Wexford hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald hailed his side’s composure after holding off a late Dublin surge in their Leinster SHC round-robin duel.
Rory O’Connor provided a couple of decisive scores late on to halt Dublin’s building momentum as they secured a 0-22 to 2-14 victory over the visitors.
And Fitzgerald admitted his relief at watching his side eventually coming out on top at at Innovate Wexford Park.
“We always knew it was going to be tough. The Dubs have improved beyond measure,” Fitzgerald told OTB.
“I just think we made it hard on ourselves and I obviously think we should have killed that game off once or twice and we let them back into it.
“The two goals were errors we made. If you give away two momentum swings like that it is very hard to turn it back. Normally the team that gets that momentum wins it.
“But in fairness to the lads they weren’t giving up. There’s no doubt in my mind that Wexford were the better team today.”
Despite seeing his side come under pressure, Fitzgerald shared his delight about his side performed after a break from competitive action.
“I’m delighted with the way we played,” Fitzgerald said.
“I thought we played pretty decent stuff. We created about 38 chances, 22 scores, 13 wides and another two goal scoring chances. That’s right up there with anyone.
“When you’re up you have to kill the game off and we didn’t. We were up twice and we should have [killed it off]. But that will stand us good. We’re only a year-and-a-half into this project and you can see it.
“A lot of teams wouldn’t have come back the way they came back with two minutes to go and they finished very strong.”
Fitzgerald also shared his feelings on the new round-robin format ahead of his side’s upcoming fixtures.
“I love the round-robin format but I just think [we need] one more week in between,”
“We’re one of two teams to play four weeks in a row – that’s very hard guys. Trust me, four weeks in a row is hard.
“I can’t afford to think of three and four until I get over number two. But I know it’s going to be tough. We maybe have to look at training the lads completely differently.”
Written by James Hopper
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