Wexford so poor it was hard to watch in the end

Nicky English Hurling Analyst: Like a lot of people, I was hoping Wexford could at least prove competitive for Kilkenny, but instead they were completely outclassed and outplayed.

Thinking back to their league quarter-final against Galway, it seemed they had some hope, but really all this match proved is that Wexford are as bad as they looked in the league semi-final against Kilkenny, and if anything have fallen back even more.

What they needed here was a great start and a goal or two. Instead, Kilkenny got those goals. It meant the game was virtually over after five minutes, and ended up as an absolute mismatch. Kilkenny played most of the game in second gear, and after 10 minutes could afford to take their foot off the pedal.

It was hard just to watch in the end.

For the last few weeks we've been used to very close, competitive games in Munster, but we got none of that here. It made for poor entertainment, and it's hard to see where Wexford go from here, and how they can be competitive at all in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

I wouldn't want to be John Meyler down in Wexford Park this week trying to convince the players they can be competitive. I mean, their touch was awful, while Kilkenny could find their man and score at ease.

What was most disappointing is that the freedom and spirit Wexford often show in a Leinster final was totally absent. It's going to be hard to regenerate things in the short term.

The David O'Connor experiment didn't work. They looked slow and cumbersome up front. Declan Ruth lasted 10 minutes, and in fairness Keith Rossiter did well enough at full back after that, as did the two corner backs, Paul Roche and Malachy Travers, under extreme pressure.

But the overall pace of the Wexford game just wasn't up to the standard required to win a Leinster final. I was sitting high up in the Hogan Stand, with 34,000 at the match, but for parts of the second half I could actually hear players talking to one another. I've never experienced that before in a provincial final.

It must be a mental thing with Wexford now as well, as if they didn't have any great belief they could win. Of course, that's hard when you're being totally overwhelmed, when every one of those Kilkenny players is out to impress.

The reality is we have only one functioning provincial championship in hurling, and that's in Munster. The other three aren't working, because as of now Kilkenny are the only team that can win the Leinster championship.

On that note, to see Dublin winning the minor title here is definitely a positive thing. They were impressive in beating Kilkenny, and Dublin's stated aim of being at least number two in Leinster is now realistic.

Kilkenny dominated minor and under-21 in the 1990s, and the current senior team is the by-product of that.

For instance, they were afforded the luxury of taking off Tommy Walsh, JJ Delaney and Brian Hogan - who all did really well - and replacing them with James Ryall, John Tennyson and John Dalton, who would be the half-back line for most other teams.

They were still under no pressure at the backs, and Willie O'Dwyer has fast become one of the regular forwards. Overall, the forward line were at their ease, so Kilkenny proved again here they are going to be very, very hard to beat.

They retain the desire that some people question, and in Brian Cody they have a manager with great drive. I'm certain the final training session they had in Kilkenny last week was more competitive that this game against Wexford.

That's the great position they find themselves in, and it's a big job for anyone to beat them. It's just unfortunate the game was such a mismatch.

As of now the provincial championships still look sacrosanct. At least Kilkenny still have to win three more matches to win an All-Ireland. Next year the provincial winners are straight into the semi-final, and that was done to keep some sense of achievement in winning the provincial final, because Kilkenny didn't go looking for that.

It just means teams like Wexford will keep getting into the quarter-final system, and it's hard to see how they'll be competitive.

As it turned out, all three of the matches of the first round of the qualifiers went as expected, although Tipperary were lucky to come away with the win over Offaly. The reality is Offaly won that game everywhere except the scoreboard. They wasted a lot of possession, and Tipperary scarcely deserved the win. They got a major fright, looked tired and played quite poorly, and lacked any sort of drive. It was worse than any of their games against Limerick.

They're now facing a difficult game against Dublin in Parnell Park next Saturday. Cork did prove impressive winners over Dublin, but the scoreline still flattered them a little. Cork have regained their spark, and yet Dublin put it up to them for a long while.

Of all those games, I expected Antrim to really scare Clare, but the shocks just didn't happen. And Galway weren't particularly impressive against Laois.

It was more about their team, with Diarmuid Cloonan at full back, and John Lee at centre back, we know now the way Ger Loughnane is thinking. They'll come through for sure, and could still be dangerous.