Wexford Vs Armagh - Feb 1st

[David McKeown]

eh, that's what henderson scored, not wexford.

Perhaps I misheard. Mind you 4-3 is the same as 2-9.

No you heard right it was a mistake originally from the commentator.  Just back from the game there myself and I thought it was a great performance from Armagh for about 50-55 minutes.  To me it looked liked a completely new style  of fast moving fast running football which seemed to work, at one stage late on Armagh had 5 forwards inside the Wexford 21 suggesting an end to the negative football of last year.  As far as individual performances go Henderson will rightly get the headlines tomorrow for an excellent performance although he arguably missed two pretty easy goal chances in the second half.  On top of that I thought Kevin O Rourke gave three different defenders the run around and his vision was exceptional at times, whilst Finan Mo had a good game apart from the last 15 minutes of the first half where he seemed hurt and looked like he was limping.  On top of this Marty O Rourke, McKeever, Pedar Toal S kernan and Charlie Vernon all had great second halfs.

As far as the second quarter of the game is concerned a lot went wrong for Armagh in a very short space of time, with JP's injury, the howler for Rodgers and Clarkes dismissal (more on this below).  This coupled with an upping of the performance for Wexford, Moriaritys seeming injury and Wexford getting the better of some 50/50 decisions saw Wexford take control of the game.  As a result to use a cliche half time game at the wrong time for Wexford.  In the first quarter I actually thought the Armagh defence were coping very well with all the ball hit in towards them and the only problems I saw early on for Armagh were at midfield

As far as Clarke's yellow was concerned Im not surprised he reacted as him and his man were at each other from the start yet no official wanted to know.  That said from what a saw Clarlke's yellow has highlighted whats wrong with the new rules.  To me it looked like a clear strike and consequently it should have been a red, however as the ref had the softer option of the yellow which meant removing the player he bottled the incident.  I think we are going to see very very few Red cards this year in the NFL which is an absolute joke

[The GAA]

Thought Toal had a first class game hardly wasted aball all day.
Kevin O Rourke was also very good when introduced.

All about opinions i suppose. toal never got his hands on much ball i thought and kevin o'rourke played the whole game

[David McKeown]

Thought Toal had a first class game hardly wasted aball all day.
Kevin O Rourke was also very good when introduced.

All about opinions i suppose. toal never got his hands on much ball i thought and kevin o'rourke played the whole game

Absolutely I thought Toal's distribution today was superb allowing K O rourke and Henderson to get off their men knowing accurate ball would be coming in

[David McKeown]

Seems no one can get the right result for today.  BBC had the following

Wexford 2-9 3-12 Armagh

Ryan Henderson scored three goals as Armagh staged a revival to beat Wexford by 10 points in Sunday's Allianz Division Two opener.
Two early goals had Armagh in command but Wexford battled back to enjoy a 2-8 to 2-3 interval advantage.
Armagh suffered a blow when forward Ronan Clarke was yellow-carded and had to be replaced under the new rules.
But the Ulster side, beaten by Wexford in the All-Ireland quarter-finals last August, pulled away for a big win.

[Goats Do Shave]

For what it's worth I thought Toal had a great game. He worked hard, distribution to the full forwards was good... & kept things ticking over with 3 points.

Wee Kevin O'Rourke showed very well & got a good point.

Stephen Kernan was fantastic! The classiest player on show IMO.

Big James Lavery seemed to be caught under the kick outs all day, which meant he had a standing jump every time. I'd like to see him running onto the jump.

Finn Mo was solid at the back... & never gave Mattie a look in when he came on.

Shannon & Martin had sound games, apart form the 2nd ¼ where Banville roasted Shannon. He recovered well though.

Ronan was being held, he grabbed the players arm, off him (As he was being held) & threw it back. No strike & I understand Armagh will be appealing the yellow. The new rules are supposed to be combating this behaviour!

Ref had a stinker of a first half! – Nothing much to do in the second!

Super result! & a decent crowd!

[David McKeown]

In relation to Clarke's yellow it certainly looked a strike from where I was but I maybe didnt have the greatest view, what I would want to know is what the ref booked him for as striking certainly isnt a yellow card offence but neither under the new rules as far as im aware is pushing someone over.

Also what benefit is there to appealing a yellow card, it was my understanding that these cards didnt carry over (unless the ulster council is running the competition)

[Jimmy Joe]

http://www.irishnews.com/irishnews/597/5776/2009/2/2/609131_371040574162Fourgoal.html

Four-goal haul stuns Wexford
Allianz National Football League Division Two: Wexford 2-9 Armagh 4-16
From Brendan Furlong at Wexford Park

ARMAGH owed Wexford one like this. Still smarting from their All-Ireland quarter-final shock defeat, the Ulster champions turned in a sparkling second half performance to destroy the Model county at Wexford Park yesterday.

