Wexford GAA 2014

Sport
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This is a post that I might regret come Sunday evening but I’m not overly fearful of a hiding from Kilkenny this Sunday. I think the way Cody has repeatedly freshened up his team throughout the league has certainly brought a bit of spark back to their game. I think they won’t be far away from All Ireland honours again this year but I still think a little bit of the fear factor has been lost - I may have a very different opinion after this weekend, time will tell.

From a Wexford perspective I think it is a decent team that has been named. Remains to be seen if that team will line out but I think Dunne has cut back on naming dummy teams at this stage and if there are any changes it will be down to if players recover from their respective knocks etc. I like the look of the team, still wouldn’t be my preferred championship team but I know we are still missing a few strong contenders for selection.

My hopes for Sunday are that we are competitive for the full 70 minutes, that we bring an extra level of intensity that has not been seen as yet, we continue to hurl to a pre-defined game plan and that we are composed in front of goal from placed balls and open play (something which we have certainly lacked at times). A number of these players have beaten Kilkenny in recent years at under age level, a very different prospect on Sunday I know, but we don’t have too many players left we scars from the past beatings we have shipped against Kilkenny. We need to be physical but persist with our running and support game when in possession. I still feel we are refereed to a different standard as a result of some incidents last year (and the subsequent public and media outcry) and last week’s red card (deserved) won’t have helped in that regard. There were some ridiculously soft frees given against us in the Limerick and Cork games. We have generally been punished by accurate free takers in this regard, however, unfortunately we have been far from prolific with our own frees.

Conor McDonald was very good in the air last weekend but I would prefer to see him in the full forward line with Liam Og McGovern in the half forward line. His work rate and pace is a great asset. Our forwards work rate has been good in terms of doing the ‘dirty work’, making clearances difficult, getting hooks and blocks in but we do need an improved level of composure in front of the posts, this despite shooting some decent totals during the league so far. In terms of defence I would like to see our half back line to stay a little closer to our own goal - we have a tendency to drift out and leave an awful lot of space in front of the full back line, but I am delighted to see Eoin Moore restored to the team and hope he is fully fit.

What I am looking forward to most about Sunday is enjoying this encounter in the company of my good pal @Bandage.

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Outstanding post yet again by @stevie G topped off by a mesmeric and sensational final paragraph.

I agree with his sentiments about Kilkenny. No disrespect to them but how many Kilkenny players would get into the Wexford team? 5 at most. We also have them at home and if a shit team like Dublin can keep beating them at home then we should be doing likewise.

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Really looking forward to spending some quality time with the likes of @stevie G[/USER], [USER=11]@Appendage[/USER] and [USER=6]@briantinnion in Wexford Park tomorrow.

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[QUOTE=“Bandage, post: 922785, member: 9”]Fanning;
Rossiter, O’Hanlon, Moore;
O’Keeffe, Chin, C Kenny;
Tomkins, H Kehoe;
Morris, McDonald, Byrne;
Jacob, Guiney, McGovern.

That’s the closest we’ve been to a “championship” team all season. Eoin Moore back in for the suspended Bobby Kenny and Ciaran Kenny for Willie Devereux in two direct changes. Ian Byrne also returns in place of Liam Ryan but that comes with a few positional switches.

As mentioned earlier in the week, our half back line is still a bit unsettled. Good to have Kenny back but O’Keeffe is selected there to strengthen that sector. He’s been excellent throughout the league, primarily in midfield but he’s also had game time at wing forward and wing back.

I’d say it’s more likely Byrne will start in midfield with Tomkins into the half forward line.

This all assumes the players carrying injuries (Moore, Tomkins, C Kenny, McGovern) are actually going to start.

Pretty happy with that team and Shore is also named in the subs along with David Redmond.[/QUOTE]

how is Chin getting on centre back? I always had him down as a fine midfielder. Havent seen him play well at half back.

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I’ve only been at 3 of the 5 games - he was okay in Antrim without being dominant (and spent some time on the wing), was very good in Limerick and went off injured early on against Laois. Reports from last week in Cork suggest he was decent enough without being superb so he’s still feeling his way into it a bit. A lot of people would agree with you that midfield might suit him better so that’s an option we’ll have. Andrew Shore is back on the bench tomorrow and he can play centre back or midfield too so we’ll have some flexibility there.

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Cmaaaaaaaaaaan!

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TFK Sources: Liam McGovern hasn’t sufficiently recovered from his hamstring strain to take part today.

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HT: Wexford 1-12 Kilkenny 2-10.

Ian Byrne with 1-8 (1-2 from play) and a point apiece from O’Keeffe, McGovern, Guiney and Jacob.

We scored the last 1-4 of the half. Byrne with a great ground stroke finish right on the whistle.

We struggled to get to grips with their movement and support running in the early stages. Cracking goal by Reid.

Shore is on for Tomkins and releasing O’Keeffe into midfield has improved things.

429

The footballers took one hell of a beating.

Whats the story with relegation?

2 teams down or one team down?

430

Like our other league defeats, today’s game leaves us with a mix of positives and negatives.

