The referee didnt put the frees wide did he?
The referee didnt continue to leave under performing players on the pitch did he?
Davy could learn a thing or two from Jim Gavin in that regard. You don't perform you get the curly finger.
At the end of the day we had Kilkenny on the rack and we let them off the hook.
We will hammer Westmeath or Carlow and then face the Munster runner-up who is one of Cork Limerick or Clare, we will be refreshed an ready to go to battle again. Getting to a semi-final is a must anything less shows no progress in the championship.
What is the reason for players from 27-33,34 togging out on match days and running up and down the line during the game. Am I right in thinking that players above 26 cannot play in the games?

hurlorhurley (Wexford) - Posts: 1660 - 11/06/2018 10:53:24    2109793

perfect10 (Wexford) - Posts: 3929 - 11/06/2018 11:05:11    2109810

one positive from the match was Aidan Nolan and particularly that he actually took proper sideline cuts for a change

goreyll (Wexford) - Posts: 164 - 11/06/2018 11:08:14    2109815

Punter72007 (Wexford) - Posts: 319 - 11/06/2018 11:20:40    2109828

A few things you can guarantee on here during a summer when Wexford lose a game.

1. Posters not seen for months, mia suddenly reappear from the ether, like a phoenix to rise again now Wecford have lost.

2. Tis the sweeper lads, tis the sweeper.

3. Liam Dunnes name gets brought up!

We ran out of steam on Saturday night, we were out on our feet. The culmination of playing 4 weeks on the trot combined with the heat on saturday night killed us, Kilkenny were even drained on Saturday night. Theres no problem with playing 3,4 weeks in a row when every other team is in the same boat and playing the same. As for the remark about sure they would be playing a practise match anyway, seriously!!!

But again as i alluded to earlier our wide count is killing us, 16 again on saturday night, we simply cant afford that, it kills a team. Again on saturday it came back to bite us. And again our decision making on the pitch, Mac had a fine game saturday night but he tried for a shot under pressure in the 2nd half rather than play O Keefe through who was flying off the shoulder and again he tried another pot shot under pressure with Kehoe in a better position unmarked calling for the ball. Its little things like that. Again Jack O Connor had an easy chance for a score but wide.

The score from a massive free from paul Murphy went over as a result of the ref bringing the ball up because of our ill discipline, that score barely creeped over the bar, yet at the very end Fanning barely brought the ball up 3 yards when we had that free, be a bit cuter, bring it up as much as your allowed and more, land it closer to goal.

We lack a bit of cuteness and a bit of bite imho, we are too nice, Galway were like that for years but have developed that bit of cuteness and toughness.

I think we are in a very good place, if we can get a win the next day we are facing one of Limerick, Clare or Cork for a place in the semi final and will be facing them on the back of a run out and be in far better shape. Just focus on the next day now and get that job done and we are in a very good place.

tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1544 - 11/06/2018 11:50:49    2109860

Very disappointed with Davy and his line - 9 points up at one stage and we couldn't see it out .. so we whinge blaming the ref for this and that ...

Frees
I've said it before and I'll say it again - all the top teams are winning games on frees alone ... TJ Reid is the prime example .. We have two very decent free takers in Rory O' Connor and Paidi Foley ... Rory is out of his comfort zone outside 65 meters ... He starts to push his stroke for extra distance and thus sacrifice's accuracy ... Paidi Foley is a natural long range taker .. So why wasn't he told to take all the long range frees instead of us missing 4/5 of them before he took over ..

Puckouts
It too was highlighted on the Sunday Game .. We spent the 2nd half lamping puck outs on top of the KK half back line and I don't think we won one ... You can blame fatigue etc for this but surely if something isn't working someone needs to make a call ... The first half we probably retained possession from all our puckouts

Changes
We looked at MOH chasing TJ Reid for way too long .. People told me TJ Reid did no damage ... He did untold damage in the 2nd half .. Surely some change could of been made - even switch MOH with Liam Ryan ... Blanchfield did alot of damage on Firman but no change was forthcoming ... Chin didn't strike a ball for last 30 minutes and clearly was injured / fatigued / tired ... No change from the line on any of these places ..

