[quote=“Mac”]Better than this one George?!
http://www.tshirtireland.net/w/tshirt_gallery/Eoin-Kelly.jpg[/quote]
No, that was just a lie, To be honest its third behind the iHurl one
http://www.tshirtireland.net/w/tshirt_gallery/iHurl.jpg
okay. But was it good or bad carnage. as is lucky and fruitful with a good ending; or bad, slobbery and made a wank of meslef type morning after.
Someone should tell Tom Humphries that it didnt really rain during the Wexford game at all! He must have eaten a thesaraus for breakfast on Saturday.
Wexford 1-14 Armagh 0-12: SIGNS OF the times. Mick Wallace has just opened an inviting wine bar right outside Croker. On Saturday Matty Forde ate Armagh’s liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti. The strawberry pickers are in the All- Ireland football semi-final.
Repent your sins just in case the apocalypse is nigh. Saturday’s biblical floods may just have been the start of Wexford’s subversion of world order.
Listen. What a story. Some 14 months ago the footballers of Waterford were annihilated by Kerry in the relative privacy of Fraher Field, Dungarvan. Late in the day they offered Jason Ryan the parting gift of a few minutes of football as the fifth sub, at the end of a debacle. Nobody noticed. Nobody apart from Jason Ryan and close associates cared.
Waterford should have offered Jason the bainisteor’s bib. On Saturday at Croke Park Ryan pulled off one of the most deft managerial feats of the age by taking a Wexford team to an All-Ireland football semi-final. Wexford? A team who should have no right to believe in themselves in the first place and were beaten by 23 points a few weeks ago? Wexford being guided by a Waterford footballer who finished his intercounty career as he had spent it, on the wrong side of a hiding?
Their progress is a romance and a sensation, narrative qualities underlined by the brisk dismissal of Armagh, football’s dirty realists, on Saturday at Croke Park. Wexford were supposed to be fodder to Armagh’s muscular renaissance. Loveable dilettantes, their innocent, likeable brand of football never looked geared towards the biggest hitters in Ulster.
But Wexford survived and thrived. All the romance necessary to complete the occasion was provided by Forde whose afternoon was a string of sublime moments each one more unlikely than the previous.
Forde has so long been one of those extraordinary players with whom one sympathised for being trapped in the wrong county at the wrong time. Saturday was his moment of reprieve and as he nailed each spike into Armagh’s coffin he raised a clenched fist to the watery heavens.
Armagh will wonder for the longest time where this went wrong. Having added another Ulster title to their collection this looked like the sort of game which would bring them on another step.
The old strike force of Steven McDonnell and Ronan Clarke were back in harmony on Saturday, weighing in with half a dozen points and at times making Wexford’s sweeper system look foolish and redundant.
But it was the other older components which failed to function when needed. Francie Bellew had a torrid afternoon, midfield faded out for long periods and in a game neither particularly dirty nor particularly sporting Armagh picked up the lion’s share of yellow cards. The rain poured down. They looked like yesterday’s men.
Wexford belied their recent history by closing out the game in the style of a team used to winning these type of games in Croke Park. With eight minutes left on the clock, Eric Bradley floated a wonderful ball in from the right wing. It dropped over the tired Armagh defence and into the welcoming arms of Forde.
Matty’s career came down to this moment in many ways. He shuffled this way and that and put the ball into the Armagh net. Wexford went from being a point down to being two points up.
Ciarn Lyng, another thorn in Armagh’s side through the afternoon, added a free two minutes later and Wexford were on their way.
The only scare in a composed last act from Wexford was when an Aaron Kernan free seemed to come off an Armagh fist and almost slid over the Wexford goalline on 70 minutes.
Even at that stage though Wexford led by more than the width of a goal and looked like they could have withstood such a setback. As it was Anthony Masterson reacted instantly and the danger was swept away.
However Jason Ryan managed to transfuse confidence back into a team dragged feet first from the field after the Leinster final, he has done an incredible job. On Saturday Wexford knew in all probability they were playing for the right to face Dublin again, this time in an All-Ireland semi-final. They looked like that prospect made them hungry.
Perhaps when the worst happens it liberates you. Wexford have that humiliating afternoon seared into their collective memory now but have come back a better and stronger team for it.
There were times in the first half when they looked as if they would be outmuscled and outhustled and only Forde’s ability to draw fouls was keeping them alive.
WEXFORD: A Masterson; D Walsh, P Wallace, B Malone; A Morrissey, D Murphy, C Morris (capt); E Bradley, B Doyle (0-1); R Barry (0-2), P Colfer, C Byrne; C Lyng (0-5, three frees), PJ Banville (0-1), M Forde (1-5, one free, one sideline). Subs: N Murphy for D Walsh (60 mins), C Deely for A Morrissey (60 mins), R Stafford for C Byrne (66 mins), T Wall for P Colfer (67 mins), A Flynn for B Doyle (73 mins).
