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Kildare hammering Antrim. Our whole year hinges on that game in Newbridge
hunting (Wexford) - Posts: 1171 - 08/02/2026 15:12:14
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Replying To Afinestick96: "Happy with the win last night . Tucker and Simon were excellent . Backs are a worry we need Simon and Patsy back there asap . If we beat Dublin are we promoted due to head to head rule?" I don't think so because if we were to beat Dublin and then lose against Clare and Kildare and if Kildare were to win all their remaining games, we'd either lose out on H2H to Kildare or else we'd be in a three-way-tie with Kildare and Dublin on 8 points which would come down to score difference in the six league games
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 862 - 08/02/2026 15:19:01
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Replying To hunting: "Kildare hammering Antrim. Our whole year hinges on that game in Newbridge" Not sure I'd read much into any one league game, they lost to Dublin last week by 14 points and only scored 2 points from play (And hit 15 wides)
Antrim do seem poor though, were three down at HT but looks like they threw in the towel when they conceded the first goal today
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 862 - 08/02/2026 15:22:16
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Replying To hunting: "Kildare hammering Antrim. Our whole year hinges on that game in Newbridge" How do you figure that? We've 6 points on the board. I'd say we're expected to finish third and that's possible based on the panel challenges we've had
Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 4208 - 08/02/2026 15:30:42
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Next two games are the acid test anyway, the first three games were about two things: winning and giving young players experience. 2/2 on that front but only just about!
Can forgive the Antrim game given how bad conditions were (Think they must be very mentally brittle and the late goal they conceded to us broke them), Down game is less forgivable, Clare beat them by 3-33 to 0-15 and Carlow beat them by 10, we were 0-17 to 0-07 up about 25 minutes in so were on the right track but it was the performance from there on in that was the issue. Think last night was an improvement (Carlow were competitive enough against KK, Dublin, and Galway two years ago in Leinster and did beat Waterford in the league last year, were close enough to full-strength outside of James Doyle being missing)
I'd like to know what were the specific defensive issues people thought we had last night, they scored 0-03 points from play inside the first 10 minutes but the scored 1-05 from play the rest of the way, it wasn't as if they were giving our backs the run-around IMO, felt like it was nearly Chris Nolan by himself versus our defence. The half-back-line under the high ball was an issue but again, that was nearly Chris Nolan and Marty Kavanagh by themselves. It was really frees that were killing us but we were also getting frees too, think the free count would've been lower for both sides had it been Championship. If they weren't scoring from frees, they weren't really scoring at all and most of their frees did come in the half-forward-line under the high ball and the resulting breaks
We scored 1-18 from play, 0-15 of that came from out starting forwards, thought our use of the ball was good so wouldn't criticise the defence on that count. Have to admit that while Carlow do have good forwards, their backs are weak outside of Kevin McDonald so we should be scoring big against them
As I said above, Dublin and Clare will be the acid tests (Good chance the Kildare game will be a dead-rubber for both sides), we're about to get a much better understanding of where we really stand
Don't know what the deal is with Patsy, it's not good that he's still suffering from concussion from last year's championship, wish him all the best on that front, his health is more important than his hurling
If fit, I'd like him at centre-back and Damien Reck at wing-back, would rather Conor Foley and Richie Lawlor at either wing-back/midfield, think Wickham would be better in midfield too (Needs to stop planting his feet when striking), full-back is still an issue though, could maybe play Donohoe there but who goes in the corner then? I like Whelan but it's hard to see him starting Championship given he hasn't played a minute there in the first three games, could play Dempsey at full-back either, Molloy could play there too but that'd mean someone else at 6
Think we're best off with a sweeper given how weak our spine has been in recent years, would only play it in the Championship though, wouldn't be willing to show our hand in the league
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 862 - 08/02/2026 16:01:43
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Replying To Doylerwex: "How do you figure that? We've 6 points on the board. I'd say we're expected to finish third and that's possible based on the panel challenges we've had" Think he means our championship opener . We have them in the last game of the league in Wexford park
Afinestick96 (Wexford) - Posts: 854 - 08/02/2026 16:03:28
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Replying To hunting: "Kildare hammering Antrim. Our whole year hinges on that game in Newbridge" Id say you are great craic out?
