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Wexford Hurling Thread

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Replying To hunting: "Under 20 lost to Antrim. Don't know anymore than that. Seen it said on Antrim twitter club account." I was there, brought the kids for the spin up to Belfield UCD as I didnt have time to get to Clare to see the Footballers after the u14 divisional training yesterday morning. There were 3 3rds played, a half hour, followed by 20 minutes, followed by 15 minutes that I think was supposed to be 20 minutes but wasn't. Not that too many were unhappy about that as there were frequent showers of rain and hail accompanied by driving wind! Antrim were pretty impressive, played a pretty short game and played it well. Their passing and movement was good, their lads hurled fast, and they played with good intensity. We were missing starters who didnt travel for 1 reason or another, I didnt see Sean O'Brien there for example, and played pretty mixed teams for all 3 periods. In each period we probably had around 8 or 9 starters, but all our lads who were up there seemed to get gametime. This showed a bit in our play, which was a little disjointed, particularly attacking play. We didnt have the same fluency as Antrim had moving the ball through the lines. And didnt create many clear cut goal chances. We had a good few more shots than they did, but there was a fierce diagonal crosswind which made point scoring hard. The difference between the teams was that they got 2 goals, while we didnt get any and lost by 3 points I think. I didnt have a teamsheet but some of the lads who I think played well were Darragh Ryan, only u18 but looked strong when he came on and was excellent on the placed balls in really poor conditions, Vincent Higgins who did well for the u19s last year, Niall Furlong, Jack Nolan. Ciaran Doyle played well too. Not sure of all the names and numbers of these lads tbh Ive only seen them twice this year. And I got landed with a bit of a job so I didnt get to concentrate too hard on any specific players hurling for any great length. Some of our bigger lads could do with getting more aggressive maybe, they didnt dominate their areas of the pitch and some looked a little slow, mentally and/or physically, around it. In fairness to this group they have won most of their other challenge games which were mainly against Munster counties. Not 100% sure but the only 2 losses I know of were yesterday and against Cork in PUC, though they beat Cork in another challenge game this year. In the 2 games Ive seen Ive been pretty impressed by the tactical set up of the team, they seem to be doing the basic stuff well, (puckout strategy, team positional set up etc) and are mixing up the long and short games. Hopefully they go well come championship! Best of luck to them all!! Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18807 - 16/03/2026 14:06:26 2661483 Link
Replying To Viking66: "I was there, brought the kids for the spin up to Belfield UCD as I didnt have time to get to Clare to see the Footballers after the u14 divisional training yesterday morning. There were 3 3rds played, a half hour, followed by 20 minutes, followed by 15 minutes that I think was supposed to be 20 minutes but wasn't. Not that too many were unhappy about that as there were frequent showers of rain and hail accompanied by driving wind! Antrim were pretty impressive, played a pretty short game and played it well. Their passing and movement was good, their lads hurled fast, and they played with good intensity. We were missing starters who didnt travel for 1 reason or another, I didnt see Sean O'Brien there for example, and played pretty mixed teams for all 3 periods. In each period we probably had around 8 or 9 starters, but all our lads who were up there seemed to get gametime. This showed a bit in our play, which was a little disjointed, particularly attacking play. We didnt have the same fluency as Antrim had moving the ball through the lines. And didnt create many clear cut goal chances. We had a good few more shots than they did, but there was a fierce diagonal crosswind which made point scoring hard. The difference between the teams was that they got 2 goals, while we didnt get any and lost by 3 points I think. I didnt have a teamsheet but some of the lads who I think played well were Darragh Ryan, only u18 but looked strong when he came on and was excellent on the placed balls in really poor conditions, Vincent Higgins who did well for the u19s last year, Niall Furlong, Jack Nolan. Ciaran Doyle played well too. Not sure of all the names and numbers of these lads tbh Ive only seen them twice this year. And I got landed with a bit of a job so I didnt get to concentrate too hard on any specific players hurling for any great length. Some of our bigger lads could do with getting more aggressive maybe, they didnt dominate their areas of the