VICTORIOUS WEXFORD U21 hurling manager JJ Doyle insists the county’s rising stars are ‘as fit as fiddles’ and won’t be fatigued by three big games in a week.
Doyle managed senior players Conor McDonald, Jack Guiney and Liam Ryan to success in last night’s Bord Gais Energy Leinster U21 final against Dublin, securing back to back titles.
McDonald and Guiney shot 1-11 between them while Ryan was a full-back lynchpin just days after featuring in the seniors’ All-Ireland qualifier draw with Clare.
All three are expected to play some part again in Saturday’s replay so the timing of the U21 final was poor.
But Doyle is optimistic about the players’ ability to handle the gruelling schedule.
“The boys are as fit as fiddles,” said Doyle. “They’re young men. People are worried about them going again on Saturday evening but they’re so buoyed up I’d say they’d probably play again later on tonight.
“That’s what young lads are like. It takes older lads longer to recover from things. The boys will be flying again by tomorrow. I guarantee you that when they get the crowd behind them in Wexford Park on Saturday, they will be flying.
“The adrenaline they will get from the crowd at Wexford Park on Saturday evening will be phenomenal.”
Wexford led from the first score of the game until full-time in the U21 decider at Parnell Park. They built on their big wins over Offaly and Kilkenny with a 1-20 to 0-18 defeat of Dublin.
They were most impressive in the final quarter when Conor McDonald netted to push them from two to five clear, defying suggestions the senior players may wilt.
Doyle said he had no problem with the U21 final going ahead despite reports that Wexford asked to have it rescheduled because of the senior replay.
“Apparently the county board were told last Saturday evening by Leinster Council that Dublin had said if Wexford put in a request for the match to be postponed, it would happen,” said Doyle.
“The county board put in a request but we were told on Saturday evening or Sunday morning that Dublin weren’t agreeing to it. All we wanted was clarity because we were ready to play and Liam (Dunne) was happy for us to play.”
Next up for Wexford is an All-Ireland semi-final clash with Galway on 23 August. Wexford suffered a shock loss to Antrim at that stage last year.
“Whenever the boys can get free from the seniors, we’ll enjoy it (a celebration) and then drive the whole thing on,” said Doyle.
