THE WEEKEND BEGAN early on Saturday for Liam Spratt, match commentator for South East Radio in Wexford.
As the president of Enniscorthy Rugby Club – he was a scrum-half himself and in his own words, “I am a tiny little hoor” – they had Skerries coming for a Saturday fixture and he was on the premises at 11am to prepare some lunch.
After that game, he was off to call the Wexford-Kildare hurling game. Once that business was conducted, he had to race off to do MC at a book launch.
The night finished at Rathnure, where the local club was hosting a ‘Night At The Races’ event.
Come Sunday, he took his place in the gantry for the Wexford footballers’ meeting with Westmeath. It had been an excellent season with four wins and two losses, but this was a winner-takes-all scenario.
Two points up with 30 seconds left on the clock, it seemed that Westmeath had done enough, but then they conceded a kickout, and Wexford worked the ball up the field. A hopeful ball in, a shot saved, and Sean ‘Minnie’ Ryan hammered the rebound home.
Twelve seconds left. Wexford won promotion and a place in the league final this weekend. Spratt almost lost his life.
“OK, I am at it a long time, since the radio station began in 1989,” he tells The 42. “I don’t have too many notes in front of me, but I have an ability to retain information
“A lot of fellas try to be Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh. I just try to be myself. When you are a commentator, I try to do it for the people who are listening at home. You have a blank canvas in front of you and you draw a picture of what you see.”
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Wexford’s promotion is one of the stories of the league. It shows what they have on the panel, but also the abilities of manager John Hegarty.
Hegarty’s first year in charge started with a draw against London and the inevitable gloom, but they finished just two points off a promotion slot.
Since then, it’s been lift-off. In 2024, they had the same record as this year – five wins and two losses from seven games – but still couldn’t get out of Division 4.
They made sure of it by winning every game in 2025, and followed it up with another promotion campaign this spring. Across the last three seasons, they have won 17 games from 21.
“Last year we were promoted with two games to go,” Spratt points out.
But I can tell you that the team this year doesn’t bear any comparison to the previous three years. They are on a different plane, playing a different game. Fitter, tougher; it’s like someone put on the lights.
“There’s an utter transformation in the performances. No comparison to the previous years whatsoever.”
As he rightly says, in Division 4, you almost have to win all games because of the disparity of abilities.
You can afford a loss, or even two, in Division 3. One happened when they were hit with a sucker-punch goal right at the end against Limerick.
“A scuttery old goal,” says Spratt.
“It was a Hamlet moment. It was in double-double slow motion.”
Their other defeat came when they were outclassed to the tune of 1-19 to 1-29 against Down in Wexford Park, Pat Havern on fire with a 0-14 tally.
Watching from the stands last Sunday, former Wexford goalkeeper and county coach Anthony Masterson felt joy unconfined. He draws an obvious comparison to the Troy Parrott goal against Hungary in Budapest.
Last year he was coaching his club Castletown, whom he helped to the last two county titles. They were licking their wounds after being beaten in the Leinster club by Ballyboden, and despite their sorrow, many players were following events in Budapest on their phones.
The decision was made to stop in a pub in Oylegate. There were still 20 minutes left.
“I know we were after being beaten by Ballyboden, but when Troy Parrott scored that goal, the whole place was bedlam, pure elation,” laughs Masterson, who is now managing Annacurra in Wicklow.
Anthony Masterson in his playing days. Cathal Noonan
Cathal Noonan
“It was like that last Sunday. All the staunch football supporters around Wexford, just that pure elation.
“Unfortunately for Westmeath, it was to their detriment, but you don’t get those moments too often.
Nobody plays football in Wexford for the profile, or to be followed by 10,000 or 12,000 people. You play away matches and there will be 100 people supporting you.”
He continues: “It’s just not there, and it wasn’t there when I started playing in the mid-2000s. It’s just that we happened to get to Division 1, got to a league final, started beating a lot of teams and winning a few games and beating the likes of Meath, Galway, Armagh regularly, and people start to multiply because you are playing a higher level of football.
“I always said that when I was the development officer for six years, I never sugar-coated it. I said that if Wexford wanted to improve and get more supporters, you have to get up the divisions.
“And it will happen next year. Wexford are great supporters when we are going well. You look at a Mayo and if they were down in Division 3, I’d say they would still have 15,000 people at Castlebar.”
What’s at stake this weekend is a Division 3 league title and a guaranteed place in the All-Ireland senior football championship. The names of Daniel Guinness, Pat Havern, Odhran Murdock and goalkeeper Ronan Burns will have been well-aired at training this week.
Masterson and John Hegarty’s playing careers overlapped for a couple of seasons. After all, Hegarty played a whopping 105 times for his county at a time when their summers were hardly stretching out.
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When he started this gig, he was snowed under. He had served as mayor of Wexford and was a Fine Gael councillor, not to mention vice-principal of Wexford CBS.
He’s since scaled back on his political commitments, and Wexford are the beneficiaries.
“It’s a credit to him,” says Masterson.
“He could have walked away after getting promoted from Division 4 because that’s what they had longed for, for years, but they stuck at it and had belief in the squad.
“Everyone said that this group of players have five or six years under their belt. They have brilliant standards and a brilliant culture there. I’d say that was the big attraction for John and his management team.
