Fearless, confident and a winner - Wexford's new breed

ADRIAN FENLON never jacked confidence. Years ago, when his older, brother Patrick made the trip from the family home in Enniscorthy to Bellefield hurling ground, little more than a good puck of a sliothar away, he would tag along with all the innocence of a six-year-old, hurley in hand, and play the role of a copycat.

The little brother was a quick learner, a good listener. He won the first of three county under-12 championship medals with Rapparees a couple of years later and, since then, Adrian Fenlon has pocketed a succession of underage medals. Under-14, under-16, minor, under-21. A born winner. An optimist. A rarity in Wexford hurling.

"The hurley was like an extension to my arm when I was young. I went nowhere without it. I even brought it to bed with me," recalls Fenlon, a key figure this summer in banishing the ghosts that have tormented Wexford for almost two decades. "I've always loved hurling. It's the greatest game in the world and I don't know what I will do when I have to hang up my boots."

Right now, such a situation seems a long way away. Fenlon (23) is one of the new breed of Wexford hurlers. Fearless and confident. It is contagious. The day after Wexford ended their Leinster drought and won the Bob O'Keeffe Cup for the first time in 19 years, the 100 jerseys which Ned Buggy had stocked in his sports shop were sold within two hours of the doors opening for business.

The bug has spread, right around the county. Kids have the names of their favourite players printed on the backs of jerseys of varying shapes and sizes but the same purple and yellow hue. They've all got their own flags and headbands too.

The county which had Eric Cantona as its number one sports star - and, to rub salt into the wounds, D J Carey as second choice - in a schools' survey earlier this year has discovered itself.

The summer of '96 has changed everything. Inferiority complexes have been cast aside. New heroes found, old ones afforded the realisation of dreams. PIayers like George O'Connor, Billy Byrne and Tom Dempsey endured the hard times. Lived them out. Fenlon only watched.

"When I was 14 or so, we used go to Croke Park with the oul' lad - may The Lord have mercy on him - and see George and Billy and the rest. They were my idols. I never thought I'd see the day when I would be playing with them," said Fenlon.

Success hasn't come easy, though. Night after night spent scurrying over the dunes in Curracloe. Weight work, stamina work, stick work. The Sunday after Clare captain Anthony Daly lifted the Liam McCarthy Cup on the steps of the Hogan Stand, Wexford manager Liam Griffin and selectors Rory Kinsella and Seamus Barron summoned their charges back to training. "We've been together something like 165 or 170 times since that day," says Fenlon. "It just shows you what hard work can do."

Clare's win was the catalyst. "They showed us what could be achieved with the right effort and the right leadership from the top," says Fenlon. "We have had that leadership this year with Liam Griffin in charge, and his backroom team, and Martin Storey has been an inspirational captain."

"Compared to last year, there has been a different attitude. Last year, two or three fellows could miss a training session and nobody would know why. This year, it has been different. Full turn-outs since Christmas. Everyone is on time. We've trained for two hours, sometimes three hours, a night. No cribs. No qualms. Everyone just puts their head down and works. Everyone's dug in deep."

When Fenlon joined the squad four years ago, his childhood idols took him aside and gave him advice. Now he sees them taking other young players to one side. Players like Rory McCarthy and Paul Codd.

"The blend is fabulous. Billy, George, Tom Dempsey, Storey and the likes. They're all 31, 32 or more. But they have great personalities and are real comedy characters. You can have a laugh with them, talk about anything. They're like 21-year-olds. Unbelievable. But great influences on us.

Fenlon has always been an optimist. With his club Rapparees, he discovered a winning culture from an early age. When he moved to Dublin to study Accountancy at the College of Commerce in Rathmines (before taking up a banking position with AIB in Enniscorthy), he won two national titles with the Dublin Institute of Technology. A winner on the hurling fields.

He is not the sort to pinch himself to make sure Wexford really are in the All-Ireland final. He always believed they would be. Some day. "Losing doesn't appeal toe me," he says. "Winning means everything."

So, while others wondered if Wexford would ever reach the light at the end of the tunnel, Fenlon was always convinced salvation was at hand. Wexford might not have been winning minor titles, but there were always three or four exceptional individuals who stood out. "Some of them haven't made it due to beer or women or whatever, something always goes wrong with a few. But enough have come through," he says.

Fenlon reels them off. Eamonn Seallan and Larry Murphy were a year ahead. Himself and Paul Finn the next year. Damien Fitzhenry the year after. Rory McCarthy and Paul Codd the next year. Players like Mick Jordan and Mick Leary to come. And on and on. "We have the back-up for when the likes of George and Billy are gone.

No, Fenlon was always a believer in the Wexford cause. "I hear some of the lads saying, `I can't believe it'. But I can when I see the amount of energy and work that we've put in. Hurling is almost a professional sport now. I come home from work at half five or a quarter to six, you go and get your gear ready and you're out the door again by a quarter past six and not home until a quarter to 12 most nights.

"People don't understand the likes of Sligo and Leitrim and all them do that work as well, but get no reward, no success out of it. Yet if you go out and have a crap game, people are putting you down. They don't understand that you've trained for 50 or 60 nights bursting your balls and, just on 60 minutes, you're judged, your character ruined. Every player goes out to win and try their best. They don't go out to miss a ball or put the ball wide on purpose or anything like that.

"It's unfortunate if teams aren't winning anything. Wexford were in that boat for years, going to Leinster finals and losing by a point and lads giving out about this fellow or that fellow. However, I always sensed, coming up along, that I'd get to an All-Ireland final or two, maybe win one or two. Who's to say? We might win this year.

hope we do. We're certainly going to give it our best shot.

"Even after this year, I feel we'll be back soon for another All-Ireland final. We've a lot of strength and a lot of youth, enough to stay at the top for a number of years.

His words carry his conviction. When Fenlon was carried shoulder high by Supporters to the VIP section of the Hogan Stands by Wexford supporters after the Leinster final tears came to his eyes. "It is the memory I most cherish," he says. "I'd give my right arm to see them react that way again next Sunday.

"It was also great to see Billy (Byrne) and George (O'Connor) finally get a Leinster medal. They were always my idols. It would have been terrible to see them go their whole career winning nothing and getting donkeys hardship. Please God we can finish it off, varnish it off. on September 1st."

Limerick might have a thing or two to say about that, but Fenlon - The Optimist - will too.