Intermediate All-Ireland Championship Round Five

Wexford v Derry

Saturday, Bellefield, 2pm

By Shaun Casey

DERRY will be focusing on controlling the controllables insists manager Martin Coulter as his side face into a must win tie against Wexford.

Derry’s met the yellow bellies during the League, but that was the Wexford senior side, not their Intermediate team that will take the field on Saturday, so Coulter’s knowledge of their opponents is fairly limited.

“We know nothing about Wexford, that’s the fear of the unknown,” said Coulter. “You throw in the fact, it’s maybe five hours on the bus going down to the game and it’s possibly a late throw in, there’s a lot of variables, a lot of unknowns.

“But I suppose all we can focus on is what we can control and if we’re good enough on the day that’ll be enough. So, there’s no point worry about things that we can’t control.

“It’s the fear of the unknown more than anything. You don’t know who you’re playing against, you’re travelling down there, and you don’t know how girls are going to react getting off the bus. We can only prepare them the best we can and let’s see how it pans out.”

Should Wexford win and Kilkenny defeat Meath, there’s a possibility that three teams will finish the league on nine points. While Cork are also on nine, it would be a huge shock if they don’t pick up maximum points against Kildare who are currently at the bottom of the table.

“We’re waiting for clarification on the rules in terms of what happens if the three of us are on the same points. Does it come down to head-to-head, does it come down to points difference? We’re waiting for clarification on that.

“The thing about it, there was a lot more pressure on Sunday (last weekend). The Cork win was massive for us, and it puts it back in our own hands.

“It is a bit nervy; you’re going to Wexford and their results have been up and down, they’ve had some very good results and some not so good, so you don’t know really what to expect but at least it’s in our own hands at this stage.”

That victory over table toppers Cork was hugely important for Derry, after they disappointingly lost out to Kilkenny two weeks beforehand. The concession of five goals in two games doesn’t worry Coulter though as he has full faith in their defensive ability.

“It was a massive performance (against Cork). It was a long two weeks after Kilkenny, we let Kilkenny off the hook down in Kilkenny, in my opinion we should have come away with the win in that game, so it was a long two weeks getting ready for Cork. They got a penalty and then they scored one of the goals from a 30-yard from with the last puck of the game so it’s not a concern. Defensively we have been very good, it’s just a combination of things in two games that happened that made us look bad, but we would be more than happy defensively.”