The Yellowbellies may not have deserved to have lost by 13 points, but apart from the closing 15 minutes of the opening half, Armagh were clearly the superior team.

Armagh corner-forward Ryan Henderson teased and tormented the home defence throughout the 70 minutes as he emerged from the game with a personal tally of 4-3 – matching the Wexford scoreline in the process, and it was this type of clinical finishing that saw the Orchard county get the ideal start to the National League with two impressive away points.

Manager Peter McDonnell was clearly a happy man.

He said: "We knew coming down that we had it all to do. We got the ideal start but then lost our way in the final 15 minutes of the first half. We also lost Ronan Clarke, so we re-grouped at half-time.

"We have a simple game plan underpinned by a desire to work hard. We demonstrated the hunger and passion of a football game.

"After such a high scoring game, there is always a fear that the players will let it run away with themselves. But I doubt this will happen. I'm glad to have got two points away, for we have not been known to travel well over the past two years.

"Our panel has been severely hit by injuries. When supporters looked at the programme, they may have been asking where certain players came from. But they all contributed to this win.

"I was pleased with so many of the players, while Ryan Henderson would have to be pleased with 4-3. It's early days, but a promising start nevertheless."

Wexford manager Jason Ryan took defeat on the chin, and pinpointed his side's inability to cope with the Armagh defence as the reason for the Model's defeat.

"We had numerous injuries, with almost a new look backline. Certainly they found it tough against the Armagh attack, but having said that, it gave us an opportunity to try players that were on the fringe," said Ryan.

"It was a heavy defeat in the end. Had PJ Banville's second half goal attempt went in instead of hitting the bar, it may have been different.

"But, having said that, Armagh were the superior side on the day.'

Playing into the wind in the opening half, Armagh got the ideal start, racing into a 2-3 to 0-2 lead by the 13th minute. Their opening goal from Henderson came as early as the second minute when he clinically put away a pass from Ronan Clarke, while five minutes later the same pair teamed up again to prise open the home defence, with Henderson

beating 'keeper Anthony Masterson from close range.

The home fans were soon back cheering as the game was transformed in the closing 15 minutes of the half. David Fogarty, who lined out in midfield, linked up with Colm Morris to fire home an excellent goal.

Three minutes before the break, Wexford scored a rather bizarre goal. Armagh keeper Paudie Rodgers moved from goal to link up with his defence, but when his intended pass to a waiting defender was intercepted by Paddy Colfer, the home attacker coolly lobbed the ball into the net to put Wexford 2-9 to 2-3 up.

Armagh clearly decided that this was a game they were not going to lose, despite having lost Ronan Clarke on a yellow card on 34 minutes.

Points from Martin O'Rourke, Stephen Kernan, and Henderson left the minimum separating the sides, and it was Henderson who fired home his side's third goal after 46 minutes to regain the lead for his side, 3-7 to 2-8.

Henderson scored his fourth goal after 62 minutes. Wexford saw little change in the closing stages as Stephen Kernan saw a goalbound shot rebound off the upright, while Henderson had another goal attempt blocked away.

The home side's solitary second- half score, a Ciaran Lyng point, arrived in the 53rd minute.

Armagh will be happy to have set the record straight, but will be even happier at having taken two away points.

MATCH STATS

Wexford: A Masterson; G Murphy, E Bradley, B Malone; G Molloy, C Morris, A Doyle;

D Fogarty (1-0), B Doyle; C Deely, P Colfer (1-1), C Byrne; C Lyng (0-4, 0-2 frees),

S Cullen (0-3, 0-1 free), PJ Banville Subs:

D Kinsella (0-1) for Colfer (blood injury, 16mins); Colfer for Kinsella (24mins);

D Kehoe for Fogarty (51mins); C Murphy for G Murphy (51mins); M Forde for Banville (51mins); D Kinsella for Deely (54mins);

P Byrne for Lyng (63mins)

Armagh: P Rodgers; F Moriarty, V Martin,

B Shannon; A Kernan (0-2), C McKeever,

JP Donnelly; J Lavery, C Vernon; Martin O'Rourke (0-1), B Mallon (0-1), P Toal (0-3, 0-2 free); K O'Rourke (0-1), R Clarke,

