Strange sort of a game yesterday. Obviously the wind had a big bearing on proceedings.
Henderson rightly got the plaudits from the press today. I thought he worked hard, won difficult ball, got into good positions and most of all put away his chances with unerring confidence. His coolness for the 2nd goal was brilliant, steadying before picking his spot.
I'm sure he will be more tightly marshalled against Laois, so hopefully he can continue to deliver under such circumstances.
I thought Clarke was immense over the first 20 minutes. He was happy to be provider, was always out in front and creating openings. His pass for Henderson's first goal was pure quality.
AK guilty of some bad mistakes in the first half, a few of the balls he gave away lead directly to Wexford points. Much improved second half.
I thought midfield did reasonably well. Lavery was targeted for many of Armagh kickouts, and given how the wind held up the ball I thought he did ok - caught a right few on the wing and contested well when it was crowded.
Charlie was much more involved in the 2nd half, won lots of ball and initated attacks. I like the look of the Lavery / Vernon pairing. With a few more games together they could form a good partnership.
Special mention for the Wexford man that made the best tackle of the day. First half, Clarke bearing down on goal, just as he was about to shoot the Wexford man flung himself forward and got a hand in to knock the ball clear. Great piece of skill. See today's Irish News for a photo.
What I saw of the Clarke yellow card it looked as if the two players were in a tangle and Clarke flung/pushed the Wexford man down. NOthing more sinister than that.
Rodgers made an awful blunder for Wexfords 2nd goal. He was carrying the ball out, went to fist pass it and fisted straight to a Wexford man, who gratefully took it and lobbed the back peddling keeper.
I thought JP Donnelly was playing well, before having to go off after a clash of heads with Colfer. Looked very nasty, anybody know how he (JP) is? Rafferty who replaced Toal stuggled to get into the game.
Peadar Toal knocked over some nice points from frees (out of his hands) and was very busy along the Armagh half forward line.
Brian Mallon is an enigma. He can be completely annonymous for long spells, then suddenly pop up to be centrally involved in an Armagh attack or to hit a point himself. Works very hard and will have a go when the chance presents itself.
The last 15 minutes Wexford had all but completely given up, so it was way too easy for Armagh.
I suppose we'll have to wait to see how the next few games go before reading too much into yesterday's performance. However if the new players keep performing like they did yesterday there is going to be serious competition for places.
Still 4-16, 4-14 from play, February, away from home, many players still to return to the panel - encouraging.
P.S. Good to see a lot of Armagh supporters made the journey. I hope everybody remembered to pay the M50 toll before 8pm tonight!! )
Henderson rightly got the plaudits from the press today. I thought he worked hard, won difficult ball, got into good positions and most of all put away his chances with unerring confidence. His coolness for the 2nd goal was brilliant, steadying before picking his spot.
I'm sure he will be more tightly marshalled against Laois, so hopefully he can continue to deliver under such circumstances.
I thought Clarke was immense over the first 20 minutes. He was happy to be provider, was always out in front and creating openings. His pass for Henderson's first goal was pure quality.
AK guilty of some bad mistakes in the first half, a few of the balls he gave away lead directly to Wexford points. Much improved second half.
I thought midfield did reasonably well. Lavery was targeted for many of Armagh kickouts, and given how the wind held up the ball I thought he did ok - caught a right few on the wing and contested well when it was crowded.
Charlie was much more involved in the 2nd half, won lots of ball and initated attacks. I like the look of the Lavery / Vernon pairing. With a few more games together they could form a good partnership.
Special mention for the Wexford man that made the best tackle of the day. First half, Clarke bearing down on goal, just as he was about to shoot the Wexford man flung himself forward and got a hand in to knock the ball clear. Great piece of skill. See today's Irish News for a photo.
What I saw of the Clarke yellow card it looked as if the two players were in a tangle and Clarke flung/pushed the Wexford man down. NOthing more sinister than that.
Rodgers made an awful blunder for Wexfords 2nd goal. He was carrying the ball out, went to fist pass it and fisted straight to a Wexford man, who gratefully took it and lobbed the back peddling keeper.
I thought JP Donnelly was playing well, before having to go off after a clash of heads with Colfer. Looked very nasty, anybody know how he (JP) is? Rafferty who replaced Toal stuggled to get into the game.
Peadar Toal knocked over some nice points from frees (out of his hands) and was very busy along the Armagh half forward line.
Brian Mallon is an enigma. He can be completely annonymous for long spells, then suddenly pop up to be centrally involved in an Armagh attack or to hit a point himself. Works very hard and will have a go when the chance presents itself.
The last 15 minutes Wexford had all but completely given up, so it was way too easy for Armagh.
I suppose we'll have to wait to see how the next few games go before reading too much into yesterday's performance. However if the new players keep performing like they did yesterday there is going to be serious competition for places.
Still 4-16, 4-14 from play, February, away from home, many players still to return to the panel - encouraging.
P.S. Good to see a lot of Armagh supporters made the journey. I hope everybody remembered to pay the M50 toll before 8pm tonight!! )