Wexford GAA 2008

Sport
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Ryan was on Newstalk this evening laughing that they couldnt do their warmdown cos of the pitch invasion!

This win tops off a few outstanding games that this team have given me the pleasure of seeing. Beating Tyrone in Portlaoise, Monaghan in Clones, Meath in Wexford Park, Fermanagh in Parnell Park. There are others as well that I cant remember now but I’m hoping that this list will have been extended by the end of this year.

But I suppose as Farmer said when we beat Leitrim, we’re not really that good at all.

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Holy scheidt, we’re now joint second favourites to win Leinster according to Paddy Power. Both us and Laois at 5/1!

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saw only bits of it on the sunday game last night…didnt pay it too much heed…but fair play some come back…who are they up against next boys(may have been stated earlier but im too lazy to read back)

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It was nice to sicken a selection of the Meath support at the end too. I know they’ve a great football tradition and wouldn’t fear anyone, let alone us, but I thought the fact we’ve beaten them a lot recently would have seen us get a bit more respect. Before the game they were cocky, during the first half they were both loud in cheering their own team but also in laughing at our lads. They were particularly annoying at half time but the funniest thing was the way they gradually shut up as the comeback clicked into gear. Once the second goal went in they were almost soiling themselves. Like their players on the park, they bottled it to such an extent that they couldn’t even rouse themselves to cheer on their side in the last ten minutes. Instead they stood there in a shellshocked and deathly silence and watched us put the final nails into their coffin. After the abuse Matty got for no reason whatsoever it was sweet that he kicked the final two points of the game too. G’wan Wexford.

Edit: We’re playing Laois in 3 weeks time now Puke.

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would you be confident bandage…laois were middling to fair against wicklow…presume its on in croker…although ross munnelly had another smashing game for laois saturday evening…

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Was delighted to see Wexford win yesterday. I never liked Meath, mainly due to a deep dislikeness of Colm O’Rourke and cocky fuckers such as Geraghty and Murphy over the years. Their fans are absolute tossers as well - they played us in the qualifiers a few years ago in Carrick and we took them to extra time. Saw their fans first hand that time and they were idiots. They took one of the terraces themselves and started singing soccer songs like ‘are you Westmeath in disguise?’ - twats…

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Meath fans just look like Dublin fans in green jerseys. Whats the point of booing Masterson when he’s taking kickouts in the first half? Shower of scumbags.

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I think there’s a section of their support that are wankers alright and they took an area behind one of the goals yesterday too and early in the second half they were singing, ‘Are you Carlow in disguise?’ Of course they beat Carlow 1-25 to 0-8 in the first round so they were expecting something similar yesterday after the way the first half went. They were also singing ‘Matty Forde is a wanker’ for large parts of the second half when we were kicking into that goal. They were also doing that ‘dodgy keeper’ chant when Masterson was taking kick-outs in the first half. I always regarded GAA supporting as getting behind your own players, the lads you know from your own county, instead of slagging off the opposition while singing in an English accent like those fooking arseholes - G’wan Wexford!

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I have finally gotten around to my player ratings for Sunday now:

Masterson - 8: Two good first half saves. Poor kick-outs at times and didn’t vary it enough. Lucky with the Sheridan disallowed goal incident as he should been holding the ball away from the attacker on the other side of his body.

Malone - 9: One of the few players to do himself justice in the first half and was a complete powerhouse in the second. Sensational stuff.
Wallace - 7.5: A good reader of the game but stood off Sheridan too much in the first half rather than getting out first to the ball. Better after half time.
Murphy, Niall - 5: Was posting missing and let Bray in behind him for the first goal. Moved onto Geraghty then and was shrugged aside for the second goal. Disappointing considering his league final display and was substituted early in the second half.

O’Sullivan - 3.5: The inclusion in the team that surprised all of us on here last week. Was out of his depth and got an utter roasting from Peadar Byrne in the first half and was replaced at half time.
Murphy, David - 7: Ponderous in possession in the first half at times but had few passing options in fairness. Gave Cian Ward too much room too but was strong and purposeful in the second half and dominated the centre.
Morris © - 8.5: Perpetual motion up and down the park all day. Kicked our first point. Was involved in the move for the second goal up around the Meath '21 and got through a mountain of work all through and was a constant support option on the shoulder of the other players when we were breaking forward. Class.