R Henderson (4-3) Subs: C Rafferty for Donnelly (16mins); S Kernan (0-4, 0-1 free) for Clarke (yellow card, 34mins); P McKeever for Martin O'Rourke (60mins, 0-1); Michael O'Rourke for Toal (68mins)

Yellow Cards: R Clarke (34mins)

[stpauls]

Seems no one can get the right result for today.  BBC had the following

Wexford 2-9 3-12 Armagh

Ryan Henderson scored three goals as Armagh staged a revival to beat Wexford by 10 points in Sunday's Allianz Division Two opener.
Two early goals had Armagh in command but Wexford battled back to enjoy a 2-8 to 2-3 interval advantage.
Armagh suffered a blow when forward Ronan Clarke was yellow-carded and had to be replaced under the new rules.
But the Ulster side, beaten by Wexford in the All-Ireland quarter-finals last August, pulled away for a big win.

saw this myself, and they couldn't even get that right. the score line had us winning by 6, yet it was 10 in the report.
they had the text changed though within 5 minutes after i saw it the first time.

[gaa.boy]

Wasnt at the game, but from reading the posts above I am a bit confused. Who replaced JP Donnelly, was it A Kernan or C Rafferty? If rafferty how did he get on as I believe he should have been on the county team for the last number of years.

[Goats Do Shave]

Aaron started instead of Tony McCleeland, who was naemd as centre back.

JP was replaced by Raffo, who did ok, but wasn't great to be honest. His man did a bit of damage & the game seemed to by pass him a bit. Every Armagh attack seemed to start from the other wing, where AK seemed to find more space.

[corn02]

its a funny thing about henderson... he played well and finished brialliantly but wasn't thaaaat great. sounds stupid i know but he was getting on the end of other lads' work.... maybe its exactly what we need, who knows.

I don't care if he spends most of the match chasing ladybirds, if he scores 4-3 I don't care how good he was.

Don't really like commenting on a match I wasn't at but....

Forward line options enhanced further. Always good to see.

Shannon has, apparently, had a few very good games in a row, personally I am delighted at that. Confidence will be high for him.

4-16 is a super tally. Barnsey I hear was great too, again options, pressure, competition - all good.

SK hit four points? Maybe people are too quick to write him off.

[The GAA]

its a funny thing about henderson... he played well and finished brialliantly but wasn't thaaaat great. sounds stupid i know but he was getting on the end of other lads' work.... maybe its exactly what we need, who knows.

I don't care if he spends most of the match chasing ladybirds, if he scores 4-3 I don't care how good he was.

Don't really like commenting on a match I wasn't at but....

Forward line options enhanced further. Always good to see.

Shannon has, apparently, had a few very good games in a row, personally I am delighted at that. Confidence will be high for him.

4-16 is a super tally. Barnsey I hear was great too, again options, pressure, competition - all good.

SK hit four points? Maybe people are too quick to write him off.

All things in context corn and i don't mind being the negative one!
the context here is that wexford's defence was depleted and were very very poor.

on henderson - i am delighted to see someone weighing in with scores as its what armagh badly need, however... he's a finisher and doesn't get involved/show for possession. against good defences he'll be required to do his bit or there'll be no chances for anyone to finish. bit like michael owen, who doesn't contribute to general play. hopefully there'll be a good balance from him and he can produce an all round game and still score!

i thought o'rourke was very poor until the last 15 minutes, when the game was already won and the beleagured wexford defenders had given up.

on sk - he only played the half with the gale and was still missing unti the last 15 minutes - again when the game was won.

we need forwards to push through and hopefully henderson can do that job.

seems we have our easiest two games first so we could be up and running with a fair bit of momentum after 2 games, so that could help everyone.

[corn02]

Yip, people will probably get carried away with the result, good signs though.

[corn02]

From Irish Times:

Armagh 4-16 Wexford 2-9: FOR A team that has a reputation for being slow-starters in the league, particularly away from home, this was a fairly sensational result – and in more ways than just the scoreline.

Armagh looked to be drifting out of the game as it approached half-time, despite going seven points clear early on, before delivering a stunning second 35 minutes that completely overwhelmed Wexford. It also, of course, reversed the shock All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Wexford last summer. Armagh forgive but they don't forget.

But this is the game that will be remembered for the arrival of one Ryan Henderson. Four class goals and three points, all from play, is exceptional scoring by any standards but for the 24 year-old Henderson it was quite extraordinary given it was his first major start for Armagh. In fact, he wasn't even down to start in the first place.

When Henderson's name was called out as a late swap for left corner forward Michael O'Rourke the reaction in the press box was "Ryan who?"

