WEXFORD ARE “SPIRALLING out of control,” says nine-time All-Ireland winning Kilkenny hurler Jackie Tyrrell.
Tyrrell called Darragh Egan’s side “spineless” as he and former Tipperary manager Liam Sheedy pulled no punches in their assessment on The Sunday Game last night.
Westmeath stunned Wexford on a scoreline of 4-18 to 2-22 at Wexford Park yesterday, having trailed by 16 points — 2-15 to 0-5 — at half time.
Now, Wexford find themselves in danger of dropping to the Joe McDonagh Cup.
“It’s spiralling out of control,” Tyrrell told host Jacqui Hurley.
“When you think they played Clare in an All-Ireland quarter-final last year and how close they were… [Liam Sheedy and Tipperary] stopped them from getting to an All-Ireland final in 2019, and now they’re facing down the barrel of potentially going down to the Joe McDonagh this year. It’s actually scary.
“For Darragh Egan, sending his troops back out after half time, 2-15 to 0-5 up, the players… like what? No leadership, I would say spineless in lots of ways.
“They just totally gave up. Didn’t bring the fight at all and any bit of resistance Westmeath put up, they never came back. I actually don’t know where Wexford go from here but it’s so concerning for a proud hurling county.”
Sheedy echoed those sentiments, shocked by the second-half capitulation and concerned for what could potentially follow.
Second-bottom in the Leinster championship, Wexford face Kilkenny in their final group game next weekend. Westmeath host Antrim at the same time in Mullingar, and success for the Saffron county would mean Wexford need to down the Cats to avoid relegation.
“It was just basic errors,” Sheedy said. “They look like a group with no confidence, no leadership and it’s coming through in their play.
“I know they got a massive result against Kilkenny in Nowlan Park last year but they look miles away from that. It’s really concerning for them now.
“At the moment there’s three teams that can find themselves in the Joe McDonagh next year and Wexford are absolutely one of them.”
Both pundits went on to look at the bigger picture, with Sheedy lamenting their “very, very poor” league form and a “hangover” in the Model county.
“There is a concern maybe Waterford and Wexford are slipping,” Tyrrell added, “and slipping at an alarming rate, when you look at the lack of underage success and underage penetration coming through.
“I know the Wexford U20s had a good team coming but they need to get them through really quickly.
“What was concerning for me against Dublin, you could see Liam Ryan was injured and they left him on for 55 minutes. Lee Chin isn’t right, so what’s that saying to the panel of subs that they have injured players playing?”
You can watch the full segment here:
No leadership, spineless... @MrJackieTee and Liam Sheedy don't hold back when talking about Wexford players.
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) May 21, 2023
But greater concern is lack of underage success and depth of talent at senior level.#sundaygame
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