Offaly .v. Wexford - SFC Round 1 Qualifier - 4th/July/2009

[TheManFromFerbane]

I'll start this off so.

Was chatting about this with a few of the lads at the weekend. One of them raised a good point and it probably ties back into the whole drinking thing. If the lads can't see that something is building and that there is something in the future to strive for then its hard to motivate them to stay off the drink and put in any effort for these qualifiers.

I don't think they believe there is any hope for the future and even though I'd love to think the pride in the jersey and all the ra-ra-ra stuff is enough but I don't think it is gonna be.

[Bord na Mona man]

I really think there needed to be action in the club championships to keep the players focussed.
Training and challenge matches hardly help to keep the boredom levels down.

Wexford are beatable on paper, but I just wonder how up for this game Offaly will be?

[Lone Shark]

I continue to be amazed in a county with such a proven track record for not caring about the qualifiers, no management team ever seems to stand up after the Leinster Championship exit and say to his team something along the lines of:

"We won't be winning the All Ireland this year, however I consider the qualifiers to be an important stepping stone for where I want this team to go and I want to give it our best shot. There are players here who have proven down the years that they aren't driven by getting a win or two in this system so rather than lads staying involved and giving it 60% focus, I would prefer that anyone who isn't interested just come to me tonight and say you want to walk away. Anyone who does that will receive my thanks and will be watched during the club championship and considered for inclusion in the 2010 panel just the same as anyone else."

I'm bloody sick of dancing this same waltz every summer - we get the same names, the same team, but clearly they have mentally tuned out. Perhaps we are about to find out to the contrary and I will be absolutely delighted if that's the case, but the signs are not good. I mean honest to God, there are lads I know both in Offaly and out who have made serious personal lifestyle adjustments for the last few months to prepare for club championships, often Junior A and Junior B championships, and yet we can't seem to get together a panel of lads willing to do that for Offaly?

Now I'm not best qualified to speak on the whole drinking issue, however I remain very sceptical about how much harm a few drinks two weeks before a game can really do to twenty-something year old lads, and I think Turk raised an excellent point about how there is a danger of fellas giving up drink and thus going easy in training etc. because in their minds, they have done what it takes to be "committed" to the cause. All that said, unmerciful benders in full view of the county you are supposedly representing is hardly best practice. There are fellas in this county who have talent, albeit in some cases maybe not as much as out stars, but enough to make them interesting candidates, and who more relevantly would be willing to do anything it takes to play for Offaly to the best of their ability. Surely they deserve these qualifiers more than lads who are just marking time? What's the worst that can happen? Will a lad who might be a little overmatched against Red Barry or Ciarán Lyng really do any worse than a fella who has more talent but just can't wait to get this over with? I don't think so myself.

The sad thing is that there is ample opportunity here for a good run which could set us up rightly for 2010. If Kildare have proved nothing else, it's that a feeble exit from a Leinster championship one year can still lead to real competitiveness the next. Wexford are just as demoralised and no better a team than we are. We beat them WITH Forde in their team only three years ago, and a good win in front of a hostile crowd could unify our team more than anything. After that, a game against a losing semi finalist offers plenty of opportunity. You get to play a team that has just lost a game, and out of the eight teams we could draw - Laois, Westmeath, Roscommon, Sligo, Cavan, Derry, Kerry and Clare - only Derry and Kerry would be big favourtiees against us while other than Sligo who played well yesterday, every one of those counties is coming in on the back of a heavy and hurtful defeat.

I really hope that this is how the players are looking at this, because a good run is there for them if they choose to treat this the right way.

[naasmanxrhode]

Offaly 7/4 Wexford 8/15 (paddy power odds), if this match was in Tullamore these odds would be reversed, if Offaly are up for it then 7/4 could be a great price

[Treasurer]

Is anyone planning on getting to both matches? Am I only fooling myself to be considering it, especially when the hurling would be my priority to begin with??

[Lone Shark]

Right now that's the plan, though other factors could banjax that yet. The likely complete lack of interest from anyone in Wexford makes it plausible to get away from Wexford Park in time.

Out of curiosity Treas, was any approach made to maybe play the game in Bunclody? I know it's too late now, but they've a new set up in there and it would have made life an awful lot easier for us.

[Treasurer]

Right now that's the plan, though other factors could banjax that yet. The likely complete lack of interest from anyone in Wexford makes it plausible to get away from Wexford Park in time.

Out of curiosity Treas, was any approach made to maybe play the game in Bunclody? I know it's too late now, but they've a new set up in there and it would have made life an awful lot easier for us.

No idea, sorry.

I want to go to it but I'll be ripping if I miss big chunk of the hurling.

