By John Harrington

You never quite knew what to expect from the Wexford hurlers in the early to mid-noughties.

Rarely has a team had such a range to their inconsistency.

It was quite common for the county’s supporters to travel an emotional journey from the pits of despair to the heights of nirvana and back again in the space of a few weeks.

In 2001 they were roundly written off when they were hammered in the Leinster Final by Kilkenny only to turn around and stun Limerick in a dramatic All-Ireland Quarter-Final before taking eventual champions Tipperary to a replay in the semi-final.

In 2002 they earned credit for running eventual All-Ireland champions Kilkenny to two points in the Leinster Final only to find themselves immediately back in the red a week later when they were well-beaten by Clare in the Qualifiers.

In 2003 they fell flat in the Leinster Final against Kilkenny only to pull off an upset against Waterford in the qualifiers and then take Cork to a replay in the All-Ireland semi-final.

While in 2004 they finally took the scalp they craved most by beating Kilkenny in Leinster but were then very fortunate to overcome Offaly in the provincial final before Cork trounced them in the All-Ireland semi-final.

As frustrating as they must have been to watch for their supporters, the days when they found form, usually against expectation, must have made it all worthwhile, if only for 70 fleeting minutes.

Because when that particular Wexford team found a groove, they were arguably the most entertaining team in the country to watch with a style of play that married no-nonsense physicality in defence with speed and skill in attack.

If ever a match summed up their ability to produce something spectacular with little warning, it was the 2003 All-Ireland SHC semi-final against Cork.

Their campaign up to then had been a typically streaky mix of good and bad performances. They were very fortunate to have beaten Antrim in the All-Ireland Quarter-Final, so even their own most loyal supporters weren’t exactly shouting their odds coming into the Cork match.

Team manager John Conran was hopeful though they might spring a surprise, because he had faith in the latent ability of the group, even if their inconsistency left him pulling his hair out at times.

“We had some really good lads,” says Conran. “We had a bit of legacy from the '96 All-Ireland. Damien Fitzhenry, Liam Dunne, Rory Mac, Larry O, a few of those lads that were hanging in there seven years further on from then.

“We had a good core of experienced players and we were trying to mix as few young lads in with it. It was hard enough to do and we had some bad days as well as good days in the League that year and we'd been dogged with injuries too.

“I knew though that we had very, very good team. That we had lads that were capable of a big performance if the day came right for them.

“We were fairly well written off coming into that match against Cork We hadn't performed in the Leinster Final that year against Kilkenny, we had played poorly.

“Now, we had trained really well for that match and I thought we were well up for it, and I was really, really disappointed with how flat we were on the day.

“Typical Wexford, and we're still inclined to do it, we can have a good day, then a bad day, then a good day, then a bad day. We'd a good win in the Leinster semi-final against Offaly but were then totally flat against Kilkenny. I had totally expected we'd beat Kilkenny in that Leinster Final, I really did, but we were terrible flat.

“We played Waterford in the qualifiers down in Nowlan Park and it was a great game. It was a very close game and we eventually came out on top.

“But then Antrim nearly beat us in the Quarter-Final. I mean, they should have beaten us. Paul Codd got a goal from a free and that turned the game.

“I was thinking I'd have to move north myself during that match because I wouldn't have been allowed back to down to Wexford!”

Cork came into the All-Ireland semi-final surfing a powerful wave of momentum.

Their panel had previously gone on strike the previous winter and the experience had brought them closer together as a group, while the appointment of the capable Donal O’Grady as manager was very much a case of the right man being in the right place at the right time.

The strongest line in that Cork team was the half-back line of Tom Kenny, Ronan Curran, and Sean Óg Ó hAilpin, and Conran knew that if Wexford were to pull off an upset they had to knock that trio out of their stride.

The Wexford half-forwards were under orders to keep the ball moving first-time as much as possible into their inside-forwards.

This had the double-effect of exploiting the clever movement and scoring power of players like Mitch Jordan, Rory Jacob, and Paul Codd, while also ensuring the Cork half-backs found themselves turned back towards their own goal-posts time and again instead of winning clean ball on the front-foot.

“They didn't like it,” says Conran. “We had Adrian Fenlon and Mick Jacob in the half-forwards and they were great to keep the ball moving when it came to them.

“Adrian, in particular, was a very good ground-hurler. He was constantly sweeping the ball through. It's gone from the game now that style of play, but it could be very effective and certainly was that day.

“We got the ball in very quickly to our inside forwards and Mitch Jordan especially did a lot of damage and got the man of the match award for us that day.

“He played very well for Wexford for a few years, he was a right good hurler. And that was the best game he ever played for us.

“We played very well for a long time that day. We got off to a very strong start, but Cork came back at us."

A Paul Codd goal after six minutes gave Wexford the perfect start and they dominated the first half, taking a 1-11 to 0-10 lead into the dressing-room that in no way flattered them.

They had moved six-points ahead early in the second-half before Cork finally started to get to grips with the challenge and then really roared into the contest when Setanta Ó hAilpín kicked a goal that reduced the gap to just one.

It looked like the Rebels had an irresistible momentum when Joe Deane scored a goal on 56 minutes that put them five points ahead, but Wexford struck back with one of their own through Jordan.

Points from John Gardiner and Alan Browne had Cork three up when the match ticked into injury-time, but Wexford found one last kick when veteran Rory McCarthy smashed home a spectacular goal that ensured the All-Ireland semi-final went to a replay.

“The finish was brilliant,” says Conran. “It was a great finish to a great game and I suppose the draw was absolutely the fair result at the end of the day.

“Cork went down the road with their tail between their legs and everyone was giving out to them and saying, 'What were ye doing letting Wexford draw with ye?' So they went home licking their wounds.

“Whereas Wexford went home as if they were world beaters, thinking how great we all were. Cork came back up for the replay with a job to do and we came up hoping to maybe do the same again and we got absolutely scuppered in the replay.”

Cork won the replay emphatically, by 3-17 to 2-7, but the Wexford players learned a lot from the chastening experience after being pulled apart by Cork’s hard-running, short-passing style of play.

They incorporated some of the same tactics into their own game-plan the following year when they pulled off their greatest victory of all, the 2004 Leinster SHC semi-final defeat of reigning All-Ireland champions Kilkenny.

“We changed our style a bit the following year,” says Conran. “In fairness to the team themselves, they were a very smart bunch of lads.

“The boys got working on the short puck-out and we had Damien Fitzhenry who, of course, was a great goalie.

“His puck-outs were great. Himself and Donal Óg were the two protagonists of the goalkeeper picking their men with puck-outs rather than just driving it as long as they could.

“When we beat Kilkenny in 2004 we had practiced that a lot. Having our outfield players running lines and then Damien picking them out as they were running. And we had a few different moves off that.

“That was the start of that sort of style of play. Newtownshandrum had done it, they started it, and the boys picked up on it and developed it a bit further. In 2004 we really knocked Kilkenny for six.

“I know we needed Mick Jacob's goal to win it in the end, but it would have been a travesty if we had lost that game.

“They were two great years to be honest. We had some great games and came away with some great memories. Believe it or not, I would have better memories of 2003 than 2004 even though we won the Leinster Final in 2004.

“We were involved in some great games in 2003, and that semi-final against Cork was probably the best of them.”