ARMAGH: P Hearty; E McNulty, F Bellew, F Moriarty; A Kernan (0-4, three frees), A O’Rourke, C McKeever; P McGrane, K Toner; C Vernon (0-1), B Mallon (0-1), M O’Rourke; S McDonnell (0-3), R Clarke (0-3), S Kernan. Subs: P McKeever for S Kernan (46 mins), B Donaghy for C Vernon (62 mins), D McKenna for K Toner (70 mins).
What goes on tour, stays on tour
Looking for some fiddling material?
now I need help.
What did I really miss over the last two weeks?
What is with all this David versus Golliath nonsense from Humphries?
Armagh are not a great side. That is taking nothing away from Wexford now but to read that you would think Armagh were the greatest team of all time or something…
Humphries is rapidly disappearing up his own hole. Some of his stuff this year has been crazy, take the Cork/Donal g shite for example.
Armagh were Ulster Champions, and fair play to them, but the Ulster bubble has been bursting for a while now.
Reading the thread over on gaaboard.com there are some bitter bitter fooks from Armagh. Basically, Wexford won the game thanks to Jason Ryan prancing up and down the line shouting at the referee and linesman. On top of this the Wexford players spent too much time diving. Best comedy I’ve read in a long time!
I think Masterson will get a nomination for an all star…Who else has stood out bar Cluxton(he hasn’t even in my view, but its a cert hel’ll be there, hasn’t really been tested as such)sound like cyril farrell there…?? Fair enough Masterson has conceded a few but he’s made some fine saves and always comes into general play when needed and uses the ball well.
Anyone else think this???
Here Mac, how did you know who I was? Was it my fatness, winning smile, the shit I was talking or my Wexford colours that gave it away? I was chatting to these birds near our usual Copper’s spot (just outside the ladies’ shitters) and I heard some lad say something like, ‘Give it up Bandage - you’re wasting your time.’ I replied, ‘who the fook are you?’ And this Pacey from Dawson’s Creek lookalike said, ‘Mac from thefreekick’. Then we kissed.
Anyone else have “memories” playing in their head when they read that?
[quote=“Gavin”]I think Masterson will get a nomination for an all star…Who else has stood out bar Cluxton(he hasn’t even in my view, but its a cert hel’ll be there, hasn’t really been tested as such)sound like cyril farrell there…?? Fair enough Masterson has conceded a few but he’s made some fine saves and always comes into general play when needed and uses the ball well.
Anyone else think this???[/quote]
yup, was just about to throw his name out there too. He did his best against Meath, and made some vital saves. Clean sheet against Laois and couldnt fault him against Dublin. Clean sheets in last 2 games then too. Should be nominated in a year where there hasnt been a great goal keeper.
other than that, Matty will get nominated, if not receive one. Red should definately be nominated, but it’d be hard ot pick someone after that. No one has really starred for us this year, been a lot of equal performances and no one man has really shone more than another. Bradley might get a nomination, and Colm Morris, but wouldnt be suprised if we only get 2/3 nominations.
you must be still hungover pikeman to have time to that. Impressive tho, and especially like how you even managed to get the reflection in the water!
Didn’t take too long. Did it during my lunch there. Pity I’d no reason to do one for Myler. Sink or swim for him I think.
Combination of all of those Bandage plus the ginger headed lad beside you and a fella stalking around the place looking like he was looking out for his cousin.
Never meet your heroes lads 
I think Red Barry is deserving of an All Star but there’s some amount of quality forwards in the shake-up:
Kerry: Donaghy, O’Sullivan, Sheehan. Cooper too if he has a good last two games.
Dublin: Brogan, Sherlock.
Cork: Cussen, Hayes.
Galway: Joyce, Meehan.
Wexford: Barry, Forde.
Armagh: Clarke, McDonnell.
Tyrone: McGuigan, McCullough.
Leitrim: Maxwell, Mulligan, Foley, McGuinness, Duignan.
Think you are being a bit kind to Foley there Bandage…
[quote=“farmerinthecity”]What is with all this David versus Golliath nonsense from Humphries?
Armagh are not a great side. That is taking nothing away from Wexford now but to read that you would think Armagh were the greatest team of all time or something…[/quote]
Armagh are a good side and they’ve a better pedigree than us so it was a surprising result but not of seismic proportions either. Some Wexicans are annoyed about us not getting the credit we deserve but that’s article’s a bit the other way. Frankly, I don’t give a shit what media or pundit cunts think as long as we’re progressing through the rounds. That said I do think it’s funny how the first instinct of both Brolly and O’Rourke all year has been to dismiss anyone we’ve beaten as being poor rather than give us any credit whatsoever. They’re wildly inconsistent in that they’ll ride Kerry for beating Galway but dismiss Wexford for beating Armagh. Kerry would be expected to beat Galway 9 times out of 10 and have an incredible team and Galway are weaker than Armagh. Yet, they try to diminish Wexford’s achievement of beating a team that’s dominated Ulster for 10 years. Quite amusing.