Wexford GAA 2009

oh, and the new Wexford jersey too. Think they could have made the sponsor a bit bigger tho…:smiley:

http://sportsfile.com/id/339547/5000/

http://images.sportsfile.com/fotoweb/fwbinnew/preview.dll?D=A932CFFA051C86ACC10DBFE8794A1E022577D9B88DAEFDBA955719A1D1858C37DC6242CCDBAEC4AC9E1E9809A054348E824F1151BB537DAD79F31959557BA17B1FEE3090A777656239991591F68AABD5E959A21EA67FCC014AB9E0FECBD0A3D6D63267C5988930CDE4270FEE6FF1CE2DF2489098C8F565C225C800CB012E3AA5672BC2CBAD80FB74E3EEBB5AE49A8C0E37FD2ED857AEBCF8DBF04F0F7F63FAC7FFA5125533EC001C37ED6BAEB33180EC857522492AB67CFAD1EBA52CD8DBFDEB90247965821A473D6B17CE0A20697F7F1CAEF2EAC9EF2C2890E3F7977EC641314591499AAF64A45C4E53031A0E699E24C7CDDB05F746D141

[quote=“Gman”]oh, and the new Wexford jersey too. Think they could have made the sponsor a bit bigger tho…:smiley:

http://sportsfile.com/id/339547/5000/

http://images.sportsfile.com/fotoweb/fwbinnew/preview.dll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quote]

Thats the nicest jersey Wexford have had in years. But ye are pretty restricted in what there is to be worked with.
Ulster teams generally have the nicest gear,

[quote=“caoimhaoin”]Thats the nicest jersey Wexford have had in years. But ye are pretty restricted in what there is to be worked with.
Ulster teams generally have the nicest gear,[/quote]

yeah I suppose its not too bad, finally going back to a ‘traditional’ style shape to it in some form. dont know why there is always a need with O’Neills tho to try creat a new design and then bombard every county with them and make jerseys look ridiculous for the sake of it.

Should be fun if we have to play Clare this year!

Another hammering for ye sure:p

Ye know Puke, I’m not going to argue with you on that one.

Antrim 4-16 Wexford 4-12

I made the journey to Andersonstown, Belfast today to watch some Division 2 hurling action and Wexford were shambolic, it has to be said!

We lined out more or less as selected with Gizzy and Banville switching wings in the half forward line, while Antrim welcomed back a couple of their Cushendall contingent - Neil McManus at centre forward and Sean Delargy in the corner.

Wexford started very brightly and the movement and patterns of play were very good. It was a similar style to the quarter final against Waterford last year, with Stephen Doyle moving between the lines and leaving space for Jacob and Kirwan inside.

But we conceded a ridiculous goal early on. Richie Kehoe threw the ball up in McManus’ face, he blocked him down, pounced on the loose ball, soloed in from the right, drew Fitzy and popped it across for O’Connell to bat into an empty net.

We got back on terms quickly with a fortuitous goal. Gizzy mishit a point attempt and it (should have) harmlessly bounced a few yards in front of the 'keeper, yet he inexplicably let it squirm past him. Quigley then got a very good individual goal, piercing through their defence and blasting home from the inside right position - like his goal against Dublin in the championship in Nowlan Park last year.

Stephen Doyle then created the third - he lofted a lovely ball over the top to Gizzy, who had drifted from right to left. He cut in from there, opened up his body and drilled a right sided effort into the bottom corner.

Quigley then burst onto a loose ball and Antrim’s defence was completely posted missing. It was 3 vs 1 and he waited for the last defender to commit himself before flicking it across to Gizzy. He stepped around the 'keeper and tapped it into the empty net. Doyle and Jacob had also scored points and it all looked very easy, 4-2 to 1-2 up after 10 or 15 minutes.

But then things changed, and not for the better!

Doyle was roasting the corner back (Conor McKinley - son of the joint manager!) and Antrim moved Delargy back from corner forward to mark him and they started to come back into the game, albeit with a helping hand from us.

Malachy Travers played a really unnecessary and sloppy pass across his own goal to Richie Kehoe. He was done for steps as he tried to make space to clear and Kieran Kelly buried the free to the net from 25 yards. They then got a run of points, a couple of inspirational long range ones - from Delargy and the centre back, McAuley.

