already reached it with the Wexford camogie team, managing them to three successive All-Ireland titles from 2010-2012 (when Wexford had only ever four before). He switched to hurling last year, taking up the under-21 ropes, and while a first Leinster title since 2002 also set the bar high, it came crashing down when Antrim stunned them in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final.

Put to bed

“I wouldn’t say a defeat like that is ever completely put to bed. We’ve come out this year with a mostly different team, but I know it was still in the back of the minds because you get one shot at making that final, and again you have to take it. No team is going to lie down in front of you.

“All I can say, hand on heart, is that we prepared for that Antrim game exactly the same as we did every other game last year. We did have six weeks after the Leinster final, and I know a lot of people were saying to our lads it was only Antrim, and they’d be through to the All-Ireland.

“And our lads had never even played in an All-Ireland semi-final, and some of that talk might have seeped in. I knew if we were even 5 per cent below our best we’d be in trouble, and it turns out we were even more than 5 per cent below our best. But fair play to Antrim. They came at us like a train, and by the time we realised it, it was too late.

“So definitely getting over this year’s semi-final, against Galway, was important. I think if Wexford had been beaten again it would have left some mental blockage, going forward, wondering if we’d ever make the final.”

Everything about 2014 so far has made up for that Antrim defeat: Wexford defended their Leinster under-21 title, and despite concerns about the high crossover with Liam Dunne’s senior team – including headline acts Jack Guiney and Conor McDonald – Doyle was never concerned.

“Looking at our Leinster campaign at the start was very daunting. Nowlan Park to play Kilkenny, then a tricky game with Offaly, and then Dublin in Parnell Park. But I think the difference this year was the mentality of this team, and part of that came from the seniors. We’d nine players in with Liam Dunne, and they enjoyed a great run in the championship, taking out All-Ireland winners Clare.

‘Everyone is happy’

“It’s a subtle change in the mindset, from thinking you believe, to actually believing, and that was ferociously important for our team this year. When you’re winning games like that everyone is happy.”

Then came the slightly anti-climactic senior defeat to Limerick in the All-Ireland quarter-final. “But we’d plenty of time before we played Galway,” says Doyle. “The break worked well, because I know our lads that played against Limerick were down for a few days after that. But it showed them all as well that you can be successful one week, but the minute you lose you’re gone.”