Decision Making
In the first half we seem to make all the correct decisions ... 2nd half was complete opposite ... Conor Mc gave two prime examples when he failed to off load a pass and decided to shoot himself twice and drive wide .. Critical times in the game and reality is prob cost us at least a draw at the end ... There was times when TJ Reid was bottled up and instead of panicking or shooting he drove the ball back out the field ... possession regained

Reality is we probably better off with the route we now have in the All Ireland series ... Its a pity as I think we had the beating of Kilkenny and the first half was as good as a performance as I've seen from Wexford in a long time .. But for some reason in the 2nd half we stopped working as hard .. especially in our forwards .. too many KK lads won 50 / 50 balls .. The atmosphere in Nowlan Park was unbelievable ... and it was a great day out and great game .. Games like this show what makes the GAA special .. But I for one hope this new format stays .. It needs fine tuning maybe with teams playing 4 weeks in a row or maybe team management need to bring in some strategy for player / squad rotation ...

Now any chance of a round of local championship in the next 2 weeks :-)

MyOhMi (Wexford) - Posts: 209 - 11/06/2018 11:54:37    2109864

Short and simple the missed frees cost us. Other issues as mentioned didn't help but if we scored 2 of the missed frees we would have won and the misses didn't just cost us on the scoreboard they added to the momentum Kilkenny had making it harder for us to get into the game.

1798man (Wexford) - Posts: 164 - 11/06/2018 11:55:52    2109867

clooney (Clare) - Posts: 1000 - 11/06/2018 12:10:19    2109883

Not a lot to add from what has already been said - but with there being 4 weeks break until the preliminary Quarter finals i wouldnt see anything wrong with players going back to their clubs for a couple of weeks and playing the second round of Hurling Championship on the weekend after next 22nd to 24th - Still gives 2 weeks prep time for the game on 7/8th July and might be the break that the players need.

fearcliste (Wexford) - Posts: 178 - 11/06/2018 13:13:36    2109922

gminor (Wexford) - Posts: 488 - 11/06/2018 15:11:05    2109994

went straight up to Kilkenny from Wexford park after the dismal effort from the footballers. And it ended a bad day all round, albeit for different reasons in this game.

We had the game. We were dominating and then through our own play, let them back in. Sloppy play from O Keefe and Reck let them in for 2 easy points. Conor Mac taking glory shots when he had free men to pass the ball to for easier shots. Missing frees. Our captains, Hanlon and Chin, doing very little to lead from the front and bring us back into the game when Kilkenny got a run on us. Its an unfortunate situation in some ways, but by virtue of being captain you are scrutinised more. Hanlon was run ragged by Reid and Chin was utterly anonymous in the second half.

The defeat isnt the end of the world, we'll get a crack at a Munster side should we over come the Joe McDonagh team. And then be in the same position as if we had got to the Leinster final and lost. But, it would have been nice to go up to Kilkenny and beat them a second year in a row in championship, but this time on their soil.

We really should have seen the game out. Cody took off multiple AI winners and All star players Fennelly and Hogan at half time. Our under performing players were left on. Ultimately where the difference was.

james2011 (Wexford) - Posts: 615 - 11/06/2018 15:11:55    2109996

there is no way in the world we will have club matches,much and all as we would love it.
clooney,players make mistakes,wides,bad passes,etc.i absolutely hate the 'blame the ref' mentality in gaa.when did you ever hear a rugby coach blaming a referee,or chasing one like mcentee did this weekend?why is this acceptable in gaa?
the referee has probably 1000 calls to make in a match,he will not get everyone right,and if there is a lunatic on the sideline,dont be surprised that decisions go against the man with the white coats ready to take him back at full time.

