Kevin Fennelly got his boots dirty for the first time on a Dublin sideline yesterday, and even though it will be a couple more days before he officially takes the reins as hurling manager, his attention was never allowed to slacken.

Unlike the great divide that some people had predicted, Dublin ensured that Wexford had to work hard for a place in the Walsh Cup final. In truth, the four-point defeat at Ferns could well have been worse, but Fennelly can perhaps feel a little more optimistic as he sets out to revitalise Dublin hurling. Wexford had a few limbs of their own to loosen up yesterday. They didn't take over until Larry O'Gorman popped in a goal midway through the second half, and while their class was evident, their fitness was no sharper than Dublin's.

"Today was just a matter of getting the team out and doing a bit of hurling," said Fennelly afterwards. "But the attitude was good and I think they did okay. They tired a bit in the second half, but they always stayed enthusiastic. That's half the battle and that's something you can work on."

There was certainly very little between the sides in the first half. David Donnelly seized a goal after 10 minutes and Tomas McGrane was well in tune with the posts, so that Dublin actually led 1-2 to 0-4 at the break. By then Wexford had hit seven wides, and only after Tony Dempsey juggled his forwards in the second half did the likes of Larry Murphy and Martin Byrne show their worth.

As Michael Jacob chipped in with frees, Wexford gradually pulled clear. The defence remained reasonably solid, but with just a one-point advantage going into the last five minutes, they could never sit back and relax. "Wexford are always hard to beat at home," added Fennelly. "They're always a strong, physical team and their attitude seems to be good again. But the big problem with Dublin is confidence. If you've been beaten every year that you can remember, then confidence has to be worked on. So we have to try and get a few wins and get the players to believe in themselves."

"Teams that are used to winning expect to win, but Dublin are going out and in the back of their mind they are probably expecting to get beaten. If that's in the head, then it will come out in the hurling."

UCD mentor Dave Billings will now stand aside for Fennelly's first team-talk later in the week. "Well they're probably wondering now if I'm ever going to talk. But I'm just trying to get used to the faces before I start opening my mouth."

The next step will be finalise his selectors, who will be in place for Dublin's first round of the league on February 11th against Meath.

WEXFORD: D Fitzhenry; C Kehoe, R Guiney, D Guiney; S Flood (0-1), L Dunne, M Jordan; T Kelly, R Stafford; K Furlong, M Byrne (0-2), M Jacob (0-5, four frees); E Cullen, L Murphy (0-1), R Keogh. Subs: B Goff (0-1) for Cullen (42 mins), L O'Gorman (1-0) for Keogh (47 mins), R Quigley for Furlong (56 mins), C McGrath (0-1) for Kelly (64 mins).

DUBLIN: B McLoughlin; S Duignan, S Power, S Donnelly; A Power, D Spain, C McCann; S Martin (0-2), D Russell; T McGrane (0-3, all frees), D Daly, D Henry; E Carroll (0-1), K Flynn, D Donnelly (1-0). Subs: K Donoghue for D Donnelly and S Perkins for Russell (both 40 mins), N Butler (0-1) for Carroll (46 mins), D Wyse for McCann (60 mins), M Kenny for Daly (65 mins).

Referee: J Guinan (Kilkenny).