Tipp Vs Westmeath

Croí na hÉireann · July 18, 2008, 11:30:22 AM

Mullingar Shamrocks' Simon Quinn is a surprise inclusion in the Westmeath team for their All-Ireland football qualifier against Tipperary in Ardfinnan.

Quinn, who has never played minor or under 21 football for his county, makes his first championship start at wing forward in place of the injured Fergal Wilson. His only previous appearance for the senior side was in a challenge match against Leitrim nearly two months ago.

A second change sees Athlone's Paul Bannon coming in at midfield for the injured David Duffy. Bannon's younger brother Dermot has also recovered from the shoulder injury he sustained against Dublin to start at top of the left.

Francis Boyle has been passed fit to take his place at right corner back, while Martin Flanagan is expected to see some action from the bench as he continues his recovery from a knee injury.

Westmeath (SF v Tipperary): G Connaughton; F Boyle, K Gavin, J Keane; M Ennis, D Heavin, D Healy; D O'Donoghue, P Bannon; S Quinn, J Smyth, D Harte; D Dolan, Denis Glennon, D Bannon.

Don't think there's many in Westmeath who would have been able to predict that team. 1 - 8 pick themselves as do 11 - 15, will be interesting to see what Quinn offers. O'Flaherta has thrown unknows/young lads into the mix before and I assume it's to concentrate the others minds on the job in hand. Bannon has never really let us down in midfield but we're now lacking height there so the 2 lads will have to break everything. Hopefully Flan and Duffy aren't too far away as we'll need them in the coming weeks if we can get out of Ardfinnan intact. Anyone know how far out the Clonmel Road the ground is??? Stating the obvious here but with Willo out as well we need someone apart from Dessie and Denis to start kicking scores, pressure on Dermot Bannon and Smyth. Would like to see David Glennon being given a half if Bannon isn't scoring or if the game is comfortable, he needs decent game time to see if he can cut it at this level. All in all I think we will win this one but not by as much as the spread suggests...

heffo · July 18, 2008, 03:41:15 PM

Quote from: Croí na hÉireann on July 18, 2008, 11:30:22 AM
Anyone know how far out the Clonmel Road the ground is???

It's about 10/11 miles.

Croí na hÉireann · July 18, 2008, 03:47:07 PM

Quote from: heffo on July 18, 2008, 03:41:15 PM
Quote from: Croí na hÉireann on July 18, 2008, 11:30:22 AM
Anyone know how far out the Clonmel Road the ground is???

It's about 10/11 miles.

It's only 9 miles to Clonmel itself, u wouldn't be telling porkies now would u heffo???

heffo · July 18, 2008, 03:49:47 PM

Quote from: Croí na hÉireann on July 18, 2008, 03:47:07 PM
Quote from: heffo on July 18, 2008, 03:41:15 PM
Quote from: Croí na hÉireann on July 18, 2008, 11:30:22 AM
Anyone know how far out the Clonmel Road the ground is???

It's about 10/11 miles.

It's only 9 miles to Clonmel itself, u wouldn't be telling porkies now would u heffo???

I think someone's giving you a bum steer Croi - Clonmel is about 15 miles from Ardfinnan - I drive it regularly down to out-laws..

AZOffaly · July 18, 2008, 04:00:16 PM

Are you sure heffo? A girl sitting beside me is from there, and She says Ardfinnan is 8 or 9 miles from Clonmel, and the GAA pitch is in the village.

Croí na hÉireann · July 18, 2008, 04:02:54 PM

Quote from: heffo on July 18, 2008, 03:49:47 PM
Quote from: Croí na hÉireann on July 18, 2008, 03:47:07 PM
Quote from: heffo on July 18, 2008, 03:41:15 PM
Quote from: Croí na hÉireann on July 18, 2008, 11:30:22 AM
Anyone know how far out the Clonmel Road the ground is???

It's about 10/11 miles.

It's only 9 miles to Clonmel itself, u wouldn't be telling porkies now would u heffo???

I think someone's giving you a bum steer Croi - Clonmel is about 15 miles from Ardfinnan - I drive it regularly down to out-laws..

15km according to google maps...

heffo · July 18, 2008, 04:03:53 PM

Quote from: AZOffaly on July 18, 2008, 04:00:16 PM
Are you sure heffo? A girl sitting beside me is from there, and She says Ardfinnan is 8 or 9 miles from Clonmel, and the GAA pitch is in the village.

Sorry - distance in the car in km - wasn't trying to give you bad directions Croi

According to AA - it's 15km

Hardy · July 18, 2008, 04:11:21 PM

Pitch is approximately where I've marked 'x', if I remember right.

(If my image hosting is not working today all you'll see is a different little red x - let me know if so).

[Edit] - no, it's not working. Anyway, Ardfinnan is 9-10 miles from Clonmel. The pitch is on the right entering the village from the Clonmel side.