[Lone Shark]

Right now that's the plan, though other factors could banjax that yet. The likely complete lack of interest from anyone in Wexford makes it plausible to get away from Wexford Park in time.

Out of curiosity Treas, was any approach made to maybe play the game in Bunclody? I know it's too late now, but they've a new set up in there and it would have made life an awful lot easier for us.

No idea, sorry.

I want to go to it but I'll be ripping if I miss big chunk of the hurling.

It's eminently possible that you would. If I do decide to go it'll be on the basis that I'm likely to miss some of it, since otherwise it would lead to some kamikaze driving on the way back.

[Bord na Mona man]

I'm sizing it up.
It would need a lot of planning - Be parked near the ground exit, sprint to the car when the ref is about to blow the whistle etc.
The N80 is hard to make progress on though. A few tractors and lorries on the road holding you up could mess it up big time.

[Treasurer]

Right now that's the plan, though other factors could banjax that yet. The likely complete lack of interest from anyone in Wexford makes it plausible to get away from Wexford Park in time.

Out of curiosity Treas, was any approach made to maybe play the game in Bunclody? I know it's too late now, but they've a new set up in there and it would have made life an awful lot easier for us.

No idea, sorry.

I want to go to it but I'll be ripping if I miss big chunk of the hurling.

It's eminently possible that you would. If I do decide to go it'll be on the basis that I'm likely to miss some of it, since otherwise it would lead to some kamikaze driving on the way back.

That's just it, sensible option is hurling only

[Bord na Mona man]

2 possible routes:

Via New Ross and Kilkenny - 2 hours 36 mins according to google maps
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source= ... scAEw%3B&m

Via Enniscorthy and Carlow - 2 hours 25 mins according to google maps

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source= ... 469177&z=9

The problem, is both routes send you through towns with bad traffic, so those timings are optimistic.
It will be a Saturday with shoppers and the like.
Then you have to get across Tellamore and try and park the car.

[Plain of the Herbs]

I came and went by Kilkenny and New Ross the last day. Now I'm not going to Wexford this time (one seventy minute spell of blunt force trauma is enough for one day), but Kilkenny is by-passed, and so is New Ross, leaving really only Portlaoise (which ye have to negotiate anyway) and the right turn onto the main road in Durrow, as the major stumbling blocks. Once ye pass the New Ross road rindybout, it's open country.

I don't know what the towns on the other road are like, but had some of ye a hold-up in Bunclody the last day? What's Enniscorthy like? Or Carlow?

Just something to consider.

[Bord na Mona man]

What's Enniscorthy like? Or Carlow?

Enniscorthy is fairly bad for traffic.
I'd say the Kilkenny route would be better.

[black and red exile]

If we go to extra time in Wexford Park we may as well forget about the hurling which would be a killer. Can you imagine how much easier it would be for us all if the bloody football was at 2pm. Our best bet is to weigh up how the football is panning out, for instance if one team or the other, preferably ourselves of course are say 4 or 5 points up with about 3 mins to go then we could break tradition and leave early for the car and back to Tullamore with a bit to spare before the hurling but it's a case of wait and see. What a lift a win in Wexford Park would do for the whole County on Saturday. Can you imagine losing this game because of attitude and then for Wexford to be drawn against the likes of Clare the following week, an opportunity lost and for that incentive alone I have a sneaky feeling our lads might just get over the line and produce a performance in beating a very ordinary Wexford team.

[This Year's Model]

First things first: why in the name of God could they not have put the throw-in back to 14.00 - or even 13.30, for all that the locals could care?
In the interests of safety it is pure madness to be inviting/forcing people (no matter how small a number) to speed in their cars!

Secondly, the N11/N80 is the only route I would recommend. The thoughts of anyone driving the Kilkenny-Durrow Road in a hurry just fills me with dread.

Having driven the length of the N80 for half my life, you will always get from Carlow to Tullamore in a little over an hour, even allowing for Portlaoise being a bit busy at 5 on a Saturday. You can sort of bypass the town if you go right then left at the church, but you need to know where you're going after that. Wexford to Carlow should take little over an hour. There are temporary traffic lights coming into Bunclody, but not the mad detour over a pothole-strewn boreen that was there for the hurling.

Get to Wexford in plenty of time and park your car just beyond the Clonard terrace facing away from the ground. Drive in the Clonard Road so you'll know your way back to the dual-carriageway after the game. In the absence of Extra-Time, the game should finish at 4.00 and you'll get to Tullamore in 2.5 hours comfortably. You won't be held up in Enniscorthy. Make sure you take the ring road around Carlow though.

As for the game I'm finding it hard to care. It would be nice to get one competitive win in '09 ......