Thatās a fine summary pal, @Franās post is bizarre to say the least.
It was a poor quality game. The employment of sweepers by both teams meant it was almost like a training session from the puck outs.
I thought we conceded possession a bit easily from Nolanās 80-90 yard puck outs as they ran into space.
A vital win for us though. We would have lost that last year for weād have missed 4 or 5 scoreable frees from 12 as opposed to the HKOIās 1 miss. For. Lol.
The Biffos will be lowering the blade on Saturday but we should have too much for them.
Your public backing is very much appreciated, pal. My synopsis and power of recall were both really excellent.
I was watching The Sunday Game highlights after my post and was in awe at my composure in knitting together those last frantic passages of play and accurately describing the where/when/who.
I felt people who didnāt attend this non-televised game might be interested in seeing a description of what happened ahead of todayās newspaper reports, especially given RTEās notorious inability to cut decent highlights.
And I thought commenting on the games was a nice counterpoint to the tedious to and fros going on elsewhere all over TFK.
To say I was hurt by @Fran ās snide post is an understatement.
I agree with your point on the puck outs. Dublin were able to manipulate space too easily for my liking. Nolan was able to hit lads at midfield and in the half forward line.
On the other hand, we used Liam Ryan and the corner backs to āget outā very very very often. Whatever way they were āsplittingā to try stop us at source wasnāt working.
But itās still a bit disconcerting to see your full back getting the ball on the D and then taking on a player, going by him and knocking the ball into turf and back into his hands to avoid any ācatching it three timesā issue when heās only around 35 yards out.
We only used 17 players yesterday. Perhaps more evidence of Davy not trusting the panel depth? Do you think we should make 3, 4 or 5 changes for Offaly and take a calculated gamble that weāll be too strong for them?
It was very insensitive and in poor taste from @Fran. Your excellent match summary of proceedings in Innovate Wexford Park yesterday is much appreciated by all real hurling people here.
I think we need to win the game pal. I donāt think weāve much depth in the panel.
I was also concerned with some of the dinking of stick passes over the left corner forward to Reck yesterday. Iād much prefer a hand pass. The tippy tappy stuff will end after next week though and it might suit us better.
For anyone not at the game, these were dinky passes from Ryan to overlapping corner backs outside him after receiving short puck outs.
Throwing the ball up in a tennis second serve style and striking in a deft floaty way from above his head with the hurl at a 10 oāclock or 2 oāclock angle depending on whether he was striking with his left or right.
Ryan has a very strange habit of striking the ball when he wants to hit a 20 yard pass. He is very prone to the āshovelā type pass, where he hits the ball with the hurl facing forwards and bats it in an upward stroke. That has gone awry on him a few times over the years too. A firm handpass would do the job equally as good and be less susceptible to making a fuck up.
and add Lee Chin to your evaluation too @Bandage. Neither got a lot of good words from Liam, Tom, Billy or Gerry yesterday. Although a good view to get a win with 2 of the āstarā players under performing.
Not too well. Iād say he only got the ball in hand around 5 or 6 times. He set up OāKeeffeās point in the second half but didnāt score. OāCallaghan had him for pace and Moranās positioning was good as sweeper to block off routes to find him. OāCallaghan stood him up and made decent tackles a couple of times. He was taken off just as Dublin abandoned the sweeper (took off the corner back and brought on Treacy) so it might have been worth holding off on taking him off for a while longer.
Your post was what I went straight to after I woke up and checked the result first thing this morning (5.15am Australian Eastern Standard Time) and I hugely appreciated the recall and detail from a first hand witness, one alive to the big events but also the subtleties of the game.
I think the issue with @Fran is that you didnāt start with āI supposeā and this may have confused him.
Not too well. Sunday Game showed his two points. Our first one of the game when he sold OāDonnell a dummy and a good one in the third quarter when he appeared off Paul Morrisās shoulder to accept a pass and point. He looked a bit indecisive at times. Wasnāt sharp at securing the ball into himself. Quite proddy / pokey on occasion when he could have nipped in and cleanly claimed possession, ran down a few blind alleys and soloed into contact (OāDonnell stayed on his hurl each time he meandered off on runs) and didnāt win anything clean in the air. That said, we took short puck outs for the most part and ran the ball forward. He was wing forward throughout as heās usually been under Davy. Need more from him.
need more from McDonald too, although Iāve long had the opinion that Davys style of play is not at all suitable to McDonalds strengths. I reckon Davy would prefer to have the likes of Dunbar or Dunne in there for pace rather than the old style target man, but Mac is a better player than those guys so is in a bit of a quandary. I think Chin will come good, not so sure Mac will though.
McDonald caught a ball at shin height yesterday that was travelling at serious pace. It was a fabulous piece of skill. Pity he lost the ball afterwards though.