Wind the clock back 30 years or so, and Wexford almost couldn’t help getting to League finals.
They lost the ‘home’ final to Kilkenny in 1990, the last of its kind, the final proper to Offaly in 1991 and then there were three memorable clashes with Cork in 1993 before the Leesiders edged them out in a second replay.
Losing finals was a painful habit for Wexford at the time. They lost two League finals in the 1980s too and since their previous Leinster title win in 1977, they had lost six provincial finals and there would be another loss after a replay in 1993 to Kilkenny.
Larry Murphy wasn’t burdened by that failure when he nailed down a starting spot in the team in the latter stages of the 1992/93 League, but he could see that others were.
“For the older players like George O’Connor, Martin Storey, Tom Dempsey and Éamonn Cleary, a few of the older guys, John O’Connor, I’m sure for them there was probably more of a mental effect, a psychological effect on them,” says Murphy.
“Martin Storey’s famous saying about the bridesmaids, that obviously was going through their heads.
“I would have thought for some of the younger lads, it was our first time being introduced to adult hurling and finals.”
Murphy hit goals in the first and second games against Cork, either of which they could have won, and they were only edged out coming down the stretch in the third game.
“The first day we had a chance, John O’Connor had a last minute free to win and I don’t think we’d won it since ‘73 so it would have been nice and a great introduction for me to have a League medal.
“Things went well for me, a bit of green naivete and a bit of luck and I don’t think Cork were as focused as we were.
“They weren’t really at it for the first day but you could see they were getting slowly but surely better.
“I remember the crowd. I was lucky. I got one of the few goals or decent goals that I ever got in my life the first day.
“The ball went through the net and I remember Jimmy Barry-Murphy doing the commentary afterwards saying there must have been a hole in the net before I put one in it! That was nice like, it’s a nice memory to have.”
Since then, they’ve barely come close to reaching a final, with their defeats in the semi-finals of 1996, 2007 and ‘18 all one-sided encounters.
Although they’ll be underdogs against Waterford tomorrow, it represents the best chance they’ve had of getting back to the final since 1993 and though the Championship is looming next month, with the visit of Galway on April 16 likely have a significant impact on how they spend their summer, Murphy insists that Wexford can’t afford to be choosy.
“Wexford have no divine right to not take the League serious. I’m sure if you spoke to Darragh Egan, he wants to land silverware. Every manager wants to land silverware but is it a priority?
“You look at the Walsh Cup now and people were getting a little excited about Wexford and the next thing they got beaten and there was a few comments in Wexford, is the honeymoon period over?
“Now you look at the League, if you had given me a tenner and said, ‘Put that on Wexford to win all their five matches and be in the League semi-final and top of the group’ I would have said, ‘No chance’.
“Now that we’re there, I wouldn’t get too carried away by any stretch.
“If you’re into a semi-final as a player you want to win it. You want to keep the momentum going.”
Given the opportunity missed to reach an All-Ireland final in 2019 and the fact that the team lost altitude since, there were doubts as to where Egan could take the team after succeeding Davy Fitzgerald, but Murphy is encouraged by what he’s seen so far.
“Darragh Egan has come in, he had a slightly different approach. He opened up the county trials and a lot of young lads came in from last year’s under-20 team.
“If they can stay injury-free there’s still very much a kick in them. They may not be quite good enough to win an All-Ireland - they may not - but they’re definitely good enough to compete and compete well.”
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