Very disappointing to concede self-inflicted goals in the second half. O’Hanlon getting pickpocketed when he had possession in the first attack after half time and a mishit free being helped into the goal by Fanning (who hadn’t organised his defenders on the line quickly enough). I think we need to look at the goalkeeper position.

Kilkenny were largely dominant in the air (e.g. Walsh for the first goal) and it was frustrating to see us repeatedly caught out by passes to runners, either via knock downs with the hurl or handpasses after securing aerial possession.

Generally we didn’t defend their attacking movements very well. Very annoying to see the basic diagonal ball and pop off to player powering through at the reverse angle consistently paying dividends. No point jogging back in the direction of the ball while your direct opponent is sprinting beyond you to take the pass at pace. Ball watching will be punished by the top teams, and the likes of Kilkenny.

That’s all preventable with better concentration and workrate and after some video analysis. Hopefully it’s a case of being caught out when presented with that fluency, pace and skill for the first time this season and we’ll learn from it.

That said, we hurled quite well at times and created lots of chances ourselves. We still need to get the last few players back to full fitness like Garrett Sinnott and David Redmond to be able to compete better and provide more options. Our subs today were a level below theirs (though in fairness they brought on Fennelly, Shefflin, Walsh, Fogarty and someone else!).

O’Hanlon (bar mistake for third goal) and Moore were solid. Chin played a good game manning the centre though Fennelly roamed and got on a fair bit of ball. Kenny and Shore (when introduced) were decent at wing back. Harry Kehoe was industrious in midfield. Byrne was excellent in the first half. Jacob was dangerous all through and McGovern will definitely make it for us too.

Some of the other players who we’ll be pinning our hopes on were outplayed today. Richie Hogan and TJ Reid were exceptional for them.

Scorers: Ian Byrne 1-8(0-6F), Rory Jacob 1-3*, Diarmuid O’Keeffe, Harry Kehoe, Jack Guiney, Liam McGovern & Podge Doran 0-1 each.

*think Jacob got the rebound from McDonald’s initial effort.

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What exactly does jack guiney offer if he is not taking frees?

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Been wondering this. Great potential but unlikely to win dirty ball. His goal against Clare to force extra time is a glimpse but he drifts out of games far too much. Almost reminds me of Mick Jacob when he played in the forwards.

@Bandage or others, opinions on Conor Mac, Ian Byrne, Liam Ryan and Dee O Keefe today?

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Think that’s going to be the championship full back line, would be happy enough with it too even if it was scrappy enough in there at times today. They won’t come up against the class of Kilkenny full forward line + the ball that’s being delivered in every day.

Very worried about the half back line. While centre backs are generally loose anyway, Chin is way off his man every day, C. Fennelly picked up a lot of ball and you would feel someone with a bit more class would really punish Wexford. There was some good stuff from Chin, but at the moment he’s coming across as a lazy centre back. At wing back D O Keefe & Ciaran Kenny were very poor, think 2-5 was conceded off those 2 from play in the 1st half, couldn’t believe they were both left there for so long. Shore did improve things slightly when he came on.

Midfield also a problem area, Tompkins totally at sea, and Kehoe allowed Richie Hogan any amount of freedom, teams like Wexford need to getting into Richie Hogans face, not allowing him the freedom of the park. There was one stage when the 2 lads looked at each other wondering who was going to pick him up on his next run. D O Keefe slightly better when eventually moved out here.

Half forward line was poor also, Morris never got into it, Conor Mac was roasted by Jackie Tyrell, in fairness to Conor, it’s a big ask for someone so young to play in such a pivotal position against a team like KK, coming up against the likes of Tryell and Hogan was never going to be easy for him, he’ll get there. Ian Byrne very good when Wexford were having their good patch, definite starter come championship time.

Full forward line never looked dangerous apart from Rory Jacob, he’s the only one showing for the ball at all times, the rest are lacking confidence and seem to go into hiding when Wexford backs are looking to deliver ball. Guiney was easily dealt with by JJ, and Liam Og was doing a lot of needless running around, pulling his man around here and there without ever really showing for the ball. Guiney will have to improve. There is no doubting the mans ability but he’s not having a good time of it at the moment. Think he is more suited in the half forward line where he can get involved a lot more, with Conor Mac coming in.

Have to question some of Dunne’s subs to. Willie Deveraux being brought on midfield made no sense whatsoever, Eanna Martin was absolutely lost when he went on wing back, and in fairness, I don’t think Eanna should be there at all, if he didn’t make it as an outfield player when first tried by Meyler 5/6 years ago, he won’t do it now.

PJ Nolan & David Redmond must be miles away from the team if they didn’t get on ahead of substitutes used today.

Also, Tommy Walsh is a nutcase, sprinted onto the field as hard as he could today, and just stared at Ian Byrne for about 5 seconds while bouncing on his feet. Comical viewing when game was as good as over.

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Very little. Some lads seem to think he is one of the best prospects in the country which I find baffling, looks to have zero speed. Can’t really have a lad taking up a space on the pitch just to take frees anymore.

