Davy Fitzgerald pictured before the Wexford SHC Final in October.
The Walsh Cup got underway earlier this week when reigning champions Dublin defeated Carlow by 2-17 to 1-13 on Tuesday night, and then a Kilkenny U-21 selection had a comfortable 0-21 to 0-12 win over DCU on Wednesday.
On Sunday the other 12 teams in the competition have the chance to strut their stuff, with the meeting of **Wexford **and UCD topping the bill.
The competitive debut of new Wexford manager Davy Fitzgerald ensures that status, and it’ll be interesting to see how he sets his stall out.
The word is Wexford is that the extended panel of over 40 players has been put through a seriously intensive fitness programme devised by Fitzgerald’s three S&C coaches, Jimmy Payne Darren Siggins, and Ross Dunphy.
Heavy legs are likely if that’s the case, but Wexford fans will still be hoping for some positives signs to suggest the Fitzy factor is already having an impact on this group of players.
Galway open their season with a home tie against DIT, and are likely to field an unfamiliar looking team because so many players are unavailable to manager Micheál Donoghue due to a combination of injury and club and college commitments.
Star turns like David Burke, Conor Cooney, Daithi Burke, and Padraig and Cathal Mannion are all with their clubs for the time being. Joe Canning, Adrian Tuohy, and Paul Killeen are long-term injuries, while Conor Whelan, Michael Conneely, Aidan Helebert, and Kevin McHugo are playing with their colleges.
Despite being down to the bare-bones of his panel, Donoghue is positive about the start of the season.
“We had a decent enough pre-season,” he said. “We are back a few weeks now and it has gone okay. You would love to have a full deck to play from and go at it but, in saying that, similar to last year, we are just going to be using these games to take a look at players and see how they are getting on.”
New Offaly hurling manager, Kevin Ryan, begins his reign with a tricky tip to Meath who will fancy their chances of springing an upset.
James Toher lifts the Christy Ring Cup.
According to Royals manager Martin Ennis, last year’s surprise Christy Ring Cup champions believe they can go from strength to strength in 2017.
“This is my third year and I feel that we have made steady progress, maybe there was a perception at the outset that players could come and go whenever it suited them, but that didn’t work for me and the current players have taken that on board,” said Ennis.
“For me, it comes down to belief, we stepped up to the Walsh Cup last year and I felt we needed to do that.
“We are all looking forward to the Offaly game, we will be targeting a victory because only one team will qualify from the group and I want Meath to qualify.”
Meath famously beat **Antrim **in that Christy Ring Cup Final, and the northerners will be hoping they can enjoy a better season in 2017 than they did last year.
Their cause hasn’t been helped by the decision of star player Eddie McCloskey to take a break from the game, but joint manager Terence McNaughton is still hopeful about the year ahead as they prepare for their Walsh Cup opener against Westmeath.
“I think the quality of hurlers we have is good, I really do,” said McNaughton. “There are some smashing hurlers there and there are some that will develop into good hurlers, given time. At this moment in time it’s competitive for places.
“There is a good vibe about the squad. But it’s not like flicking a switch. It’s going to take time to build and dig the foundations.”
In Sunday’s other two Walsh Cup matches, Eamonn Kelly begins his reign as Laois manager with a match against NUIG, and Kildare host IT Carlow.
Walsh Cup Round 1
Sunday January 8
Galway v DIT, Ballinasloe, 2pm
Laois v NUIG, Rathdowney, 2pm
Westmeath v Antrim, Kinnegad, 2pm
Wexford v UCD, Gorey, 12.45pm
Meath v Offaly, Trim, 2pm
Kildare v IT Carlow, Newbridge, 2pm