Stafford - 5: Couldn’t get any kind of stranglehold at all in midfield but it wasn’t through lack of effort. The Meath pairing simply had a 4 or 5 inch height advantage and they lorded it in the air in the first half. Replaced at half time.
Bradley - 6: In truth he could easily have been called ashore at half time instead of Stafford as both of them were outplayed. Got more involved in the second half with Howlin beside him and gave the crucial last pass to Banville for the second goal.

Banville - 7.5: Barely got a kick in the first half but knocked over a good second half point and then popped up with the goal at a critical stage of the game. Worked hard and got on the ball much more as the game progressed.
Barry - 8.5: This lad’s a superb footballer. Most of our play goes through him and he’s always available to receive a pass and has great distribution and vision. Kicked an excellent first half point and then got our comeback underway with a quality finish for the first goal. Covered every blade of grass on the park.
Flynn - 5: Another one who had a great league campaign but didn’t fire at all on Sunday. Didn’t get into the game and was replaced early in the second half.

Lyng - 8: Scored four points in all, two crackers from play in the second half and was involved in the second goal too. Won most of the ball that came into him in the second half and helped us turn things around with his points.
Colfer - 7: Rarely involved in the first half but got an early second half point and was part of the passing movement for the second goal. Got on the ball more as the second half wore on and was a calming presence up front.
Forde - 8.5: Delivered when the pressure was on. Three unbelievably good second half points from play from different angles and distances, including a left-footer from the sideline. Also knocked over a clutch free from 50 yards to level it at 2-13 each before lofting over the winner from out on the right.

Subs:
Howlin - 8: Got us a grip in midfield after we were dominated in that sector in the first half. Some good, raking long passes into the inside forwards too and they thrived on receiving quicker ball.
Morrissey - 8: Had a storming half at wing back and motored forward for a beautiful point after a classy dummy before powering forward again after that to win the free from which Forde equalised.
Roche - 7: Knifed through them at pace for an excellent point just after Farrell missed the crucial 14-yard free and his speed posed them difficulty as they tired.
Walsh - 7: Did well at corner back before nearly being decapitated by Kevin Reilly at the end after making a really good interception.
Byrne - 6: Came on with about 5 minutes to go and carried the ball forward before transferring it to Forde for the winner. That alone made his presence felt.

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I hope you were being sarcastic about what you said there about me being negative bandage!!

Have to say, i am a happy and proud Wexford man today after the weekend. Football first, what a 2nd half. The crowd we had were unreal, made a tingle go down my spine. The first half was poor from us, but im sure everything will be rectified for the next day. My ratings

Masterson - 7 - Pulled off 2 great saves, didn’t like the way he kept his kickouts to o’sullivan who was having a terrible game and looked like he cant play football. Very adventurous too whick was a good thing, gave support when was needed.

Morris - 8 - Brilliant, a real captains display. Scored the very first point, never stopped running for the 70 minutes.

Wallace - 7 - Got a fair bit of a roasting in the first half but came out the better end and was very good in the 2nd half. also did very well not to react when geraghty stood on him in the opening period.

Malone - 9 - My man of the match. Just brilliant. Has some engine on him and like morris, never stopped running for the 70 minutes, between the 2 of the, they started most attacks by working it out of defence brilliantly. Some engine on him, what i wouldn’t give to have him on the hurling team.

O’ Sullivan - 4 - Terrible. Don’t think he’s up tp it at county level at all. Infairness though, Peader Byrne was havin a ral good game and he wasn’t helped when masterson kept the kick outs his way.

D.Murphy - 7 - Had a decent game, tackled like a tiger in the 2nd half. Some silly things, but like i said, they will be rectified for the next day.

N.Murphy - 6 - Had a disappointing game by his standards, had a rough time on young Nestor.

Stafford - 6 - Again had a disappointing game by his standards, made a couple of good catches but that was it really, when going forward he should have passed earlier 3 times as far as i can remember. Definetly 2 to Morris anyway.

Bradley - 6 - Wasn’t in the game a whole lot, was kept quiet but did what he had to do, didn’t panic for Banville’s goal.

