Roe's men ready for the real thing

In three days' time Wexford will play their most important football match since 1946.

They'll be contesting a National League final, which they've never won, against a team which is among the hardest to beat in the country, especially in Croke Park. Perfect circumstances, it would appear, for a case of stage-fright.

Wexford manager Pat Roe sees it a little differently. For a start he's shunned the traditional Croke Park test-run in the days before a major final.

He's confident his team have had enough dress rehearsals by now. And he doesn't even see it as their most important game of the year, let alone the most important since Wexford's last league final appearance in 1946.

"We've just been focusing on everything we're doing in the training ground," says Roe. "I remember we played a match against Galway in the league, and were one game away from the play-offs at that stage. I felt the occasion might have got to the players that day, and I was guilty of that too because I got them racing on to the field.

"We also just stumbled over the line against Laois. So all we need to do is remind ourselves how bad we can be. I don't know what's going to happen on Sunday. Of course, it's a huge occasion for all these Wexford players. The Armagh players have seen it all before. I can say to you I believe the players will be fine, and I do believe that, but, of course, I won't know for sure until Sunday evening."

Roe's calm confidence is at least partly based on the semi-final win over Tyrone, which he says was by far their biggest challenge of the year so far. Sunday's meeting with Armagh in Croke Park is potentially the greatest test of all, with Joe Kernan's team already displaying the sort of form that goes with winning All-Irelands.

"True," agrees Roe, "and I was very impressed with Armagh against Mayo last Sunday. They look like a championship team, but we're not overawed by them. We know their style in that they're very direct, and midfield is definitely going to be one of the key areas. So yeah, it's a big occasion, but I get the feeling the players don't want to let it pass them by."

Roe also believes the championship is really where it's at, and win or lose on Sunday, the games that still matter most lie in wait, starting with the Leinster championship clash with Carlow on June 5th.

"We've still timed our training for the championship. We did ease off on the physical work towards the end of the league. We didn't want to peak at the end of May, and we're doing a lot of championship training at the moment. But obviously we've eased down a bit this week."

Now in his second year as Wexford manager, the Laois native also believes this team won't be judged by what happens on Sunday - they should be around for a good while after that.

"With the present bunch of players definitely. They're all highly motivated and ambitious, and they're a young enough bunch as well. So I think all that does augur well for the next couple of years. But, of course, the long-term future is something for the Wexford County Board, to make sure the right structures are in place, and they do need to be put in place."

Kernan, meanwhile, won't be fooled into thinking Armagh only have to show up to win this. Wexford did beat them comfortably the first day out in the league, even if Armagh were without the Crossmaglen players, and a league title is also conspicuously absent from his own county's honours list.

"It's very important to do anything for the first time," adds Kernan. "We've lost three now, and it's in years to come you'll look back and think about it. So it's a big occasion for us too."

The fact Armagh are in the final has surprised a few people given the heartbreak of last summer, and yet Kernan still believes more success is the best cure for defeat.

"Defeat is a very sore thing, and the day it doesn't hurt you is the day you have to go. So shortly after what happened last summer we did realise we wanted more success. But I had to ask myself too.

"And if someone had asked me going home on the bus that evening I would have answered them fairly quickly. And if it didn't hurt in the days afterwards I would have gone."