Offaly v Wexford - NHL Division 2 Final (03/05/2009)

[baz]

Went into game sunday fuming at firstly queing for tickets (which gaa never said anything about)and then paying €60 for 2 adults and 2 kids under age og 6 .Another family from tipp echoed the same view .Not many are going to be able to afford to bring families in current economic climate but when we went in looking for seats marked on ticket ,the steward said sit any where .We eventually found our own one but there was a lot of problems later with people clashing over seats .Paying that money (which i cant really afford )for that type of attitude is bullshit ,only for offaly winning and the second match so good i woulnt go again .
Having that gripe out of way ,great to get an important victory over them for a change .You could see the buzz and confidence in them sunady night and it keeps things going even for next year no matter what happens in championship .Something will have to be done about dooley & bergin why not try coughlan in the corner with brady full forward .Brady caught good ball in there but no one was working of him ,at least coughlan a clever player (better than the other two at club and remember u21 for offaly ) could work better ,also as proved at club level and u21 for offaly is better than any of them at frees even from 60 yards .The backs were supper and this confidence win (how many have picked up a cup in from of 20,000 people )could bring them on a bit .
PS is there an unofficall law that says you cant hit a kilkenny man but he can hit you without anyone hammering them from gaa & media .shefflin (who nearly had to shoot a lad before being put off -which cody went mad about on sideline ) eddie brennan (always getting away with clocking lads ) & tommy walsh ( great at the sneaky stuff - swinging the hurl back ).jesus PAUL CLAERY hit comerford in portlaois 2 years ago and the media hammered him for weeks .Yet when its the other way around ,people say kilkenny lads are great hurlers and no one wants to know ,the double standards between the smaller and bigger counties gets harder as it a real struggle for counties like offaly to keep the game going .

[backofthenet]

Went into game sunday fuming at firstly queing for tickets (which gaa never said anything about)and then paying €60 for 2 adults and 2 kids under age og 6 .Another family from tipp echoed the same view .Not many are going to be able to afford to bring families in current economic climate but when we went in looking for seats marked on ticket ,the steward said sit any where .We eventually found our own one but there was a lot of problems later with people clashing over seats .Paying that money (which i cant really afford )for that type of attitude is bullshit ,only for offaly winning and the second match so good i woulnt go again .
Having that gripe out of way ,great to get an important victory over them for a change .You could see the buzz and confidence in them sunady night and it keeps things going even for next year no matter what happens in championship .Something will have to be done about dooley & bergin why not try coughlan in the corner with brady full forward .Brady caught good ball in there but no one was working of him ,at least coughlan a clever player (better than the other two at club and remember u21 for offaly ) could work better ,also as proved at club level and u21 for offaly is better than any of them at frees even from 60 yards .The backs were supper and this confidence win (how many have picked up a cup in from of 20,000 people )could bring them on a bit .
PS is there an unofficall law that says you cant hit a kilkenny man but he can hit you without anyone hammering them from gaa & media .shefflin (who nearly had to shoot a lad before being put off -which cody went mad about on sideline ) eddie brennan (always getting away with clocking lads ) & tommy walsh ( great at the sneaky stuff - swinging the hurl back ).jesus PAUL CLAERY hit comerford in portlaois 2 years ago and the media hammered him for weeks .Yet when its the other way around ,people say kilkenny lads are great hurlers and no one wants to know ,the double standards between the smaller and bigger counties gets harder as it a real struggle for counties like offaly to keep the game going .

Very true baz, a lot of people were unhappy with the ticket situation, i ended up watching the match in the pub because having seen the queue knew i wouldnt get inside in time for the offaly match. It was a joke and if its repeated again during the championship there will be uproar. Also there was nothing said about it on the sunday game which i thought was unusual as everyone was giving out about it!! Can RTE not critisise the GAA or what??

