It is hard not to imagine the considerably greater level of anticipation that would surround Saturday’s All-Ireland under-21 hurling final in Thurles were it Wexford, and not Antrim, playing Clare

It’s no disrespect to Antrim, but Wexford – the team who took out Kilkenny in the Leinster final – had always fancied their chances at this title, at least according to their under-21 captain and senior dual player Lee Chin.

Chin doesn’t hide his disappointment when reflecting on Wexford’s shock defeat to Antrim in last month’s semi-final.

Eye off the ball
"We just took our eye off the ball," says Chin. "It just got to too many lads' heads, especially when there are other people around you saying it's just Antrim, you should be preparing for an All-Ireland. I suppose that's what we were thinking about and we shouldn't. But we'll learn from our experience and we'll move on.

“Antrim showed up and they played very well and performed and we wish them all the best of luck in the final, as with Clare as well.

“Clare will have the experience from last year. They’ll still have a lot of lads around from last year. And a couple of them would have performed at the weekend, so they are used to the big stage. I think they are going into the game with a lot of advantages. You wouldn’t know. Maybe the game at the weekend took its toll on one or two of the lads.

Performance
"Now, I do expect Clare to take it, but hopefully, for myself anyway, I'd like to see a good performance from Antrim.

“It would be a shame to see them knocking us out – red-hot favourites in the semi-final – and then go on to maybe be beaten handy enough in the final.”

Indeed Clare boast four players who started in last Sunday’s drawn senior final with Cork – David McInerney, Colm Galvin, Tony Kelly and Podge Collins – and unless they somehow don’t turn up there will likely be only one winner.

Chin, however, can reflect on Wexford’s under-21 campaign with some satisfaction, with Liam Dunne unanimously ratified for another two years in charge of the Wexford senior, there is definitely some stability brewing.

“We made a huge breakthrough this year, beating Kilkenny in the Leinster final. To go and get beaten by Antrim was awful disheartening, but you just have to look at the bit of success we’ve had.”