perfect10 (Wexford) - Posts: 3929 - 11/06/2018 15:27:12    2110008

hurler101 (Wexford) - Posts: 471 - 11/06/2018 17:38:52    2110130

If we believe the ref had a bad game we shouldn't be afraid to say it. Poor Conor Mac must have had a sore back by half time. He was continuously pushed in the back but got no free. The ref saw nothing. But the wides and missed frees beat us rather than the ref

lochgarmanabu (Wexford) - Posts: 1022 - 11/06/2018 18:12:12    2110151

Lads I came on here and criticized ref but after watching it back he did give kk a couple of soft frees like the one in second half on far side line under the old stand could see no free.... then lads saying ref gave us 2 soft frees at the end which were free joey Holden clearly threw the ball on replay and TJ Reid jumped into Murphy for last free which is clearly a barching... I also think Morris was fouled by deegan off the ball tnr whole time while making runs.. also think Conor mac gets manhandled the whole time not just Saturday from Walsh but has been all league... I also agree and am not blaming the ref that we lost game I thought looking back we had some terrible wides namely a few Rory o Connor frees jack o Connors chance in second half and Conor macs 2 misses when players were in better positions.... these are ten little things that we can improve on to make us a better team little things like not taking the glory shot or little things like go Down when your touched kk do it so why can't we...also watching it back I think we gave away 5 points in second half 2 from foley being turned over carrying it out form defense 1 from Aidan Nolan 1 form reck and one form d O Keefe with a poor touch form fannings puck out in front of new stand... Paudie Foley was my man of the match of Wexford... roll on tnr quarters

gannett83 (Wexford) - Posts: 322 - 11/06/2018 19:44:01    2110202

exactly,you get nothing for being nice guys barge into them,fall on contact f it that is what all the top teams are doing.paudie maher is an expert at charging and winning a free.
morris should be telling linesman about what is happening,i do not know how the umpire called that,as an unqualified referee they have no authority to do so

perfect10 (Wexford) - Posts: 3929 - 11/06/2018 22:49:39    2110306

Fairly obvious what went on Saturday night lads. We hurled brilliantly to get ourselves in front,they stayed in the game using there unmatched ability to manufacture frees, we missed oppertunities to bury them,there fresh legs brought the mimpetus and then there ability to score there frees and our inability to consistenly nail ours killed us. Also I will say this game was lost on the line. How or why Dee O Keeffe stayed on the pitch was beyond me. It was obvious 5 minutes into the second half that he hadn't the energy to track Ritchie Leahy when he was dropping back for puck outs, leahy went on to score 2/3 points which won them the game. Why was eoin moore or deveaurax brought onto him? Happened right in front of our line yet we waited til the damage was done before changing it!!

We should of brought on fresh legs when we went 7/8 up early in the second half to kill the game then when we did make changes we brought off our most lively and energitc forward in david dunne and left on kevin foley and nolan who both looked dead on there feet. Why wasn't Dunbar brought on? His pace would of caused havoc in the conditions.

Yes i agree about the referrering. KK are the most cynical team in the country and its an obvious fact that teams are simply not allowed tackle TJ Reid without the kk fans throwing a tantrum. There ability to manufacture frees,convert them and get away with systematic fouling whilst uintimaditing referrees is unrivalled in irish sport. Our naievity and wastefullness is our biggest flaw.

Things we learned again sat night;
1) we have to stay short with puck outs. We dont have any forwards capable of winning clean possession consistently. Chin was superb ball winner one time but seems to have forgotten how to,mcdonald is the most fouled forward in ireland but gets no protection. This wex team is crying out for afully fit jack guiney,say what you like about the chap but id of sent him an sos on sat night.

2) O keffee struggled defensively again.

3) Chin needs to play centrally im sick to death saying it.

4) our forward line needs either more pace/movement or a forward like jack guiney who can play at 11, win and distubute possession.

