MATTY FORDE gingerly tested his heavily swathed left hamstring under the gaze of the Wexford management, running at three- quarter pace between two cones. Following a brief consultation with Wexford manager Jason Ryan, he spent the remaining 11 minutes prior to the throw-in to Saturday's third-round qualifier at Croke Park kicking at the posts: seven attempts with his right foot, one half swing with his left.
Ryan's assurances that his team's totem was fine in the aftermath of the victory over Down were predicated on a typically polished contribution from the Kilanerin man, who bagged seven points, two from play.
Forde's vision and distribution were equally striking and this from a player who spent most of the match on the edge of the square, periodically gliding into space ahead of his marker Peter Turley to receive possession.
His left leg may have compromised his ability to adopt a roving commission but on the day it suited Wexford's tactics of leaving just Forde and Ciarán Lyng close to the Down goal and flooding the main theatre of action between the half-back lines.
Pre-match assumptions the midfield duel would be pivotal to the outcome were reasonably accurate. Suggestions Down would glean an advantage through Dan Gordon and Ambrose Rodgers were less so. Wexford descended on broken or loose ball with an intensity and desire their opponents simply did not match.
No one embodied this singular commitment more than Wexford's Redmond Barry, the game's outstanding performer. He swept up so much loose ball, his athleticism, accuracy, intelligent reading of the game and work-rate an inspiration to his colleagues, who embraced his example with gusto.
Credit must go to Wexford's midfield axis of Eric Bradley and Brendan Doyle, who even when not winning kick-outs denied Down a platform, an observation vindicated by the statistic that Wexford won more than half of the restart kicks from Down goalkeeper Brendan McVeigh.
Ryan cleverly deployed his left corner back Brian Malone in a sweeping role ahead of Down's two-man full-forward line of John Clarke and Benny Coulter.
The latter managed two points but was largely a peripheral figure, intelligently marshalled by Philip Wallace and starved of decent ball because of his team's inadequacies farther out the field.
Down's shortcomings extended through most facets of the game. In the first half, when the game was a contest, they shot sloppy wides and often squandered possession with inaccurate passing.
Afterwards the Down manager Ross Carr effectively summed up his team's display: "We couldn't do anything right."
His son and centre half back Aidan was the team's primary scorer, posting six frees. But apart from Coulter's brace and another two excellent points from Ambrose Rodgers, Down rarely applied any pressure on the scoreboard. They were outmuscled in too many areas.
The Ulster county will reflect on Wexford's two first-half goals. The first was smartly finished by Lyng, who latched onto a loose ball. In the preamble to the second, McVeigh and Paul Murphy competed for the same ball from Forde's towering free; there were five Down defenders and one Wexford man under the ball but PJ Banville reacted quickest to snaffle the ball and finish to the net.
Wexford won't care unduly about the game's overall lack of quality or that their seven-point victory margin could have been greater had they not spurned several easy point-scoring chances in the second half. They racked up 10 wides during that period.
The spectre of the Dublin mauling hovered over Wexford going into this match but they showed the mental resilience and physical aptitude to recover. Banville admitted: "We had a meeting the week after the Dublin game and promised that we would give it one more lash. We knew we had to get the monkey off our backs after Dublin; knew that we had to produce a performance. We did that."
Ryan was understandably delighted to finally step out of the shadow of the Leinster final setback: "The important thing aside from winning was to put in a positive performance. The scars are gone. We were very motivated, determined to give our all today.
"We put in a huge number of tackles, over 50 in the first half, and that showed the commitment." He added: "The pressure is off. Whatever happens (from now on) we are going to enjoy it."
It's a sensible attitude. The manner of the win won't convince many that Wexford can progress further. They'll focus on Down's abject failure and an error-strewn 70 minutes. Wexford's two first-half goals would have impacted hugely on the interval pep talks.
Three Down players did not appear for the second half but the injection of fresh legs in the hope of a quick start on the resumption never materialised. Instead Lyng could have grabbed a second goal had he not slipped when put clean through by Colfer.
On 53 minutes the gap was down to three points but four points from Forde in five minutes removed any lingering doubts.
Wexford coasted to the final whistle, substitutes Collie Byrne and Rory Stafford tagging on points before Sligo referee Marty Duffy ended Down's torment.
WEXFORD: 1 A Masterson; 3 Philip Wallace, 18 David Walsh, 4 Brian Malone; 5 A Morrissey, 6 D Murphy, 7 C Morris (capt); 11 E Bradley, 9 B Doyle; 10 R Barry (0-1), 17 P Colfer (0-1), 12 A Flynn; 13 C Lyng (1-1, one free), 14 PJ Banville (1-1), 15 M Forde (0-7, four frees, one 45). Subs: 30 C Byrne (0-1) for Flynn (52 mins); 26 C Deely for Colfer (54 mins); 27 S Roche for Banville (64 mins); 25 R Stafford (0-1) for Bradley (66); 19 G Murphy for Morrissey (69).
DOWN: 1 B McVeigh; 3 P Turley, 2 L Howard, 4 C Murney; 5 P Murphy, 6 A Carr (0-6, six frees), 12 D Hughes; 30 D Gordon (capt), 9 A Rodgers (0-2); 10 J Fegan, 11 K McKernan, 7 K McGuigan; 13 R Murtagh, 14 J Clarke, 15 B Coulter (0-2). Subs: 8 D Rooney (0-1) for McGuigan, 24 R Sexton for Fegan, 27 J McAreavey for Murney (all half-time); 29 J McGovern for Murtagh (55 mins); 26 S Kearney (0-1) for McKernan (64).
Referee: M Duffy (Sligo).