Banville - 7 - Thought he was never going to score that goal, was it just me or did he seem to take ages to kick it?? Workrate was very good in the 2nd half, didn’t see him at all in 1st half.

Red - 8 - Very good game. Kept plugging away and all came good for him in the end. Gave scumbag Reilly the run around.

Flynn - 5 - Afraid of his life, have never seen him play so bad, didn’t get into it at all.I know he’ll come out better for it the next day though.

Lyng - 8 - Wasn’t moving at all in the 1st half like all the inside forwards. Didn’t panic though and gradually started to show that he’s a quality footballer, kicked crucial scores, don’t trust him one bit at the frees off the ground though!

Colfer - 6 - Poor enough game from the clongeen man. Scored a vital point to get the ball rolling though. Didn’t look fit, never does but even worse Sunday!

Forde - 9 - Brilliant, didn’t think he looked interested in fisrt haf, but by god did he prove me wrong in the 2nd half. Delighted he showed them meath pricks up in the terrace what a footballer he is, the score off his left was one of the best i’ve seen. They Meath shower actually started that chant because he burst there goalkeeper a fair shoulder well outside the square, how much fuckiing protection do they want, went to the ground as if he’d been shot.

All the subs did very well, particularly Howlin and Morrisey.
Was brilliant scenes a the end, lads i didn’t even know were hugging me and telling me how great it was. Couldn’t wait to watch sunday game, but thought they did a very poor review on it. Nothing about Wexford really, just Mattie, Coyle crying and how they missed there 5 players, didn’t miss them a whole lot when they were 10 points up.
Do the hurling later, sick of typing!!!

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Very similar to my own ratings there Gavin.

A quick question on the hurlers for you as you seem to get some good information - I see on rte.ie they’re reporting that Rossiter went off with a recurrence of his leg injury. I presumed it was because of the belt on the elbow rather than this. Do you know anything about it? And please - can you answer without having a go at the team or management?

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Meyler upbeat on Rossiter’s chances
03 June 2008
Wexford hurling boss John Meyler has dismissed rumours that full-back Keith Rossiter is to definitely miss out on his side’s Leinster SHC clash with Dublin on June 14 after picking up an injury in the Model County’s challenge victory over Galway on Monday last.
Meyler withdrew the defender with just ten minutes played in the match against the Connacht side, due to what appears to be an ongoing hamstring problem, but puts down the change as being a precaution ahead of his side’s provincial semi-final meeting with the Dubs.

“Keith felt a slight twinge in his hamstring, so we hauled him off as a precaution. We are confident that he will be okay for the Dublin semi-final clash. We were not prepared to risk him any further. It has been an ongoing problem with him.”

Meanwhile, Meyler has ruled out Ciaran Kenny from playing any part in Nowlan Park in under two weeks time after the defender broke his finger in a recent training session.

“Ciaran received a broken thumb in training on Thursday night last. Last January his other hand was broken in a challenge with Birr. This latest set-back definitely puts him out of the semi-final.”

Both Damian Fitzhenry (back) and Stephen Nolan (finger) did not feature at all against the Tribesmen on Monday due to their current injuries, but are likely to win their respective fitness battles when their semi-final date with Dublin comes around.

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That’s the article I was referring to Locke and what I asked Gavin about earlier. I was at the game and Rossiter played for the first 25 minutes, not 10 as this report mentions, and he went off shortly after receiving a painful looking belt on the elbow. Cracking player is Rossiter - would do a job for any county team.

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Sorry only getting back now bandage, you’ve already got your info anyway, i was actually told it was his groin, and not his hamstring. He took a painful looking blow to elbow alright, anyone notice the size of him, he’s gone real phiysical looking, good to see a few shoulder’s yesterday, particularly m.j furlong’s fucking your man tannion out over the line and down the bank, was fairly funny!! Good performance yesterday, silly frees alright, but was fairly happy. Banville’s flick for jacobs goal was delightful. Stamp is also a class act that would do a job for any county team, the man is some size and i certanily wouldn’t like to get in his way! Standing beside C.Kenny, seemed fairly gutted and was in a cast, he did it trying to push himself away from quigley in a training game in wex park as far as i know. Looking forward to 14th of june now and indeed 22nd, when the minor hurlers will be playing before the footballers game vs laois. Hopefully it’s gonna be a long summer, hopefully.

