Offaly Vs Wexford 2/6/12 Leinster Championship

[SearingDrive]

Let's give Wexford a taste of Offaly passion on Saturday night, and send them back to pick strawberries for the summer. According to RTE's GAA programme tonight, hosted by Marty Morrissey, we haven't a hope. Come on Offaly.

[townman]

yes it was all about wexford tonight and 1996 never said anything about 1969,81,82,84,88,94,95,98,2000,
and we will add 2012 this weekend

[SearingDrive]

yes it was all about wexford tonight and 1996 never said anything about 1969,81,82,84,88,94,95,98,2000,
and we will add 2012 this weekend

I suppose that was 'groupthink', very popular in RTE!

[Over The Black Spot]

The pesky yallabellies are coming to our patch to play by our rules at last in championship and I'm feckin stuck out of the country with work. Hope to be home Sunday evening for a bit of celebrating!

To the match, and I don't mean to sound like a doubting thomas, but I have a very bad feeling about this one. I see us doing well enough at the back but we'll have to cut out the soft goals we tended to concede during the league. With our best six backs back insitu, we should be able to tighten things up pretty well.

It's our forward line I worry about, with only Joe Bergin likely to win his own ball and score. Dooley, Carroll and Parlon will all score but won't win much possession. Colin Egan, while he'll no doubt be stuck in everything, lacks the bit of cuteness that would make him more of an inter-county hurler while Brendan Murphy will try hard, will get a couple of scores but can only be expected to do so much at this stage of his career.

Our midfield should hold their own but again, neither man would be known for using possession overly well.

From what I've seen of Baker so far I don't hold out much hope of him pulling off some kind of tactical masterplan and I have to agree with POTH that our 'home' selectors seem to be redundant.

I hope I'm wrong and that this Offaly man will be jumping for joy in front of some very bemused foreigners Saturday afternoon but I'm low on confidence....

C'MON THE FAITHFUL

[fifitrixiebelle]

wexford wont line out as selected. dunne is cute out while baker was always a thick even when hurlin for clare.

not confident about this match at all

[aze111]

Dooley will clean up tomorrow. Hope Brian Carroll can leave a tame couple of seasons behind him and put in a big performance.

[townman]

wexford wont line out as selected. dunne is cute out while baker was always a thick even when hurlin for clare.

not confident about this match at all

can you not forgive clare for doing the double over your tipp in 1997, he has a good job in theses times whos the thick

[Bord na Mona man]

There is a fairly obvious reason why people are nervous.
Since the year 2000, Limerick are the only side we've actually beaten who were ranked in the Top 9.
We haven't actually beaten any top side in a tight game either.

In the last 12 years, there are about 5 tight games where Offaly definitely could and probably should have won.
Worryingly, 3 or those were against Wexford ('03, '04, '06). The others being Clare '05 and Tipp '07.

In the last couple of years we've shown ourselves to be dogged in chasing leads, without ever looking like winners.

2011 - Dublin and Cork. Offaly gainfully stayed on their coat tails, but still came up short.
2010 - 2 good fight backs against Galway, but again no win.

Even in this year's league the Clare and Limerick games were ones where Offaly chased rather than dictated.
Maybe we're like the dog chasing the car - but not knowing what to do when we catch it.
So supporters are now finding it hard to visualise what an Offaly win over a decent side would look like.

So it's vitally important that Ollie Baker has this Offaly team fired up to go out and bloody well WIN the game.
Not to fill the players' heads with talk of disrupting Wexford, stopping Wexford, giving it our best shot, fighting to the last. Ultimately the talk of losers.

Because then, no matter how bad Wexford turn out to be, mentally we've asked them to go out the dictate the game and we're all psyched up to respond to it.

We'll win this game if the heads are right and the team isn't afraid of winning.

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

A few thoughts are coming through here now that lads are nervous about the game and the outcome, nothing at all wrong with that! Any time ya go out to play a game if you aint nervous then you aint up for it. It should be the same with the Offaly support, we are craving a victory and for anyone under 15 or 16 they wont remember anything of note. WE NEED TO LET WEXFORD KNOW THEY ARE OUR PATCH, OUR FIELD and LETS MAKE THIS AN EVENING WHERE WE, AS SUPPORTERS STAND UP AND DO THERE BIT.
Never mind the teams performance, Dublin last year, a disgrace, Galway 2010, an utter disgrace, not 1500 in croker, Antrim, not 1500 in Parnell park, League this year. We all whinged about being relegated, we got a reprieve and had decent teams coming to town and couldnt be bothered getting of our arses to get out there and see them.
GET OFF YER ARSES AND GET OVER TO TULLAMORE TOMORRO EVENING!( Yes, I am shouting!!) Because this will tell us where we stand as a county as much as anything else, time to get rid of the apathy out there, and the team has a role to play in this.