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I disagree with some of @Gavin 2 's points.

Tomkins was right half forward for his 15-20 minutes on the field. It was Morris who started midfield and struggled with Hogan.

As mentioned, the Shore substitution improved matters when he went wing back as it released O’Keeffe into midfield (who was having a tough time with Reid) and Morris was repostioned at half forward.

O’Keeffe and Kehoe then had a very strong finish to the first half with Kehoe on Hogan at that stage. However, Padraig Walsh and Hogan regained full control after half time. I think Fanning hit 3 puck outs in a row on top of O’Keeffe and Walsh at one stage - all won by the latter.

Wexford have naively followed opposition half forward lines up the field for years leaving oceans of space in front of the full back line. Despite Colin Fennelly wandering into deep positions, I felt Chin was correct to hold his position in the centre and I imagine he was playing to instructions. It’s up to our own midfield and half forward to in turn forage harder in that middle sector to prevent opposition dictating the play there.

I also thought Ciaran Kenny grew into the game after a difficult start on Walsh but, yes, it was an early burst of individual scores against him.

I disagree that McGovern’s movement was wasteful. I felt he gave Paul Murphy plenty of problems in the first half and got on the ball quite a lot. He scored from play, set up chances, hit the post and was fouled for a couple of converted frees.

Guiney needs to look at Jacob’s movement and work harder to get free to receive passes alright. I don’t think his workrate is good enough at the moment.

@Mac - Byrne was very prominent in the first half and took his goal and points from play well. He scored 6 from 8 placed balls but drifted out of the game in the second half; not helped by Kilkenny getting a firm grip in midfield.

McDonald struggled to create an impression at centre forward and was moved to wing forward before ultimately spending the latter period of the game at full forward. He plucked a high ball out of the air to create our second goal and won some decent primary possession when further out the field too but was invariably crowded out and well shackled.

Liam Ryan did well when he came on. He actually marked Shefflin for the last 10-15 minutes when the latter was introduced.

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How many of last years u21 side are now in the wex panel?

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O’Keeffe, Chin, McDonald, Byrne and Guiney all started yesterday.

Others on the bench or extended panel like Gary Moore, Eoin Conroy, Rhys Clarke, Aidan Nolan.

Aside from McDonald (who played minor, U21 & senior championship last year), we have three more of last season’a minor squad involved - Liam Ryan (who came on yesterday), Conor Devitt and Kevin Foley.

I could be forgetting a player or two.

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Seems very poor in the air also.

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[QUOTE=“count of monte cristo, post: 923938, member: 348”]The footballers took one hell of a beating.

Whats the story with relegation?

2 teams down or one team down?[/QUOTE]

Just how long have you been following the NFL, Count?
Effectively a relegation play-off with Longford in the Round 7 fixture in Wexford next Sunday. We have to win. Longford can afford to draw, thanks to our risible score difference.

Nobody doubts that we are in a period of transition. However, it’s hard to see us ever reaching the same dizzy heights again as were achieved in the last 10 years - NFL Final, Leinster Finals, AI Semi-Final.

It’s almost exactly 10 years since Wexford football burst into the national consciousness with that mauling of Galway in Tuam. I was there and it will remain a cherished memory for many a year.

Daithi Waters gave a very passionate post-match interview on SE Radio immediately after he single-handedly beat Sligo to keep our survival chances alive two weeks ago, where he paid tribute to the lads who had recently retired and what they had done to raise the profile of Wexford football from where it had been. He didn’t want to be part of the team that was responsible for returning us to the scrapheap of the National League.

It’s unlikely that Daithi will beat Longford on his own (unless he puts in a performance like in Extra-Time in Longford last year in the Championship), but you’d like to think that we’ll at least put up a decent fight.

Might be worth attending …

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[QUOTE=“This Year’s Model, post: 924285, member: 1798”]Just how long have you been following the NFL, Count?
Effectively a relegation play-off with Longford in the Round 7 fixture in Wexford next Sunday. We have to win. Longford can afford to draw, thanks to our risible score difference.

Nobody doubts that we are in a period of transition. However, it’s hard to see us ever reaching the same dizzy heights again as were achieved in the last 10 years - NFL Final, Leinster Finals, AI Semi-Final.

It’s almost exactly 10 years since Wexford football burst into the national consciousness with that mauling of Galway in Tuam. I was there and it will remain a cherished memory for many a year.

Daithi Waters gave a very passionate post-match interview on SE Radio immediately after he single-handedly beat Sligo to keep our survival chances alive two weeks ago, where he paid tribute to the lads who had recently retired and what they had done to raise the profile of Wexford football from where it had been. He didn’t want to be part of the team that was responsible for returning us to the scrapheap of the National League.

It’s unlikely that Daithi will beat Longford on his own (unless he puts in a performance like in Extra-Time in Longford last year in the Championship), but you’d like to think that we’ll at least put up a decent fight.

Might be worth attending …[/QUOTE]

My apologies for not knowing the looming relegation issues Tym.

I have been following the national league for approx 24 years. I don’t see how this is pertinent considering the league structure has changed quite a bit.