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Coyle came across very poorly right enough.They should beat Leix provided they don’t shoot as many wides as last year and keep their discipline.Leix can be scaldy enough fuckers!

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Wexford-Meath is being shown in full on Setanta Ireland tomorrow night at 7pm in the very attractive post Home and Away slot.

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Well lads only back on here now. What a game it turned out to be. Standing in Dr. Cullen Park at half time, I had a little cyber-tear on my betting slip as I thought it was definitely gone. “We need a couple of goals” I heard a few lads saying-but I never thought for a second we’d win it. Me and the lads discussed the League comebacks against Limerick, Fermanagh and Down but said this a whole different story. Still can’t believe it.

And delighted for those Meath fans-what a shower of pricks they are.

Would completely agree with your ratings there too Bandage-maybe O’Sullivan is a bit too high as he was pure useless. Pure useless in my rate-ometer gets a 1 or 2 at most!

Anyway, onto the Laois boys now, and with the Minor hurlers playing the Dubs beforehand lets hope it turns out to be a savage day in Wexford GAA.

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I never got around to backing us after rushing around to even get to the game on Sunday but I didn’t give a shit as the manner of the victory made not making any money on it irrelevant to me. Hopefully, we can take the next step and get two wins in the double header on June 22. The last two years have been pretty depressing in terms of provincial games at Croker, with two double headers resulting in 4 defeats - Leinster Football semi-final losses to Offaly and Laois in 2006 and 2007 respectively and two Leinster Hurling final defeats to Kilkenny.

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Probably the best football game any of us Wexford fans will ever witness. I don’t think anyone considered us coming back at half time. I was just hoping we would make it respectable so we could take a few positives into the back door games.

The changes that turned the game were the ones that everybody could see needed to be made after 15 mins. Most of us knew that although O’Sullivan is a strong club player, he would struggle with the step up and this proved to be the case.

At midfield we just didn’t have the size to compete but also when Stafford was on the ball he was reluctant to pass without first taking on a player. His vision is not the best and on several occasions he missed a forwards off the ball run because he had his down while soloing. The inside forwards were making the runs in the first half but the ball just wasnt coming in quick enough. It was obvious that Tommy Howlin was needed and the surprise was the change took so long.

The other problem in the first half is one that continues to haunt us - 2 of the full back line being caught out field. No other county gives up as many goal chances because of a defender being left in a one-on-one in the final 30 yards. It happened against Carlow and Dublin in 2005, Offaly in 2006, Louth last year, Meath on Sunday and Meath also created many chances in the first half in 2006. Our defenders like to attack but if one corner back is gone out field to support the play, the other corner back should stay at home. David Walsh made a big difference because he just wants to defend.

Anyway that is enough criticism. My ratings are:

Masterson 8 - Two good saves and looked confident. Probably shouldn’t have been so easily dispossessed for the disallowed goal and needs to vary kickouts a bit.

Malone 9 - Don’t think I have ever seen him have a bad game. Great Athlete and superb attitude.

Wallace 7 - A bit exposed in first half through no fault of his own. Looked more solid in Second half when he had the two Shels lads beside him.

N.Murphy 5 - caught ball watching and out of position on too many occasions. Although he plays mostly in the corner he will probably only feature in future games on the wing.

O’Sullivan 5 - poor game but it was his debut and there is a big step up from league to championship. May not feature again this year.

D.Murphy 7 - Solid enough without doing anything spectacular.

Morris 9 - Another with a great attitude and was taking the fight to Meath when all looked lost.

Stafford 5 - needs to do the simple things and let the ball off quicker.

Bradley 7 - improved a lot in second half. Ended up in front of goal unmarked on 3 occasions in the second half but the pass never came. Kept going though and eventually paid off when setting up the second goal.

Banville 8 - Things didn’t go for him in first half but never hid and was confident enough to keep looking for the ball.

Barry 8 - Usual display, covers every blade of grass, sets up a lot of attacks and contributes important scores.

Flynn 6 - Didn’t get in to the game at all but there is more to come from him.

