It’s the heat of a Championship battle. The game is tight and in the melting pot. That’s exactly when the leaders in any team emerge.
That’s how it was for Wexford on Saturday night in their grudge Leinster semi-final clash with Kilkenny.
The Model County responded admirably to a 48th-second penalty from TJ Reid to eventually lead the game by eight points after 39 minutes.
Wexford were cruising.
Brian Cody’s Kilkenny, in hot pursuit of a 4th successive Leinster title are never beaten, however.
They have a winning mentality that is so well renowned, that it undoubtedly had Wexford questioning themselves after they ominously conceded two goals in as many second-half minutes to whittle the margin down to the minimum with 15-minutes remaining.
Would Wexford, as they did against Tipperary in the League semi-final cave to the pressure, or would they be able to launch a revival?
That’s when their leaders stood up. There are leaders all over this Wexford team, from the explosive determination of Liam Ryan in the full back line to Matthew O’Hanlon’s powerful presence at centre back. There’s McDonald, there’s Guiney and many more.
When it really came down to it, though, one Wexford man stood tallest. That man was Lee Chin, and he was speaking on The GAA Hour Hurling Show on Monday when he revealed his mentality on the field of play.
Chin’s phenomenal catch in the 66th minute of the game, with the match on a knife edge, was a huge turning point.
“A lot of the lads around the field would feel at that stage that they have to do something, I suppose because that’s the way Davy has us at the moment, I suppose we take Ownership,” said Chin.
What a catch and what a player, Lee Chin #wexfordGAA pic.twitter.com/ai6XqOFaqd
— Niall B Kearney (@thebadger217) June 13, 2017
“I knew that I’m going to get myself over to the wing here, we won a free and Mark Fanning took the free I think and I knew if I stood out on the wing, Mark will puck it down my way. If he does, I’m just going to have to do what I can to win it because we need this possession and we need to get on the attack. When he did pick it up and hit it down, the first thing in my head was just, ‘I need to catch this ball. Luckily it fell into my hand and I got a bit of space and put it over the bar,” added The Faythe Harriers man.
Chin knew it was a crucial moment in the game, and in Wexford’s season. He knew damn well he had to do something.
“You know, they’re the kind of things going through your head when they score a goal it’s just about saying, ‘something happening here, I need to get something going, we can’t just lay-over now and let Kilkenny have their way with us, as they would’ve in the past.”
According to Chin, the experience of their loss to Tipperary in the League semi-final was a huge learning curve for them. They weren’t going to let it happen again.
“I just think the way we’re programmed at the moment, I really do feel that nothing affects me. It’s easy for me to say that when they (Kilkenny) got two goals and we’re still ahead in the game. When you go back to the the semi-final against Tipperary in Nowlan Park in the National League. I suppose, we’re two points behind, and then they got a goal. We dropped our heads a small bit in the last five or ten minutes,” said Chin.
“It helps on the side of,(You’re saying to yourself) ‘we need to get something going here’, as opposed to, ‘this is over’. That’s the difference in the National League game against Tipperary and the other day.”
Chin does most of his talking on the field of play, but when he feels it is needed, he will also pitch with some dressing room motivation.
“I don’t like saying things for the sake of saying it. I suppose, there’s times it’s needed that someone just needs to step up and say things, but we’ve a lot of lads that like to have a few words in the dressing room. Matthew O Hanlon, being one of them…I try to be a motivator in the dressing room and just being there for lads when the chips are down,” claimed Chin.
This Wexford squad are full of leaders, and they will take some stopping in the Leinster final.
