Wexford V Offaly

Gnevin · May 30, 2009, 07:24:34 PM

The standard is shocking so far .

slow corner back · May 30, 2009, 08:41:31 PM

Well done to Wexford, deserved the victory, by far the better side in the second half, Offaly fell away very badly and the second goal killed the game.

orangeman · May 31, 2009, 01:46:55 AM

Offaly are better than what they showed there tonight.

INDIANA · May 31, 2009, 02:08:02 AM

very poor tonight though. Wexford are missing quite a few. If Offaly can't beat them tonight they are unlikely to beat them when they have a full whack. Wexford are always a good championship team- should have known better than to back against them.

orangeman · May 31, 2009, 10:21:34 AM

Wexford should have taken out Cork last year.

Bord na Mona man · May 31, 2009, 10:29:50 AM

Good win for Wexford.
David Kenny was clearly not recovered from his hamstring injury and it was big factor in the goals.
Offaly's forwards were easily outmuscled and out fought. The entire half forward line having to be replaced tell its own story.

The Offaly penalties were tame efforts too.

imtommygunn · May 31, 2009, 10:57:16 AM

If I were an offaly man I'd be very disappointed with that display. There was a significant lack of fighting spirit. I hope they can lift themselves for the qualifiers.

It was a bit like watching the 2003 AISF between Tyrone and Kerry were one team were just so much hungrier than the other.

Wexford should have taken out cork last year OM? They didn't even play so not sure what you're talking about.

TBT · May 31, 2009, 11:15:03 AM

Quote from: orangeman on May 31, 2009, 10:21:34 AM
Wexford should have taken out Cork last year.

nice to see the standard of the hurling debate in this place is as high as ever

Stick to the football like a good lad.

INDIANA · May 31, 2009, 12:22:55 PM

leave the bitchiness out he meant Waterford lads- there is little enough hurling debate here anyway. Scorcher of a day - could be a cracker in Thurles.

EddieMerx · May 31, 2009, 12:30:45 PM

I was impressed with Wexford, to be missing so many and yet the heads never went down. Offaly have problems, they simply were not up for a battle

awfulynice · June 01, 2009, 06:54:30 PM

Quote from: imtommygunn on May 31, 2009, 10:57:16 AM
If I were an offaly man I'd be very disappointed with that display. There was a significant lack of fighting spirit. I hope they can lift themselves for the qualifiers.

It was a bit like watching the 2003 AISF between Tyrone and Kerry were one team were just so much hungrier than the other.

Wexford should have taken out cork last year OM? They didn't even play so not sure what you're talking about.

Im an offaly man, and dissapointed isnt the word.

The lack of fighting spirit has been the calling card for this team for the last seven or eight years. I am sick to the teeth of traveling half the country to watch my team turn in a tame performace like that. The forwards should be ashamed of themselfs for the display.

David Kenny (i hope) wasnt fully recovered from his injury

BUT

Joe Dooley made shocking mistakes throughout the match which also had a big say in the match

He left David Kenny at full back, why not move Ger Oakley in there to compete physicialy with Banville?? Why not switch Rory Hanniffy & Kevin Brady when we were being beaten at midfield. Why not switch rigney with Oakley when Banville was catching high ball after high ball in the second half at wing forward?? Rigney plays centre back for his club anyway!! Why not switch Brian Carroll to midfield so he could pick up loose ball which he does for his club??

If this match has thought me anything about Offaly..its that Joe Dooley is not going to be the man to bring the good times back. He made progress last year in fairness, but he really doesnt have the head for watching the game and making the changes neccessary which is the reason we lost this game at the end of the day.

imtommygunn · June 01, 2009, 07:52:48 PM

To be honest I hate criticising managers and Dooley seems like a decent sort but you'd have to question a few things...

1. could the players not have been motivated more
2. the FB should have been switched early on. Oakley or the CB could have done a job surely.
3. Midfield should have been changed. Could Hanniffy not have done a job in there?
4. The only forward showing well for the ball was young Dooley. Could he not have been deployed at HF?
5. That fella Brady in the forwards is about 10 yards of pace, no offense to him, short of being an intercounty player.

I like Offally so was disappointed. No one has mentioned this but what about Franks saving tackle, I think, in the second half. That was as well timed a tackle as you're ever likely to see.

INDIANA · June 01, 2009, 08:14:28 PM

The fire and brimstone that Hanamay and the Whelehans brought to it was missing on Saturday night. Offaly just seemed flat. I think div1 status was their primary aim this year. Wexford will be very strong when they get the likes of Rossiter fully fit.

Bord na Mona man · June 01, 2009, 09:10:34 PM

Yep, it was tame from Offaly.
Once the ref deemed it was open season for argy bargy, Wexford really bossed Offaly physically, without much response.
The are a few changes that could have been made quicker, that probably would have prevented Wexford amassing a comfortable lead, but really the team wasn't hurling with much fluency or composed aggression.

Lone Shark · June 01, 2009, 09:27:17 PM

Quote from: awfulynice on June 01, 2009, 06:54:30 PM
If this match has thought me anything about Offaly..its that Joe Dooley is not going to be the man to bring the good times back. He made progress last year in fairness, but he really doesnt have the head for watching the game and making the changes neccessary which is the reason we lost this game at the end of the day.

I'm not sure if I'd go so far as to share your assertion that we lost this game on the sideline - I do think we were very much second best on the sideline but we were second best on the field in a lot of areas too.

However regarding your point on Dooley not being up to it, I'm leaning towards that same viewpoint, while the worry now is that Dooley will be there for as long as he wants to be there. As a bona fide legend of hurling both inside the county and outside, he was always going to be untouchable to a certain degree and a solid first year followed by promotion in the second has cemented that status. That said, one setback does not undo all the positives that have gone before and he has improved matters on where they were. I don't know if he has the tactical awareness and I too was amazed at some of the lack of action (compare that with Sunday and the mental chess that was being played on the sideline!) but maybe the answer is not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but to work on improving that area of the game? After all, if it's 50% right and 50% wrong, past experience has told us that a fresh start could end up with that ration going arseways so maybe we should just develop what we have.