pitch and some looked a little slow, mentally and/or physically, around it. In fairness to this group they have won most of their other challenge games which were mainly against Munster counties. Not 100% sure but the only 2 losses I know of were yesterday and against Cork in PUC, though they beat Cork in another challenge game this year. In the 2 games Ive seen Ive been pretty impressed by the tactical set up of the team, they seem to be doing the basic stuff well, (puckout strategy, team positional set up etc) and are mixing up the long and short games. Hopefully they go well come championship! Best of luck to them all!!" Were Antrim chopping and changing as well? I suppose they won the Ulster U20 Final just over a week ago and think they have to go qualify from the Leinster preliminaries in a few weeks in order to make the round-robin stage, they probably need to be sharp for that which I'm guessing is the weekend coming ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 986 - 16/03/2026 15:58:27 2661505 Link
Replying To ElGranSenor: "Were Antrim chopping and changing as well? I suppose they won the Ulster U20 Final just over a week ago and think they have to go qualify from the Leinster preliminaries in a few weeks in order to make the round-robin stage, they probably need to be sharp for that which I'm guessing is the weekend coming" They made fewer subs. They looked very sharp it has to be said. Competition ready. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18807 - 16/03/2026 17:03:27 2661515 Link
Replying To ElGranSenor: "Were Antrim chopping and changing as well? I suppose they won the Ulster U20 Final just over a week ago and think they have to go qualify from the Leinster preliminaries in a few weeks in order to make the round-robin stage, they probably need to be sharp for that which I'm guessing is the weekend coming" Antrim are away to Meath this Sunday in Trim in their first Championship game, then if they win that they will be home to Carlow maybe as early as the Thursday after that. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18807 - 16/03/2026 17:06:45 2661516 Link
Replying To Viking66: "They made fewer subs. They looked very sharp it has to be said. Competition ready." Yeah, that would make sense tbf From their side, they probably wanted to road test their starters and have them ready for Championship while we might've had a few lads who hadn't got as much gametime as others and we wanted to see what they were about I'd say that's the problem with trying to read anything into Minor/U20 practice matches, you don't know who was missing ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 986 - 16/03/2026 22:10:21 2661541 Link
Replying To ElGranSenor: "Yeah, that would make sense tbf From their side, they probably wanted to road test their starters and have them ready for Championship while we might've had a few lads who hadn't got as much gametime as others and we wanted to see what they were about I'd say that's the problem with trying to read anything into Minor/U20 practice matches, you don't know who was missing" There's absolutely nothing to be read from challenge games. Was talking to a man who was very involved with the 3 in a row Leinster u21 teams and he said they only won around 4 challenge games. Still won 3 Leinster titles. We wont know how our u20s and minors really are until they start playing championship games. Hopefully they will go well. Best of luck to both teams and managements. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18807 - 17/03/2026 14:44:10 2661602 Link
Replying To Viking66: "There's absolutely nothing to be read from challenge games. Was talking to a man who was very involved with the 3 in a row Leinster u21 teams and he said they only won around 4 challenge games. Still won 3 Leinster titles. We wont know how our u20s and minors really are until they start playing championship games. Hopefully they will go well. Best of luck to both teams and managements." What's the point in having them so? Waltermitty2 (Wexford) - Posts: 300 - 17/03/2026 19:26:06 2661622 Link
Replying To Waltermitty2: "What's the point in having them so?" For lads to get match practice/experience, and teams to try out different formations/tactics. Might help with team selection also. Lads get practice games all the way up from u10. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18807 - 17/03/2026 20:13:27 2661625 Link
Replying To Waltermitty2: "What's the point in having them so?" To get match practice Getting the match in matters a lot more than the result ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 986 - 17/03/2026 20:51:18 2661628 Link