Their midfielder, Shields, was also accurate from frees and the got back to within one shortly before half time, but late points from Banville and Quigley pushed us out to a 4-6 to 2-9 lead at half time. You could tell they were warming to the fight but we looked dangerous any time we attacked and alarm bells weren’t necessarily ringing. That said, we’d been fairly up and down in the first half, mixing some nice passages of play with plenty of sloppy stuff, poor decision making, bad first touch at times and too much indecision.

The second half started after the half time break, as it usually does. They got a couple of scores and their free taker was bang on target again. Banville, Jacob and Gizzy got points for us and it was 4-9 to 2-13. Their corner forward, O’Connell, then got his second goal when he timed his run and jump to bat in a high, hanging delivery from the wing. David Redmond replied immediately to level it at 4-10 to 3-13 with about 15 minutes to go.

Then we self-destructed again. Antony O’Connell, like Richie Kehoe in the first half, threw the ball up in some lad’s face and was blocked down. McManus was quickly onto the loose ball and was dragged down by Travers for a penalty. Malachy was yellow carded and McManus dusted himself down before knocking the penalty home. It wasn’t the best penalty ever, but it went in.

Peter Atkinson pointed for us after he came on for (the presumably injured) Doyle and the 'keeper also did well to deflect a goal attempt from him onto the post. He also had a goal (probably correctly) disallowed for square ball after Colm Farrell soloed through the middle and blasted a shot at the target. The 'keeper got a stick to it and Atkinson seemed to be in the square as he volleyed the loose ball into the net.

But that was as close as Wexford came and it was Antrim who finished more strongly. Delargy got another magnificent point from inside his own half and Herron, their midfielder, got a good one too and they ran out worthy winners. Fair play to them, their effort was very good and they fought back extremely well after a shocking start.

As for us, I don’t know if complacency set in after we stormed in front early on but we were second to a lot of balls as the game progressed and they were sharper and more determined. We’ve already shipped 4 goals to Galway in the The Walsh Cup and conceding too much against modest opposition in Kerry and Laois proved to be a warning sign, as our defence was really found wanting today again.

Looking at the starting six backs, I reckon only Mick Jacob will be a championship starter in that position. Richie Kehoe looked very uncomfortable at full back and the corner backs didn’t impress either. Ciaran Kenny had a good game on McManus and was particularly good in the second half and Jacob was decent on the wing. Travers was average enough.

The midfielders were alright at times, but they’re not an imposing pair and they went out of the game as it went on and Antrim were the dominant force in that area in the second half. Banville got a couple of points but his first touch and control wasn’t good enough overall. Quigley covered lots of ground and toiled away as usual for his 1-1. Gizzy scored 3-3, but he wasn’t that impressive conversely enough. One goal was a gift and another was routine. He took the middle one well though.

Doyle was good and got a couple of points and set up lots of other scores and chances with clever movement and passing and was having a decent battle with Delargy before going off. Jacob got 2 points also and was lively enough for the most part before going out of it in the final quarter when we needed scores. Nicky Kirwan didn’t really impress and was replaced by Atkinson, who was busy if a bit unpredictable when he came on.

James Gahan came on for Doyle and was subbed again by Paul Carley. Gahan was one of the better minors last year but he’s only a sub for WIT. He’s not ready for this level yet and I’d question the management for their decision making on that one. Doc replaced Travers and did okay. I was surprised the likes of Stephen Nolan and Eanna Martin weren’t brought on when we were struggling in the midfield/half forward area in the second half.

Brendan Hobbs has done well in some early season games and he deserves a chance in defence given the scores we’re giving away and we need Roche, Rossiter and Stamp back to strengthen that sector. Barry Lambert’s a more long term absentee and he’ll probably be out for the entire league campaign. There’s a lot of pressure on us to beat Offaly, or another year in Division Two will await.

Wexford:
Fitzhenry,
O’Leary, Kehoe, O’Connell,
M Jacob, Kenny, Travers Y,
Farrell, Redmond 0-1,
Banville 0-2, Quigley 1-1, Lyng 3-3 (0-2F),
Doyle 0-2, R Jacob 0-2, Kirwan.

Subs:
Atkinson 0-1 for Kirwan
Gahan for Doyle
O’Connor for Travers
Carley for Gahan

THE END

Thanks for that, Bandage.

Excellent report. Plenty to mull over.

Forgot to ask: is Keith Rossitter still injured?

From your report, it looks as though it’ll be vital he’s at full back for the rest of the NHL and the Championship.

