Eoghan Nolan eager for Wexford to make progress
Wexford's Eoghan Nolan pictured at the Tailteann Cup launch. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
By Cian O’Connell
Something is beginning to stir again in Wexford football. John Hegarty’s arrival as manager is an obvious link to when Wexford were competing strongly at the highest level.
Getting back to those standards is the long term aim, but in the short term Eoghan Nolan remains optimistic about making an impact in the 2023 Tailteann Cup.
It promises to be a hard fought group with Fermanagh, Antrim, and Leitrim, but Nolan believes Wexford can demonstrate their ability.
“To be honest, I think most teams would probably say the same thing - they would honestly fancy on their day to take a skelp off most other teams,” Nolan says.
“We have what I would consider is a very competitive group, Fermanagh, Antrim and Leitrim. Anyone could expect, probably, they might top the group, on their day, if they're in form.
“Because teams are going to beat each other in this group. Look, the first target is obviously to get out of the group. And that's the first step. Then see what way a draw will potentially go from there. But obviously the first target is getting out of the group and getting the wins in the first few games.”
An away assignment this weekend in Brewster Park against Fermanagh will be a demanding start, but Nolan, a senior inter-county player for 10 years, is encouraged about Wexford’s development under Hegarty.
“John is very good, a very good communicator,” Nolan says. “He's obviously been there himself. He's played in Division One finals and National Leagues and things like this with some great players.
“He will tell it to us straight as it is. And we all know ourselves that we are where we are at the moment.
Eoghan Nolan remains a key performer for Wexford. Photo by Tom Beary/Sportsfile
“As a group, it's something we're all on the same page, we all want to get Wexford football back to where we want it to be. It's just a matter of working together and doing that.”
The Tailteann Cup provides Wexford with an opportunity to generate momentum and increase interest in the county once more.
“Obviously we are where we are at the moment,” Nolan responds. “We understand that, we've been trying to get out of Division Four for a number of years.
“Back in 2017, we got promoted and came back down. Yeah, look, of course we want to get Wexford football back up to where we want it to be. The Tailteann Cup is a great opportunity to get games against similar teams.
“John is in this year and he has a real good group of lads, he's got a real good backroom team. So obviously we'll be in the Tailteann Cup and we'll look to progress in it and make a long-term plan over the years, to get ourselves back up to where we want to be.”
In a competitive group the margin for error is slim so Nolan is keen for Wexford to start brightly. “It's maybe a thing that happened to us over the league, it was a small bit frustrating that maybe we were inconsistent,” Nolan says.
“John was trying to get us to that point where we are a consistent team, performing week in, week out at the same level and improving each week.
“We went and played some very good games and some very good football and then unfortunately, say for example we went up to Sligo and we didn't perform.
“It was a bit of a, obviously, a knock-down I suppose that we didn't perform that day. That's something that we've been focusing on, trying to get consistency, not only throughout a full game, but game on game as well.”