Im not sure about coughlan. I think Dooley is the best free taker we have at the minute. Brian Carrol was on the frees last year and if you remember in the Limerick game, when they came back at us after half time Carrol missed an easy free when the pressure was on, We switched Dooley to free taking duty and he slotted over the next one to give us some breathing space. I think that proves he can stand up to the pressure and is entitled to a bad game in fairness. However we should have at least 1 or 2 other good free takers that can take over. Look at Kilkenny they had Henry Shefflin sent to the line and had ritchie hogan to step up and knock points over the bar from any angle or distance. Do Offaly and the players individually themselfs not work on free taking??? Its the only reason i can think of for offaly being so bad.

Also another side note. We have no one that can crack over a line ball aswell. That is something which nearly every other county has now since Joe Canning started doing it. Wexford got 2 points from this yesterday and i think it will become more prevalent in the years to come. We need to get one forward or midfielder to train constantly at this so that is an extra string to our bow.

It was great to win but i hope they dont think that theyre years work is over, a good run in the championship is needed to restore some confidence. Unfortunately a lot of them would have collected a trophy in front of 20,000 people as they won the division 2 3 years ago i think it is. Also a lot of them would have been on the minor side that won the leinster title in front of about 60,000.

[the weasel]

People are all naming coughlan as a free taker but i would rate egan a better one and an all round better forward who i thought would really challenge for a place this year but didnt really get a chance.

[faithful till I die]

What I cant understand is why the management did not use the opportunity of playing weaker opposition in division 2 to try out different forward options. Now I know there are benefits to be had from playing a consistent 15 & it may be a factor in our promotion but what is the point of having fellas sitting on the bench scratching themselves with little or no hope of having any chance of making a meaningful contribution. It goes without saying that Joe Dooley should know a thing or two about forward players but what must it do for their state of mind when no matter how poorly they play they remain on the pitch & get picked the next day ! Look at KK, a massive factor in their success is the huge competition for places & the ruthlessness of Cody in punishing a poor performance or lack of effort. Now I know people will say its not comparing like for like, but the basic premise has to be the same no matter what the resources are. An example closer to home was Cleary last year who was in danger of losing his place, with Horan out no one can deny that his attitude is far superior this year.

[Bord na Mona man]

Another thought.
Offaly only used 2 subs on Sunday.
For purposes of running down the clock we probably should have thrown on a couple of more players?

[GreatDayForTheParish]

The following is taken from RTE.ie

'Wexford will appeal the retrospective ban handed out to forward Stephen Banville which rules him out of the county's Leinster SHC opener against Offaly on 30 May.

Banville received a ticking for an off-the-ball incident during his side's National Hurling League Division Two final defeat to the Faithful, but the Central Competition Control Committee (CCCC) have since ruled it merited a red card and recommended a four-week suspension.

If that decision stands, Banville will miss the clash by five hours, but Wexford County Secretary Margaret Doyle revealed that they would seek clarification on the correct interpretation of Rule 146 ahead of any appeal.'




Interesting if not suprising, but having viewed the incident again on TV, there can be few complaints. Good to the CCCC picking up on a foul that merited a closer look but that wasn't the subject of a media frenzy, as has happened with the Kilkenny Tipperary game.

[bula bula]

Didnt see the incident but of course he will appeal it. Really annoying that punishment is not accepted, more so when it is merited. With every decision geting appealed it makes it very difficult for the lad who actually might be innocent. In this case if Banville is missing it will greatly ease the possible loss of David Kenny who dominated him whenever the ball came between them the last day.

[Bord na Mona man]

Even more bizarre was this off the ball incident caused Wexford to get a point!
Offaly were on heading down the field on the attack when the ref noticed Kevin Brady was laid out, back up towards the Offaly goal.
He blows the whistle, goes back to where the incident took place, gives Banville the black book (should have been red) and then proceeds to restart the game with a throw-in in front of the Offaly goal.
The ball goes is sent over the sideline and Wexford scored a point from the sideline cut.

That incident, on top of the point awarded when Breeder brought down the ball down near the crossbar made me think Offaly destined to be turned over.