[quote=“Menapian”]Forgot to ask: is Keith Rossitter still injured?

From your report, it looks as though it’ll be vital he’s at full back for the rest of the NHL and the Championship.[/quote]

Yep, he was there and togged out but not part of the 24. Apparently, he’s close to coming back but who knows what the definitive story is? He’s had a groin niggle since about November 2007 at this stage.

[quote=“Gman”]oh, and the new Wexford jersey too. Think they could have made the sponsor a bit bigger tho…:smiley:

http://sportsfile.com/id/339547/5000/

http://images.sportsfile.com/fotoweb/fwbinnew/preview.dll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quote]

It’s an improvement on the past 2 jersies anyway.

Would have preferred it if O’Neill’s had have reversed the order of the colours and had more purple than gold. Wexford is the only county to wear purple, so why not utilise this uniqueness more?

As it is, I can foresee a jersey clash if Wexford have to play the likes of Clare or Roscommon. Of course, in that scenario, it could be all a part of a conspiracy between O’Neills and the Wexford County Board to sell a 2nd jersey - like the white one they had when playing Clare in 2006.

Nice report Bandage, thanks. What did you think of Antrim’s performance? What was the attendance/local support like?

Antrim have some excellent players and there’s apparently another couple of Cushendall lads to come back in so that will improve them further. They’re still carrying a few passengers and were a bit naive at times but they were very honest and committed, which is half the battle. The fact that they beat us emphasises our own weaknesses.

There was probably around 500 or 600 at the game. It was a small enough crowd in truth but they were well behind Antrim and gave them a rousing reception and standing ovation when they were coming off after the game. There was also this hottie from BBC Northern Ireland interviewing Wexford supporters in the stand before the game to get our opinion on Antrim coming into Leinster. I regret to say that I bottled doing a piece to camera.

is there any sign of improvement in Wex this year since they ousted Meyler?

It’s too early to make any clear judgement.

Big game for the footballers in Newbridge on Sunday having lost their first two games. David Murphy is expected to be fit after his knee injury but Forde’s a doubt with bruised ribs. Jason Ryan’s been talking about our lack of fitness and implying other teams must have been training during the closed November and December period when they weren’t supposed to. Eh, we were training too! I think Kildare will be strong this year and they’ve got some good young talent coming through so this one will be tough. It goes without saying that we need to defend much better as a unit after the huge concessions against Armagh and Monaghan. The forwards’ workrate has been poor so far this season and they could be doing more to protect an overworked defence.

Ah yes another fuck up to Antrim.The two big failings a shit defence and an inability to score points.Ah well whats another year!

I see that the great Anthony O Connell was taken for 2-1,didnt i tell ye that one wouldnt make a good few club teams here in Kilkenny,ye must have better someplace.

It’s worth giving him a few games though. Seeing as we play our county championship in October and November, it’s hard to tell who’s capable of stepping up. The only way to find out is to pitch them into inter-county games. He hasn’t been impressive in the games against better opposition though (Galway in the Walsh Cup and Antrim on Sunday) and will be under pressure to hold onto his place when Roche and Rossiter are back.

[quote=“Gman”]oh, and the new Wexford jersey too. Think they could have made the sponsor a bit bigger tho…:slight_smile:

http://sportsfile.com/id/339547/5000/

http://images.sportsfile.com/fotoweb/fwbinnew/preview.dll?D=A932CFFA051C86ACC10DBFE8794A1E022577D9B88DAEFDBA955719A1D1858C37DC6242CCDBAEC4AC9E1E9809A054348E824F1151BB537DAD79F31959557BA17B1FEE3090A777656239991591F68AABD5E959A21EA67FCC014AB9E0FECBD0A3D6D63267C5988930CDE4270FEE6FF1CE2DF2489098C8F565C225C800CB012E3AA5672BC2CBAD80FB74E3EEBB5AE49A8C0E37FD2ED857AEBCF8DBF04F0F7F63FAC7FFA5125533EC001C37ED6BAEB33180EC857522492AB67CFAD1EBA52CD8DBFDEB90247965821A473D6B17CE0A20697F7F1CAEF2EAC9EF2C2890E3F7977EC641314591499AAF64A45C4E53031A0E699E24C7CDDB05F746D141[/quote]

Thats actually a very decent jersey but that sports-savers logo is ridiculous. Ruins what is otherwise a good effort.