“Did they believe they could get out of Division 3? I’m not so sure in the first year. But they fully deserve it.”
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'They are on a different plane, playing a different game... it’s like someone put on the lights'
THE WEEKEND BEGAN early on Saturday for Liam Spratt, match commentator for South East Radio in Wexford.
As the president of Enniscorthy Rugby Club – he was a scrum-half himself and in his own words, “I am a tiny little hoor” – they had Skerries coming for a Saturday fixture and he was on the premises at 11am to prepare some lunch.
After that game, he was off to call the Wexford-Kildare hurling game. Once that business was conducted, he had to race off to do MC at a book launch.
The night finished at Rathnure, where the local club was hosting a ‘Night At The Races’ event.
Come Sunday, he took his place in the gantry for the Wexford footballers’ meeting with Westmeath. It had been an excellent season with four wins and two losses, but this was a winner-takes-all scenario.
Two points up with 30 seconds left on the clock, it seemed that Westmeath had done enough, but then they conceded a kickout, and Wexford worked the ball up the field. A hopeful ball in, a shot saved, and Sean ‘Minnie’ Ryan hammered the rebound home.
Twelve seconds left. Wexford won promotion and a place in the league final this weekend. Spratt almost lost his life.
“OK, I am at it a long time, since the radio station began in 1989,” he tells The 42. “I don’t have too many notes in front of me, but I have an ability to retain information
“A lot of fellas try to be Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh. I just try to be myself. When you are a commentator, I try to do it for the people who are listening at home. You have a blank canvas in front of you and you draw a picture of what you see.”
Wexford’s promotion is one of the stories of the league. It shows what they have on the panel, but also the abilities of manager John Hegarty.
Hegarty’s first year in charge started with a draw against London and the inevitable gloom, but they finished just two points off a promotion slot.
Since then, it’s been lift-off. In 2024, they had the same record as this year – five wins and two losses from seven games – but still couldn’t get out of Division 4.
They made sure of it by winning every game in 2025, and followed it up with another promotion campaign this spring. Across the last three seasons, they have won 17 games from 21.
“Last year we were promoted with two games to go,” Spratt points out.
“There’s an utter transformation in the performances. No comparison to the previous years whatsoever.”
As he rightly says, in Division 4, you almost have to win all games because of the disparity of abilities.
You can afford a loss, or even two, in Division 3. One happened when they were hit with a sucker-punch goal right at the end against Limerick.
“A scuttery old goal,” says Spratt.
“It was a Hamlet moment. It was in double-double slow motion.”
Their other defeat came when they were outclassed to the tune of 1-19 to 1-29 against Down in Wexford Park, Pat Havern on fire with a 0-14 tally.
Watching from the stands last Sunday, former Wexford goalkeeper and county coach Anthony Masterson felt joy unconfined. He draws an obvious comparison to the Troy Parrott goal against Hungary in Budapest.
Last year he was coaching his club Castletown, whom he helped to the last two county titles. They were licking their wounds after being beaten in the Leinster club by Ballyboden, and despite their sorrow, many players were following events in Budapest on their phones.
The decision was made to stop in a pub in Oylegate. There were still 20 minutes left.
“I know we were after being beaten by Ballyboden, but when Troy Parrott scored that goal, the whole place was bedlam, pure elation,” laughs Masterson, who is now managing Annacurra in Wicklow.
“It was like that last Sunday. All the staunch football supporters around Wexford, just that pure elation.
“Unfortunately for Westmeath, it was to their detriment, but you don’t get those moments too often.
He continues: “It’s just not there, and it wasn’t there when I started playing in the mid-2000s. It’s just that we happened to get to Division 1, got to a league final, started beating a lot of teams and winning a few games and beating the likes of Meath, Galway, Armagh regularly, and people start to multiply because you are playing a higher level of football.
“I always said that when I was the development officer for six years, I never sugar-coated it. I said that if Wexford wanted to improve and get more supporters, you have to get up the divisions.
“And it will happen next year. Wexford are great supporters when we are going well. You look at a Mayo and if they were down in Division 3, I’d say they would still have 15,000 people at Castlebar.”
What’s at stake this weekend is a Division 3 league title and a guaranteed place in the All-Ireland senior football championship. The names of Daniel Guinness, Pat Havern, Odhran Murdock and goalkeeper Ronan Burns will have been well-aired at training this week.
Masterson and John Hegarty’s playing careers overlapped for a couple of seasons. After all, Hegarty played a whopping 105 times for his county at a time when their summers were hardly stretching out.
When he started this gig, he was snowed under. He had served as mayor of Wexford and was a Fine Gael councillor, not to mention vice-principal of Wexford CBS.
He’s since scaled back on his political commitments, and Wexford are the beneficiaries.
“It’s a credit to him,” says Masterson.
“He could have walked away after getting promoted from Division 4 because that’s what they had longed for, for years, but they stuck at it and had belief in the squad.
“Everyone said that this group of players have five or six years under their belt. They have brilliant standards and a brilliant culture there. I’d say that was the big attraction for John and his management team.
“Did they believe they could get out of Division 3? I’m not so sure in the first year. But they fully deserve it.”
Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
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