Lyng 8 - two great points and won tough ball in his corner. Benefitted from our more direct approach in second half.

Colfer 7 - Quiet enough game but didn’t do much wrong either.

Forde 9 - Concentrated on football and showed his class. Also showed great bottle to take on those two tough kicks at the end.

Howlin 9 - changed the game and put in some hits that were missing in first half.

Morrissey 8 - really came in to the game in last 15 minutes and helped put Meath on the back foot.

Walsh 8 - been a bit under-rated but he won some vital ball and defended excellently.

Roche 7.5 - probably unlucky not to start, but maybe his role is as an impact sub. His pace will cause problems to tiring defences.

Byrne 7 - wasn’t on long but set up winning score and also dispossessed Kevin Reilly when he was launching one last Meath attack.

Good to see that Jason Ryan was not letting the players get carried away and had them focussing on the semi-final straight after the game.

Finally, Coyle has made some clown of himself. Took off two of his better players and then blamed the ref for applying the rules. Why does he think Laois would prefer to meet Wexford, considering we have beaten Meath 5 times in a row. Surely if the Ref wanted an easy game for his own county he would have wanted Meath to win and would have issued straight reds to geraghty for his stamp on Wallace and Reilly for his elbow.

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my own ratings which i had on the supporters site, pretty similar to all that has gone before.

Masterson - 8. Made some vital early saves, but didnt vary his kick outs enough when we were losing out the battle in the centre. Very lucky to get away with the goal disallowed in the second half.
Morris - 9. Unbeleivable engine on him, kept going the whole time and was utilised out the field when Meath had a 2 man inside line. Worked better for us than them.
Wallace- 8. Did well on Sheridan, and really read the game well. Had a couple of dodgy moments too and was a bit hesitant in posession at times.
Malone - 9. Much like Morris, worked hard all game and never gave up. Really carried the ball well out of defence.
O’Sullivan - 3. Things just didnt go well for him. Whether it was the debut or what, I dont know. But he was way way off the pace. Byrne had him beaten all ends up and ran him ragged all the first half. He looked unfit and just had a really poor half. Could well and probably should have been taken off earlier.
Murphy -7. Did ok, and kept Ward quiet enough, altho some of that was to do with poor shooting rather than good defending. Got caught in possesion at times too.
Mutley - 5. Was caught for both goals and things just didnt go well for him yesterday. He’ll have better days.
Stafford - 5. Was outmuscled in midfield, and was absent for large parts of the half. Meath dominated and he couldnt cope.
Bradley - 6.5. Poor enough day out, and was similar to Rorys first half, but with the addition of Howlin doing the donley work in the second half, Eric got on the ball more and competed much better.
Flynn - 6. Poor enough day out for Adrian too. Didnt get on the ball at all and had some terribly wayward passes.
Barry - 9. Worked tirelssly all game long and kept going and going. I know we expect it of him, and he does all the tireless work, but he deserves huge amount of credit.
Banville - 7. Scored 1-1, and 2 vital scores, but was pretty much anonymous most of the game.
Lyng - 8. Got some lovely scores in the second half, and did well. Missed a bad free (not as bad as Farells tho!)
Colfer - 7. Didnt really impose himself as much as he could have, but did a good bit of work.
Forde - 8.5. Anonymous most of the game, but stepped up to the mark when it counted most. Really got going at the end, and got the crowd where we were going (town end of the main stand) and responded to him and really got behind the lads.

Subs made were absolutely vital, and shows our depth this year. Ryan should probably have made changes eariler, as it was very apparent there were 2 main areas where we needed a change. The subs who came on all made a huge difference.

Howlin- 8. Broke huge amount of ball, and played some great passes in to the forwards. He has the arial ability of Boccy, but can play football to a high standard which is what is needed.
Morrsisey - 8.5. Did really well when he came on and carried the ball well into the forwards. Scored an excellent point too.
Walsh - 7.5. Shored up the defence, but didnt see as much ball as the other backs did in the first half.
Roche - 7.5. Scored a great point for a really good surge through the centre. Showed a good attacking stance by hitting them right where it hurts, running at them.
Byrne - 7. Didnt have a whole lot to do, but set up Fordes point and kept things ticking over in the centre.