Galway are red-hot favourites to beat Wexford on Saturday, but Damien Fitzhenry is happy with the underdogs' preparations, writes IAN O'RIORDAN

FOR THE first time since 1992 the Wexford hurlers are about to line out in a championship match without the name Fitzhenry in the team. That mightn’t be so remarkable if say it were a band of Fitzhenry brothers or even cousins – but it was actually just one man, Damien Fitzhenry, who earlier this year announced his retirement from intercounty hurling after 17 years as Wexford’s first-choice goalkeeper.

Fitzhenry came into the team when Wexford hurling was at something of a low point and left when they were on a somewhat similar level. They face a Galway team in Nowlan Park on Saturday evening who are not only strong favourites to beat them, but fancied too as the one of the few teams capable of knocking Kilkenny off their perch in 2010.

But if there’s anyone who knows about Wexford’s glorious unpredictability then it’s Fitzhenry; because, as he says himself, you can never write them off. After playing in goal for Wexford in 1992 Leinster minor final, where they lost to Kilkenny, Fitzhenry was quickly promoted, and made his senior championship debut the following year, in the 1993 Leinster quarter-final against Dublin.

At that stage Wexford hadn’t won a Leinster title since 1977, although it was three years later, in 1996, before Fitzhenry tasted his first success – not only by beating Offaly in the Leinster final, but going on to beat Limerick in the All-Ireland final.

Wexford also beat Galway in that 1996 All-Ireland semi-final – and thus preserved their unbeaten championship record over the Connacht side. With Galway now adopted by the Leinster championship, and recently crowned league champions in Thurles on May 2nd, that record is unlikely to last past Saturday.

What gives Wexford some hope, says Fitzhenry, was winning the Division Two final against Clare, the same day in Thurles. Without that Wexford would really be worried. “The lads needed to come out of Thurles with something that evening, facing Galway three or four weeks down the line,” he says. “I just think we really needed to get back up there, out of Division Two. We needed to win as many games as we could as well.

“Obviously there was a bit of a blip long the way against Carlow. It’s probably been a trait of Wexford over the years, that we’d have five or six games, and we’d always fall in one of them. And I think Carlow were one of those games this year.

“In fairness the lads came back strong, worked really hard, and then beat Clare in the league final. I suppose coming out of Thurles that evening we’d 17 wides, and still won by three or four points. So it could have been a far more convincing win.

“But the objective at the start of the year really was to get back up to Division One. In fairness they’ve put in a huge effort and that’s where they are now.”

“But Galway were always going to be a very tough task, whether we won that game or not. They’re red-hot favourites, and it’s going to be a real uphill battle for Wexford. But I think that’s something Wexford will probably relish.”

At age 35, Fitzhenry can look back on his career with few regrets. Winning three Leinster titles, two All Stars and that 1996 All-Ireland title reflects that but he admits the landscape of Leinster hurling has now changed considerably since Galway’s introduction last year.

Whereas Wexford could normally expect to contest Leinster finals at least every other year, getting there now is far more difficult – yet that change is only for the good of hurling, and Fitzhenry welcomes Galway’s addition to the province.

“Bringing Galway in has made a huge difference. I mean the most competitive game in Leinster last year was the Galway-Kilkenny game. And Galway are probably looking forward to playing Kilkenny again in the Leinster final this year. I think it will be a fantastic Leinster championship this year. In fairness Galway are a fantastic hurling county, obviously with a great football team as well. What was happening was they were just straight through to an All-Ireland quarter-final, or semi-final. Now they have some very tough games along the way and it can only help them.

“I’ve seen bits and pieces of them thus year, and then in the league final. To be fair the speed of that game was two or three notches up on the Division Two final. They have some serious talent, some serious fire-power up front, but I definitely wouldn’t write off Wexford.”