I suppose the benifit of challenge matches is for the management team to look at certain players. To see if x or y is making progress and if they would be up to league or championship standard. Yes they are limited as to what they can achieve but if it helps a little then it is useful. Brian Cody would not play challenge matches, unless it was for a good cause. He always maintained that in house games were best. Ì suppose you can't argue with that. The success he had proves that. Magpie2 (Wexford) - Posts: 649 - 18/03/2026 00:47:12 2661639 Link
Good to read that Shane Reck is back in the panel! Fair play to him! Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18807 - 18/03/2026 07:23:22 2661640 Link
Simon Donohoe out of Saturday's game Richie Lawlor and Philip Dempsey also both probably out Shane Reck back in the panel Jippo not ready and getting back "slowly but surely" ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 986 - 18/03/2026 07:58:13 2661641 Link
Replying To ElGranSenor: "Simon Donohoe out of Saturday's game Richie Lawlor and Philip Dempsey also both probably out Shane Reck back in the panel Jippo not ready and getting back "slowly but surely"" Great to hear Shane is back . If we can get him , Jippo and Simon fit and ready for championship it should really add to our experience and make us more solid at the back Afinestick96 (Wexford) - Posts: 938 - 18/03/2026 10:14:00 2661651 Link
Replying To Viking66: "For lads to get match practice/experience, and teams to try out different formations/tactics. Might help with team selection also. Lads get practice games all the way up from u10." I agree about the results in challenge games but to say ya can't read anything into it i don't agree. You can learn alot about lads in these games. Waltermitty2 (Wexford) - Posts: 300 - 18/03/2026 10:24:56 2661653 Link
Replying To Magpie2: "I suppose the benifit of challenge matches is for the management team to look at certain players. To see if x or y is making progress and if they would be up to league or championship standard. Yes they are limited as to what they can achieve but if it helps a little then it is useful. Brian Cody would not play challenge matches, unless it was for a good cause. He always maintained that in house games were best. Ì suppose you can't argue with that. The success he had proves that." An awful lot to do with the group he had to be fair. Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 4332 - 18/03/2026 10:26:04 2661654 Link
Replying To ElGranSenor: "Simon Donohoe out of Saturday's game Richie Lawlor and Philip Dempsey also both probably out Shane Reck back in the panel Jippo not ready and getting back "slowly but surely"" Shame about the lads out but that's fantastic news about Shane reck. I think we'll be a good bit stronger now come championship. Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 4332 - 18/03/2026 10:27:01 2661655 Link
Replying To ElGranSenor: "Simon Donohoe out of Saturday's game Richie Lawlor and Philip Dempsey also both probably out Shane Reck back in the panel Jippo not ready and getting back "slowly but surely"" With Jippo, Cian Molloy , Jacko & Shane Reck expected back for championship our squad is starting to look stronger. Looking at our potential strongest starting team I think we havent a bad 15 if we can keep everyone fit . Its as good as we've had the last 2 to 3 years bar missing Rory this year . Our strongest 15 with everyone available v Kildare might look like. Presuming Rory wont be back for championship at this stage Fanning Carley/Niall Murphy toss up between them Liam Ryan Shane Reck S Donohoe D Reck C Molloy C Hearne C Foley/ R Lawlor Toss up between them for midfield spot Jacko S Roche Chin Cian Byrne J Redmond K Foley Afinestick96 (Wexford) - Posts: 938 - 18/03/2026 10:30:03 2661657 Link
Replying To Doylerwex: "An awful lot to do with the group he had to be fair." Very true Doyler. Magpie2 (Wexford) - Posts: 649 - 18/03/2026 12:53:58 2661674 Link
Replying To Waltermitty2: "I agree about the results in challenge games but to say ya can't read anything into it i don't agree. You can learn alot about lads in these games." You can learn alot about individual lads or groups/combinations of lads for sure. But its very hard to predict the results of Championship games based on how lads go in challenge games. Impossible probably. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18807 - 18/03/2026 14:21:27 2661691 Link
Replying To Magpie2: "I suppose the benifit of challenge matches is for the management team to look at certain players. To see if x or y is making progress and if they would be up to league or championship standard. Yes they are limited as to what they can achieve but if it helps a little then it is useful. Brian Cody would not play challenge matches, unless it was for a good cause. He always maintained that in house games were best. Ì suppose you can't argue with that. The success he had proves that." That only really works if you have 40 odds really good lads, which Cody was blessed with his entire management career. Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18807 - 18/03/2026 14:22:58 2661693 Link