For young Rathnure clubman John O'Connor, 2004 was proving to be a fairytale year until Wexford collided with the unstoppable juggernaut that was Cork in the All-Ireland hurling semi-final. Prior to the Cork defeat, which was one of the heaviest Wexford have experienced in championship hurling, O'Connor had captained the Slaneysiders to their first Leinster title since 1997 in what was his first full season with the county side. Having only lost to the Rebels after a replay in last year's semi-final, Wexford were confident of turning the tables but they were well and truly trounced by a Cork team who could do no wrong. "After winning the Leinster championship, we genuinely fancied our chances against Cork," O'Connor recalls. "Confidence was high and we felt we could make amends for last year's defeat. But Cork came out with all guns blazing and before we knew it, the game was gone from us. It became a bit of an embarrassment in the second half. They were coming at us in droves and there was nothing we could do to stem the flow." The promising wing back argues that Wexford are much better than they showed against Cork and regrets not having had the opportunity to get the performance out of his system. "It was a horrible way to end the year," O'Connor admits. "We would love to have had the chance to redeem ourselves but we have to wait until next year to do that. We're nowhere near as bad as we showed against Cork and I think our supporters realised that. There was no real criticism from them afterwards because they knew it was just one of those days. It was a combination of us underperforming and them (Cork) being on fire," he reasons. While the Cork defeat stands out most in the memory, O'Connor feels it shouldn't tarnish what was an otherwise successful championship for Wexford. Their provincial semi-final victory over Kilkenny provided Leinster hurling with the shot in the arm it had been crying out for. The Cats had been odds on favourites to complete a record seven in-a-row of Leinster successes, but Michael Jacob's late goal ensured that there would be a different name on the Bob O'Keeffe Cup in 2004. "The Cork game apart, it was a great year for us. Nobody gave us a chance against Kilkenny but we played to our strengths and got the right result in the end. Beating Offaly in the Leinster final afterwards was the icing on the cake," O'Connor says. What made the win over Kilkenny all the more surprising was the apparent unrest in the Wexford camp in the early part of the season. During the spring, Larry O'Gorman, Darren Stamp and Robbie Codd all quit the panel and it was even reported at one stage that manager John Conran was facing a motion of no confidence. Wexford's National League results didn't do anything to dampen the speculation with successive defeats to Tipperary, Limerick and Offaly leaving them in relegation trouble. However, they saved their top flight status when defeating Dublin in their final outing. Model County fans travelled to Croke Park on June 13 more in hope than expectation for the showdown with Kilkenny. The Cats opened the scoring with points from Henry Shefflin and Pat Tennyson in the first two minutes and the fear was there that the demolition job many had predicted was about to start. That it didn't materialise had much to do with the way this Wexford team was prepared, the way they lined out and the tactics they adopted. A small but extremely pacy inside forward line of 'Mitch' Jordan and the two Jacob brothers, Michael and Rory, had what was on paper and almost impregnable Kilkenny full back line in trouble for the word go. Kilkenny held a slender 0-11 to 0-10 lead at the interval, but went four points clear when Eddie Brennan goaled shortly after the restart. Back came Wexford with a point from an Adrian Fenlon sideline and an equalizing goal from Rory Jacob. That goal was a massive boost to John Conran's side and in the next 15 minutes, they added three points per Michael Jacob, Jordan and Paul Carley to establish a 1-14 to 1-12 lead. Sean Dowling and Martin Comerford had levelled for the Cats before DJ Carey, Wexford's age-old nemesis, came off the bench to edge the All-Ireland champions back in front. But just when it seemed that Wexford were destined for more heartbreak at the hands of their neighbours, Michael Jacob gave them a dramatic 2-15 to 1-16 victory when he blocked Peter Barry's attempted clearance before turning and rifling an unstoppable shot to the roof of the net. "Some people would say that we were lucky, but nobody can say that we didn't deserve a lucky break against Kilkenny after all the narrow defeats we suffered down the years," O'Connor points out. "We played well throughout, but it still took a last-minute goal from Michael Jacob to win it. We had our homework done before the game and our tactics worked a treat. We never gave Kilkenny a chance to relax." After finally getting the better of the Cats, Wexford had to refocus quickly for the Leinster final against Offaly. As it transpired, goalkeeper Damien Fitzhenry needed to be at his best as they battled for a 2-12 to 1-11 victory. Fitzhenry underlined his importance to the Slaneysiders with four spectacular saves in the first half, including one from a Damien Murray penalty. Instead of being eight or nine points in arrears at the interval, Wexford trailed by just one and they showed sufficient improvement in the second half to take the Bob O'Keeffe Cup back to the South-East after a seven-year lapse. "There was always the danger that Offaly would catch us out in the Leinster final and but for Damien, they probably would have. He made four brilliant saves and they were the difference between us winning and losing. I don't think we would have been able to live with ourselves if we had lost the final after beating Kilkenny in the previous round," the Rathnure man says. After the Leinster final, Wexford had six weeks to prepare for an All-Ireland semi-final joust with Cork. And while they were undoubtedly handicapped by the long lay-off, Wexford were surprisingly sluggish against the rampant Rebels who ended up as emphatic 1-27 to 0-12 winners. While there was no real indication of the impending Wexford collapse after 15 minutes, at which stage Cork led by 0-5 to 0-2, there were obvious signs in the way the Cork defence dealt so capably with early pressure. The dominance enjoyed by Diarmuid O'Sullivan at full back quickly spread to the rest of the defence, was enhanced by the strong play of Tom Kenny and Jerry O'Connor at midfield, and matched by the superiority which the Cork attack rapidly achieved. Kenny's goal after 29 minutes opened the floodgates and by half-time, the game was over as a contest with Cork perched on a 1-13 to 0-4 lead. "It's frustrating to think that Wexford have played in five All-Ireland semi-finals, including two replays, in the past four years, yet we haven't reached a final in that time. "We were desperately disappointing against Cork and we have done a lot of soul-searching since then. We'll be under new management next year and to tell you the truth, I can't wait for it to come around. We feel we have a point to prove," the Wexford captain concludes. Tweet

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