[Should be fixed now - typo error]

Croí na hÉireann · July 18, 2008, 04:12:31 PM

Now ur sucking diesel, thanks Hardy, you're some bollox Heffo

Onlooker · July 18, 2008, 07:23:30 PM

Come on Tipp!!.

navaniarmhi · July 19, 2008, 04:41:48 PM

Tipperary 0-6 Westmeath 0-15 ( 0-1 to 0-7 at halftime.....wind with westmeath in first half)

good display by the backs again. smyth had a good show also. any threat from tipp got a good response from westmeath. doubts about goalscoring remain with denis glennon missing a good chance. David Glennon got a couple of good scores when he came on. Dessie pretty reliable but Tipp conceded loads of bad frees.... at least 4 for pickups.
Flanagan not used. No injuries evident as yet although Healy had a leg bandage at half time.

What next?

AN other · July 20, 2008, 10:07:18 PM

Didn't notice the bandage on Healy. The backs did well just about sums it up, and O'Flaherta was pretty accurate in calling the performance "dire". I'm glad it was Tipperary, it looked like the first game of the year at times, mishandling errors, bad passes and the likes. Glennon was our only really threat in the forwards and even he didn't impress until the second half. Dolan popped over the frees and saw alot of the ball but I'm still not convinced we shouldn't be playing him inside. I appreciate what O'Flaherta is trying to do by giving the likes of Bannon time to develop in the forwards but Dolan is a proven corner forward. He does make a valuable contribution in the half forward line area, there's no doubting that, but I think when we're crying out for scoring threats it's time to just play him inside with Glennon. The two of them isolated would cause most teams alot of problems.
Bannon was disappointing after his good showings of late. If O'Flaherta is going to persist with Dolan in the half forwards I think Glennon junior should be given a chance the next day ahead of Bannon. He showed well when brought on and is a tougher player than Bannon. I would have more confidence in him taking his score also. Simon Quinn looked stylish at times and didn't do much wrong, tougher matches and much sterner tests lie ahead of him though if he can hold onto his place. Smyth did well enough, seems to have eradicated alot of the errors that typified him last year. Gary Dolan did well when brought on also, a good option as an impact sub. I think if Tormey was given a bit more game time in the league he could have something to add also.
The tight pitch did Westmeath more harm than good I think, contrary to what alot of people might say I think a wider pitch suits Westmeath. The type of ball that we need to be playing inside requires space for Glennon to run onto the ball. The general argument for tight spaces suiting Westmeath is that it suits our defensive style. The fact is that individually each of our defenders are good at defending. Most counties are playing a similar system to Westmeath with players dropping back from forwards/midfield to help out the defence. Westmeath are better at this than most because of the quality of defenders we have.
Two positives to come from this game in my opinion. First is that there is still a bit of hunger in the team, the disappointment of loosing to Dublin seems to have been put aside and a new goal of some sort set. AI quarter final or whatever it may be.
Second is the emergence of a couple more players as possible contenders for places. David Glennon and Simon Quinn namely.

Croí na hÉireann · July 21, 2008, 11:46:52 AM

Close enough with the X Hardy, spot on with the traffic to Thurles Onlooker, thanks lads...

Poor performance from Westmeath, got cleaned out in the middle, first score didn't come till the 14th minute, looked like it was gonna be a scoreless draw for a while

Reason we won is our backs broke the hearts of the Tipp lads, they started full of purpose but couldn't work the ball into a scoring position. Basic handling errors were another reason they lost as well as the pace of Glennon, how his man wasn't booked till the 55th min by an over fussy referee I'll never know, was using him for a clothes line...

Goalkeeper and backs were solid without really being tested. Derek Heavin and Natchie stood out here for the amount of ball they seen and work around the pitch. Cleaned out of it at midfield, not really surprising as we are missing our first 3 choice midfielders. Gary Dolan added some much need physicality when he came on, big no 8 meet him with a welcoming shoulder and Dolan put him on his hole for his troubles, good man Gary

Very much doubt he has the fitness for the next day however.

Forwards were ok, Glennon was excellent in patches, usual failings at times but his pace was the main reason we won by so much. Dessie solid from the frees and played some nice ball in. Smyth looked very comfortable running with the ball and needs to offer more around the goals. Harte was getting though his usual shift till what looked like a dead leg forced him to retire, hopefully he's alright the next day. Simon Quinn did ok for someone making their debut. Would've liked to see David Glennon given 35 minutes to see what he can offer as Dermot Bannon was fairly ineffective in around the goals. I expect O'Flaherta to persist with Bannon though and hopefully he can reproduce that league final form on Saturday...

Ardfinnan is a nice little pitch in a lovely part of the countryside, heard the traffic was a nightmare after, thankfully missed all that craic as left before the final whistle for what I hope is the first and only time, fecking weddings...