Cian lynch has an awful habit of being completely anonymous in games his team are completely dominant in.
Itās a lot better than being the opposite. Heās probably playing too many games at the moment and we didnāt need him to play 70 minutes tonight.
Harder ground will suit him better pal.
As expected, Wexford werenāt up to much and we beat them comfortably.
Hard to read anything at all into that, absolutely no intensity in the game. We were poor enough for 25 minutes of the 2nd half, scored only 1-2 between half-time and the 60th minute but the game was over. Itās hard for any team to keep the foot on the gas. Not that our foot ever had to be really, we were firing points over without any real pressure in the first half.
I thought English was very good again today. Browne was excellent.
Most of the rest mixed good and bad to an extent, again Iād be a bit worried about our delivery into the forwards particularly in the 2nd half. In the first half, we were providing some nice ball tbf but again, there was little pressure on anyone.
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Agree rating. He is a nailed on starter. We know what we will get from him, a big championship Sunday with the pressure on is when he will revel. No need to be flogging him in every game of the league.
He was always the best prospect out of the three brothers.
Lovely fella as well. Heāll be there or there abouts come championship.
Iām on about Cian Lynch. Who are you on about?
I thought you were talking about Seanie OāB.
Youāre normally talking him up in fairness.
Heās very different to the other brothers. I still think Kevin o Brien could be very good.
You couldnāt read much into that but itās still better to be coming away with a good win, rather than somehow stealing a victory like we did down Wexico way last year and codding ourselves that everything was grand.
The panel is noticeably much stronger. Again I think back to the first round of last year, you had Niall Moran at half-forward, Begley at full and a primary ātacticā of just belting balls in his general direction. We even had to bring on a half-knackered Jimbob at half time to dig us out of a hole. The play last night was a nice, crisp mix of short and long, admittedly without too much pressure on us most of the time. The U21s looked very comfortable, Byrnes was excellent at 6, English too, sticks to lads like bluebottles to flypaper. Morrissey and Nash were nearly the pick of the forwards. We were able to bring in Mulcahy & Tobin to close it out, thereās no one youād want more in and around the square to pull on a breaking ball than Graemeā¦
The lull in the second half was a symptom of puck-outs landing nearer midfield and us losing that battle in a congested area. Fitzgibbon had an excellent first half, heās an intelligent hurler but a real wristy one too. However we were missing a bit of physicality in the middle and I wasnāt surprised he was subbed, although I did think theyād bring on Pat Ryan instead of OāDonovan. We also reverted to some brainless play, Tom Morrissey hitting a ball out to the corner flag miles away from a green shirt, Hickey doing a Hickey and dribbling a ball to Byrnes who hadnāt a hope of getting to it first. Once Graeme got the goal though any hope of it becoming a contest vanished.
Probably see a bit more experimentation the next day against Kerry - who starts in the forwards and how they line-out will be interesting as Iād really struggle to name the best front six at the moment. Sean Finnās loss is a real blow for corner-back options.
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Kevin is/was a goal machine at underage level, All 3 of the OāBriens are well able to hurl. IMO it shows the strength and depth we have now.
Seanie was always the more likely to shine on the senior inter county team.
He definitely has a role to play this year.
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Well Wexford went their deck chair way last night, that 14 point win against them is huge in a tight league with the scoring difference because Clare wont get near that away from home.We need to clock up big scores in every game now in a bid to get the draw on our side when we play Clare in the cabbage patch in what will be a one score game.
Just watching the game on the box. Reidy wAs unlucky nothing fell for him. We learned nothing about Byrnes - that is exactly the game he will always thrive in. The long range frees are brilliant but Iād wonder if he missed a few how it would effect his performance. Thought daragh o Donovan picked things up a lot when he came on. Him and Paul Browne would be a great
Midfield.
A decent performance, but Wexford were fucking dreadful, so hard to knowā¦
Byrnes is developing nicely all the time. He is nailed on to start. If he doesnt make it at 6 heāll be at 5 with Gavin back in at 6 (Gavin did well at 6 last year imo).
Paul Browne is a class act, still only 26 years of age. Some performance last night. After getting very strong physically aswell. I think himself and OāDonovan would make a very good midfield. John Fitz doing nothing wrong either.
How many more opportunities is David Reidy going to be given in fairness?? Plays well in meaningless games as far as I can see.
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I have to agree re David Reidy, he needs to step it up now. I would like to see Gavin back in the half back line and the starting seven will be
Quaid
Condon
McCarthy
English
OāMahony
Byrnes
Hickey
A strong line. I would like to see if we could mould William OāDonoghue into a wing back, a great athlete and a really good team player. We have too many midfielders and a lack of quality in HB, I would like to see him given a go because Hickey is flaky at best.
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But they are the only games reidy ever plays in? His only championship action to date has been a few minutes against Dublin where he actually done quite well.
When I say meaningless games, I mean Waterford Crystal/Munster Senior League games. He gets chances in League games, not meaningless games imo, and never seems to take his chance to nail down a Championship spot. For example, Nash and T Morrissey have already passed him out in the pecking order at this stage and Reidy has been around far longer/gotten more game time.
Id like to see the following 15 line out v Kerry next Sunday
- Hennessy (or David McCarthy, if still on panel?)
- Kieran OāRourke
- Dan Morrissey
- Seanie OāBrien
- John Riordan
- Diarmaid Byrnes
- Gearoid Hegarty (Gavin here if GH unavailable)
- Paul Browne
- Pat Ryan
- Darragh OāDonovan
- Paudie OāBrien
- Barry Nash
- Mikey Ryan
- Tom Morrissey
- Seanie Tobin
A lot of lads there need a chance to show what they can do, and others need game time. If they are not up to it so be it but that team is balanced enough for is to win the game and give some lads a chance to prove themselves in a decent side aswell.
If things were going well id be getting Barry OāConnell, Michael Reidy & Wayne Mac on the pitch for a decent amount of time aswell. If things not going well for some of the inexperienced lads then theres plenty experience on the bench to bring in for them (Hickey, Condon, Mulcahy, Hannon, etc)
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Byrnes was decent the other night, but I thought he got caught under a few balls, seemed to misjudge them. Itās not generally a weakness of his, so I was quite surprised.
As for Reidy, tbh Iād start him against Clare. I think he deserves a chance to prove whether he can do it against a decent team and to see whether he is at least an option at Championship level.
Iād agree that Morrissey & Nash are ahead of him, but thatās not really a surprise. They are both serious players and great additions to the panel, even at the level theyāre at now.
The team to play Clare should be picked on merit/form and should be our best 15ā¦it is an absolutely vital game and there isnāt much room for giving lads a chance to āprove themselvesā in that one. Im afraid Reidy couldnt shine on Sat night v a piss poor Wexford team in an important must win league opener, and therefore does not merit a start v Clare. Unless he turns it on big time for Mary I & Limerick between now and then of courseā¦
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