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18292 - 08/02/2026 16:14:48
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Replying To ElGranSenor: "I don't think so because if we were to beat Dublin and then lose against Clare and Kildare and if Kildare were to win all their remaining games, we'd either lose out on H2H to Kildare or else we'd be in a three-way-tie with Kildare and Dublin on 8 points which would come down to score difference in the six league games" Alot of hurling to be played between now and the end of the League. I really hope we arent playing our best hurling in any of the last 3 League games if it means we are flat come championship. Or carrying alot of injuries.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18292 - 08/02/2026 16:16:48
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Replying To Doylerwex: "How do you figure that? We've 6 points on the board. I'd say we're expected to finish third and that's possible based on the panel challenges we've had" Game in Newbridge is the Leinster championship opener, our league game against Kildare is in Wexford park
goreyll (Wexford) - Posts: 175 - 08/02/2026 16:43:41
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Well lads a bit of a improvement last night a good win.. big test now in 2 weeks in croke park.. really need to stop the stupid frees its killing us in games.. can see Donohoe chin start in 2 weeks.. was very impressed with tucker Kinsella took his scores very well…. Also been very impressed with Eamonn wickam in all the games very tenacious defender and really attacks the ball… anyone know any update on Liam Ryan… I heard Shane Reck has long term injury patsy has concussion and is waiting to see specialist..
gannett83 (Wexford) - Posts: 332 - 08/02/2026 17:49:02
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Replying To goreyll: "One takeaway from me is our passing needs to be more accurate, to the hand. No excuses especially short passes. Most times the player receiving had to control with the hurl first." He doesn't have to control it with his hurl first. Watch back again. Hes just in the habit of doing it because players arent told that that is wrong all the way up. Young lads as their stick work gets better think that its cool to catch the ball that way, when in fact it just slows their game down. Bad coaches not correcting them then doesn't help.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18292 - 08/02/2026 17:52:23
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Replying To goreyll: "Game in Newbridge is the Leinster championship opener, our league game against Kildare is in Wexford park" Ah that's right. Makes a bit more sense so. I wasn't thinking that far ahead yet.
Right now we've no Idea where anyone will be at come championship.
Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 4208 - 08/02/2026 18:23:37
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Replying To Viking66: "He doesn't have to control it with his hurl first. Watch back again. Hes just in the habit of doing it because players arent told that that is wrong all the way up. Young lads as their stick work gets better think that its cool to catch the ball that way, when in fact it just slows their game down. Bad coaches not correcting them then doesn't help." I'm not sure which player you're thinking of but I saw it across the field. I thought some of Fanning's short passes to the full back line were poor. Totally agree it slows down the game and allows the opposition to circle, needs to be worked on in my opinion
goreyll (Wexford) - Posts: 175 - 08/02/2026 18:50:14
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Replying To goreyll: "I'm not sure which player you're thinking of but I saw it across the field. I thought some of Fanning's short passes to the full back line were poor. Totally agree it slows down the game and allows the opposition to circle, needs to be worked on in my opinion" Loads of our Senior lads. And underage lads. Not anyone in particular. Even some of our most experienced lads do it.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18292 - 08/02/2026 19:05:41
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Suppose the next two games are the real acid tests (Good chance that the Kildare game will be a dead-rubber)
I don't think our defence was as bad as others (Carlow got three points from play early on but they only scored 1-05 from play after the ten-minute mark and our use of the ball was decent enough albeit against a team who sat off us) but we will have a much better idea of where we stand after the Dublin and Clare games
Would rather see Dempsey at full-back and Foley at wing-back (Or maybe even midfield), think I'd rather Lawlor at wing-back or midfield as well, I like Wickham but think he's a midfielder too, thought Damien Reck played well last night and he should probably be centre-back for the next few games but don't think he's really a centre-back either
Given Dublin lost to Clare and the fact they played in 1B last year, this game is pretty much a must-win for them and they had a good team last year and seem to have a settled enough squad
Think I'm looking more for a performance than a result against Dublin, we've a young and inexperienced team who are learning game by game (Three tight enough games might not actually be a bad thing in the long-run that way), need these players to compete and to show that they can be relied upon come Championship time
I suppose the next two games will really shape how we view this league. Do badly and people will say the warning signs were there all along and we're in a really bad spot for the Championship. Do well and people will say that we had a young squad missing key players and were playing in difficult conditions but managed to come out on the right side and now have those key players returning to the fold right at the right time
No hiding place come 5PM in Croker on Saturday week then
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 862 - 08/02/2026 19:34:28
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