On a side note, Bracknaghboy, I have heard of announcers at GAA grounds announcing that X Y and Z wont play and are replaced by A B & C, ye must have moved on in Bracknagh where ye are announcing positional switches before the game!! I totally disagree, if Baker wants to shuffle a few players around on paper then its his right and no harm in it , and his players are clear on his strategy.
I agree totally that Baker's home selectors are not adding value, and I would imagine he brought in the lads so he could have a free reign. Fair enough as long as the guys he has Cunnningham & his side kick are able to help him.
As for Fifi, an outrageous comment, Baker was a hard man on the field physically, but he was not one of the main protaganists of some of the dirt that Clare tarnished their reputation with. Far from a "thick" off the field also. Bugger off back to you mates in Ballingarry!

Cmon the Faithful, lets go for a 10% turnout, roughly 6,000 Biffo's with the scent of Strawberries in the air, time for a feast lads!!!

[townman]

wexford wont line out as selected. dunne is cute out while baker was always a thick even when hurlin for clare.

not confident about this match at all

as pat Short would say i hate them Bally crowd

[Bord na Mona man]

A few thoughts are coming through here now that lads are nervous about the game and the outcome, nothing at all wrong with that! Any time ya go out to play a game if you aint nervous then you aint up for it. It should be the same with the Offaly support, we are craving a victory and for anyone under 15 or 16 they wont remember anything of note. WE NEED TO LET WEXFORD KNOW THEY ARE OUR PATCH, OUR FIELD and LETS MAKE THIS AN EVENING WHERE WE, AS SUPPORTERS STAND UP AND DO THERE BIT.:

Go home Wexford!

[Abercrombie Fitch]

Between Marty Morrissey and co last night and Davy Fitz in the Star today it would seem nobody is giving us much of a hope in tomorrows game, except the bookies perhaps. I find this hard to fathom considering home advantage and the quality of the 15 named.

I'm struggling to remember a first round game I've looked forward to more in years. I really hope the lads hurl to their ability because I find it hard to see us being bet if they do.

I just hope that the game being on tv dosent effect the crowd. Watching sport on tv should be reserved for Heineken Cup and Prem League. Gaa championship needs to be sampled in person. The kids who were all brought to Clara on the 20th to see KK need to be brought to O'Connor Park in equal numbers.

[durra1]

Marty ‘the Blowfish’ Morrissey’s show last night was more of the same from RTE

Some producer who knows nothing about hurling : “Right, where are the bigger populations between these two and where are there more of the right ABC demographic for our advertisers”

Researcher : “Wexford 145,320, Offaly 76,687 in the 2011 census. Half of North Wexford are Dublin ex-pats and commuterzone types”

Producer: “OK Wexford twice over – when did wexford last have a good team?”

Researcher : “1996. They sang a song about it and the key players repopulated the county” “They beat Offaly in the Leinster final that year”

Producer : “Right – get onto of the main players, we’ll do an interview, show the fans invading the pitch at the end of the 1996 Leinster final , and get some journalist in who will read the party line – get the Wexford fans that thinking they are going to win it again”

This game is all about getting our heads right. I’m sick of being beaten by Wexford with better sides on paper.

Hup de Faithful!

[townman]

i suppose in a way its grand that theres not a word about us let Davie and co blow wexford up all they like that will do us fine.
if theres anything in this offaly side it should come out saturday evening there alot who are there a few years now and a good few
who were there in 2009 again wexford in wexford park that sunny saturday evening that have to right a few wrongs.

the near it comes the more i think we will do well and claim a good victory and win well to UP THE FAITHFUL............

[Kevin]

Marty ‘the Blowfish’ Morrissey’s show last night was more of the same from RTE

Some producer who knows nothing about hurling : “Right, where are the bigger populations between these two and where are there more of the right ABC demographic for our advertisers”

Researcher : “Wexford 145,320, Offaly 76,687 in the 2011 census. Half of North Wexford are Dublin ex-pats and commuterzone types”

Producer: “OK Wexford twice over – when did wexford last have a good team?”

Researcher : “1996. They sang a song about it and the key players repopulated the county” “They beat Offaly in the Leinster final that year”

Producer : “Right – get onto of the main players, we’ll do an interview, show the fans invading the pitch at the end of the 1996 Leinster final , and get some journalist in who will read the party line – get the Wexford fans that thinking they are going to win it again”

This game is all about getting our heads right. I’m sick of being beaten by Wexford with better sides on paper.

Hup de Faithful!

Nailed the 'research' there.

Marty The Blowfish!

And when its all over I can already hear the talking heads congratulating themselves saying, 'well we always knew this was a good Offaly team, blah, blah, blah...'.

COME ON OFFALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!