Wexford veterans still eager

Martin Storey and Tom Dempsey are the veterans of the Wexford team but are looking forward to Sunday's test against Offaly in the Leinster semi-final with all the enthusiasm which they have called upon over the last 13 or 14 years.

Storey considers himself a lucky man. He has an All-Ireland medal and indelible memories from that wonderful day in 1996 when he hoisted the McCarthy Cup above his head in Croke Park as the pitch was swamped in a sea of purple and gold. Nothing will ever equal the feeling of that day although he would have no objection to repeating the experience.

As Wexford face into a crucial match on Sunday he remembers the day well.

"The fact is that many Wexford teams, every bit as good as our team who worked equally hard and didn't get the rewards we got. Others never got the chance to do what we did or came close but not close enough".

He remembers Wexford being beaten in 1976 and '77 but he now looks forward to every challenge as it comes and next on the list is Offaly.

He regrets that Wexford did not have a championship match prior to this test. "It would have been nice to have had an opener in the championship. The younger players would have benefited from it as indeed would all of us. A good hard championship match would have helped but didn't happen so we have to make the most of it and go into Sunday's match in the right frame of mind."

He believes that the team has been weakened by injury and accepts that there is still a doubt about the fitness of Adrian Fenlon. "Adrian still has a chance of playing but we will have to wait until later in the week to know for certain. He would be a big loss".

Although Storey has plenty of experience at midfield he still hopes that he would, one day, be selected to start in that position. "I have moved there several times in various matches but I have never started there and I would enjoy that experience. He is surprised to hear that, if Fenlon is not fit to play he might find himself in the middle of the field at the throw in.

"As things stand we are just hoping that Adrian will be fit to start. He is having treatment and the selectors will not decide until the last minute," he says.

The absence of players such as the Guiney brothers, Rod and Dave, as well as Liam Dunne and Gary Laffan is seen as a problem but one which was expected and has not come as anything of a surprise as all of them have been out of action for some months. "We are happy enough that we will have the strongest available team out, especially if Adrian (Fenlon) is declared fit. I am really looking forward to the match and our supporters are really geared up for it and there will be a big crowd with the four strongest teams in Leinster in action, it should be another great day for hurling," he says.

Dempsey echoes much of what Storey says. "Yet we are lucky. I have an All-Ireland championship medal with Wexford and an All-Ireland club championship medal with Buffer's Alley. Naturally I would like to add to that collection but Sunday will be a very big test.

"Offaly have been our bogey team on many occasions and they play a very good brand of hurling. You could scarcely imagine a harder first-round match. Mind you it is not getting any easier. The training gets harder all the time and the game seems to have become faster and more demanding but I still enjoy it greatly," he says.

He believes that if Fenlon is not fit the selectors, under manager, Rory Kinsella, will not reshuffle the side but go for a recognised midfielder to partner Robert Hassey. "I don't see the selectors moving Martin (Storey) to midfield because he would be very hard to replace at centre forward and the balance of the team could be upset. Anyway we are all hoping that Adrian will be fit and that the question won't arise," he says.

He believes that the newcomers to the side in recent times have all fitted in well. "Players like Paul Codd, Decland Ruth, Robert Hassey and Ray McCarthy are all fine players and Michael Jordan is an experienced player although he is only 22.

"Offaly will be hard to beat. They have a very tight defence and with players like Johnny Pilkington and Johnny Dooley they are strong throughout the field with a very well-balanced team. We will have to play really well to beat them," he says.

Dempsey also has indelible memories of All-Ireland day 1996, the most vivid being of his Buffer's Alley club-mate, Tony Doran, clutching him in a bear hug in the middle of the pitch within seconds of the final whistle. "How he managed to get there so fast I'll never know," he says.