5) i Thought we defended well overally. Firman done well until donnellys fresh legs caused him bother. Despite others having a go ,o hanlon limited Tj reid quite well. Reid won rucks and stuff but didn't exatcly run riot as others appear to think.

6) I know we went 8 up using our sweeper but I am 100% if we were 15 v 15 against kk we would beat them. We again showed them too much respect. We have better hurlers than them full stop. By playing a sweeper were allowing them nulify our best forward and tighten up there weakesrt position at 3.Conor Mc 1 v 1 with Padraig Walsh would have resulted in the umpire having a sore arm. WE should of gone in for the kill saturday night and I dont care what anybody thinks.

We are very close to being a seriously hard team to beat. Few adustments, a week/10 days off training and we go at it again. Get everybody back and push on.Were 3 games from an all ireland final,theres's not a team out there that I think is any better than us bar Galway who are a step ahead of everyone. I believe limerick have peaked and although hurling brilliantly may well blow themselves out by the time august comes and we've proven we can beat clare and cork... Our season starts now in my eyes.

cragask (Wexford) - Posts: 892 - 11/06/2018 23:09:37    2110322

Kilkenny are experts down through the years of winning frees ex ..holding the opponents hurl underneath there are and dragging them to the ground ...Tj Reid runs at least 7 steps with ball each time and still the stupid referees in this country are afraid to book him becos he is "Tj Reid "..It's starting to become like Alex ferguson with fertile time..soon it will be Cody time...Hurling referees in this country are just not sharp enough to see 'll tactics.REID has being taking too many steps for years and still the referees are afraid to stand up against him..It's a sad state of affairs...

Wexpurebred (Wexford) - Posts: 205 - 11/06/2018 23:41:59    2110337

gminor (Wexford) - Posts: 488 - 12/06/2018 00:15:16    2110340

Tough tough pill to take Saturday, a draw was the least we deserved but unfortunately life isn't always that fair. Alot of nonsense was posted here in the wake of Galway game saying we haven't made progress in recent years and we're not good enough to compete but I felt our team showed there character Saturday and went down with there boots on.

I wouldn't feel its disingenuous to say that 4 games in 21 days was the key factor in the result, we simply were running on empty in the 25 or 30 mins but still showed the resolve to be hanging in there right to the death. the point they showed on the sunday game where leahy dispossessed o'keeffe under the main stand was the definition of players mentally and physically fatigued. was makes it worse is the 4 teams between the 2 provinces in have 4 games in 21 days ended up facing a team coming off a week off in there last game.

Don't think the referee comments are a cop out, in games of such tight margins referees can actually be a major factor in the result, and I 100% feel the ref was a factor Saturday night. Just thinking of some instances during the 2nd half, rory o'connor was blatantly wrestled to the ground 45m out straight in front of the posts, no free given, richie leahy soloed under the main stand was met up by damien reck and grabbed recks arm/hurl should have been a free to us was given as a free to kk which TJ converted, in another instance TJ had the ball 30m out from goal took about 12 steps recycled the ball which to another free which kk converted. the amount of times TJ and leahy got away with overcarrying was scandalous, TJ has been doing that for about 10 years, also the cynical fouls and constant constant moaning to the referee and 2 other aspects to his game, a brillant hurler he is, a role model he isn't.

Small margins can make to a big difference at this level, when you consider facing a fatigued team saturday night and getting away with blanchfield's foul in the lead up to the goal against dublin you could argue there kk have had there fair share of luck, they weren't off been not making the all ireland series let alone the leinster final.

Once we can beat the joe mcdonagh finalist I think the quarter final will define our season it would be our 4th quarter final in 5 years and we've lost the previous 3, a win would be a measure of progress. I would hold not fear of Clare, I think Cork have lethal forwards but are beatable and I think limerick look like a series team so hope to avoid team. hopefully we can come back refreshed now after the 4 week break and give this an almighty rattle

bostonredsox (Wexford) - Posts: 4368 - 12/06/2018 01:54:04    2110347