He was part of Armagh's All-Ireland under-21-winning team back in 2005, and has made a couple of appearances in the Dr McKenna Cup in the years since, but it was only in the recent Armagh trials that manager Peter McDonnell rediscovered his potential.

Henderson scored two goals in each half and he would have had a fifth had Wexford goalkeeper Anthony Masterson not made a fine save close to the end.

"It was a tremendous day for Ryan Henderson," said McDonnell afterwards. "He looks sharp, won his own ball, and created many opportunities himself. A good debut, but Ryan realises he's got a lot of hard work to do to retain a place, because championship teams are different.

"He was playing very good football with his club, Clann Éireann. He came in on trials like everyone else. Caught my eye. And here he is now."

Henderson wasn't the only one to shine. Crossmaglen duo Aaron and Stephen Kernan made the trip to lend a hand and the former under-21 midfield partnership of Charlie Vernon and James Lavery dominated. Kevin O'Rourke showed his talents at corner forward, as did defenders Barry Shannon and Vincent Martin.

In the end Wexford manager Jason Ryan couldn't have too many complaints, except for an obvious one. Three minutes into the second half, just as Armagh were mounting their ferocious comeback, PJ Banville had a thundering shot at goal, which bounced down from the crossbar on to the goal line – but was judged not to have passed it. Afterwards a local photographer presented evidence that suggested otherwise; not that it was any use then.

A goal at that juncture would certainly have given Wexford momentum for the second half, instead they went 18 minutes before their next score – the point from Ciarán Lyng proving to be their only score of the second half.

In fairness, Wexford tried everything to get back at Armagh, including bringing on Matty Forde, who didn't start as selected. It was all in vain. The traffic was one-way for most of the second half; the wind in Armagh's back only partly explaining it.

All six starting forwards contributed to their total, including four points from Peadar Toal and Stephen Kernan.

This was all in stark contrast to Armagh's faltering mood coming towards half-time. They'd started brilliantly, Henderson's second goal on 15 minutes sending them seven points clear – 2-3 to 0-2. Wexford did some running repairs and soon refloated their boat, out-scoring Armagh 2-6 to no score in the closing 20 minutes of the half.

David Fogarty claimed their first goal on 27 minutes after an excellent built-up from Shane Cullen and Paddy Colfer, and then Colfer punished a goalkeeping blunder by Paudie Rodgers to add a second a few minutes later.

Immediately after that Armagh's Ronan Clarke was yellow-carded for an off-the-ball foul on Eric Bradley, and when Wexford tagged on three more points before the break their 2-8 to 2-3 advantage looked fairly secure.

Typical of Armagh, however, there was no panic. McDonnell left Wexford Park with a parting word of support for the new rules.

"I have no problems with the new rules, nor do the players. . . The intentions are good, and if it promotes good, open football we're all for it."

ARMAGH: P Rodgers; F Moriarty, V Martin, B Shannon; C McKeever, A Kernan (0-2), JP Donnelly; J Lavery, C Vernon; Martin O'Rourke (0-1), B Mallon (0-1), P Toal (0-3, two frees); K O'Rourke (0-1), R Clarke, R Henderson (4-3). Subs: C Rafferty for Donnelly (17 mins), S Kernan (0-4, one free) for R Clarke, 32 mins, yellow), P McKeever for M O'Rourke (60 mins), Michael O'Rourke (0-1) for Toal (68 mins).

WEXFORD: A Masterson; A Doyle, E Bradley, G Murphy; G Molloy, C Morris, B Malone; D Fogarty (1-0), B Doyle; C Deely, P Colfer (1-1), C Byrne; C Lyng (0-4, two frees), PJ Banville, S Cullen (0-3, one free). Subs: D Kehoe for Fogarty, C Murphy for G Murphy, M Forde for Banville (all 50 mins), D Kinsella (0-1) for Deely (55 mins, also blood sub for Colfer, 20 mins), P Byrne for Lyng (64 mins).

Referee: M Condon (Waterford).

[Goats Do Shave]

on henderson - i am delighted to see someone weighing in with scores as its what armagh badly need, however... he's a finisher and doesn't get involved/show for possession. against good defences he'll be required to do his bit or there'll be no chances for anyone to finish. bit like michael owen, who doesn't contribute to general play. hopefully there'll be a good balance from him and he can produce an all round game and still score!

I'd totally disagree with you there. Henderson tackled back successfully on at least 3 occasions! He was full of running which was proved by the space he found to get his scores. He was out in front everytime the ball was kicked near him!

SK was super also - his point where he collected the ball in his own half back line, then burst through to score a point was sensational.