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baz wrote:Have to agree with you lone shark .In the last round of club matches for example coughlan was way above the classest forward on display that sunday ,at least you`ll get something out of him in a game ,playing him for half an hour in a challagne game at midflield not going to do much for you .But then you look down from the stand and you see billy dooley carrying the hurls on the sideline and its easy know they wont take off dooley or bergin ( they might have scored 6 points but from open play ,they fear in them sickened alot of people not alone myself )can`t have favouritisim ,but the same lads taken off each time.I always hoped this team would come good but i kidded myself .Lets face facts when you look at club level ,the best midfielder is barry whelahan , center forward is simon ,not one of offalys six forwards would replace the the half forward line on the birr team .Sad to say thats the level we are at .Bergin wouldnt break eggs even a club level as for dooley gets big scores until quater final stage when pressure on youll hardly know he`d be on the field ,same thing has happened in this years league .why wasn`t molloy tried at full forward before taken off and cathal parlon coming on as a sub for j brady ( if your going to play him ,i`m sick of saying it you play him on edge of square and tell him not to move from there anywhere else is pure bullshit )you may as well bring on my mother .In fairness to currams he`s only young .brady midfield instead of hanniffy ? if horan was fit enough to come on as a blood sub ,thought they should have left him there with hanniffy center , even bring out kenny to half back line and put cleary full back ,might have done kenny no harm either .
Watched a recording of the match they thought offaly would do that as kenny confidence shot mid way through first half ,they even just stopped short of questioning offalys bottle in second half ,when wexford tore into us ,says it all really .Also a must win game and instead of our county board looking for nolan park the fecking egits agreed to toss of coin .MORE INTERESTED IN THE F@#KING MONEY FOR TULLAMORE ,instead of what was best for the team in a must win situation .when you look at under age we are gone for years ,if we ever make it back .

Plain of the Herbs wrote:An unchanged lineup for Offaly means one of two things – or maybe both – a vote of confidence in the side which won promotion in the league final, or a dearth of alternatives.

Certainly David Kenny’s selection is a boost. Wexford seemed to place all their eggs in Stephen Banville’s basket in Thurles though the interesting thing was that, while the Belmont man was dominant in the air, Banville took his two points from a low ball and turning onto his right each time.

Hopefully Kenny is fully fit but his hamstring problems have dogged him for some time now and his training is sure to have been severely inhibited. While he will man the square well, how would he fare if dragged out to the side and forced to go at full pace?

The Offaly attack is a cause for concern. Joe Brady will be fine as will Derek Molloy, though Molloy has a tendancy to disappear during the second half of matches betimes. Daniel Currams is a strange choice at wing forward and doesn’t strike me as a ball-winning half forward.

David O’Connor always does well on Brian Carroll, though the selection on the right wing may be a ploy and they may switch. Carroll is decent enough under the dropping ball. Currams seems to be down on his luck at the moment and needs to stop publicising his frustration by banging the hurl on the ground as he tends to do lately.

Joseph Bergin may be anonymous for the whole match – or he may have one of those days when he scores a few goals while recent weeks have revealed that Shane Dooley actually can strike off his right side – instance his goal attempt four weeks ago in Thurles and his goal against Clareen. Dooley is troubled by a lack of pace and as a consequence needs to have his two sides fully operational.

At the first sign of trouble Offaly will switch Joseph Bergin to centre forward and Joe Brady to full. This would be a mistake. Bergin does his best hurling at full forward and probably should be left there – or moved to the corner if they need to make a switch. Brady is a better man to keep the ball breaking and for stopping the centre back from hurling and should also be left in the centre for as long as possible.

Offaly may well miss Rory Hanniffy’s influence at midfield but he has shored up the defence well from wing back. Wexford may well target James Rigney under their puckout but Kevin Brady has played midfield on his side against Antrim and Wexford (in Thurles). Still, I’d prefer Brady behind, under the dropping ball with Rigney covering. That said, Brady might be good for a score from the halfway line and the Coolderryman will also play as a seventh defender if the squeeze comes on in the second half

In the full back line, David Franks I expect will pick up Rory Jacob as before, with Paul Cleary marking debutant Peter Atkinson.

Wexford have made changes on every line after their no-show in Thurles. As expected Damien Fitzhenry returns in goal. Fitzhenry will bring leadership around the square, as well as an improved puckout. Andrew Shore, who made absolutely no headway against Ger Oakley the last day might be the main beneficiary here.

While they have a litany of injuries that have been much heralded, only Stephen Nolan has been lost to them since the league final, resulting in a rearranged halfback line and midfield.

Richie Kehoe moves from 7 to 6, Ciaran Kenny from midfield to wing back, with Stephen Doyle coming in to midfield. David O’Connnor will add experience to th defence while in attack, Tomas Waters replaces Paul Carley on the half forward line while Peter Atkinson replaces Paul Kenny at corner forward.

The pressure to perform is all on Wexford here. They are playing at home which will actually be a new environment for them, and while they will know Wexford Park so well, it might not bring the big-game feel that Croke Park does. It’s a similar scenario for Offaly when hurling in Tullamore – while the ground may be hard and the sun shining it would still have the feel of a league match.

Rory Hanniffy made an interesting point when interviewed after the league final win. When asked about taking the wind in the first half he replied that he’d rather defend a lead than chase a deficit. Now that wouldn’t be my personal preference but if the team is comfortable taking the wind then so be it.

There’s much talk in Wexford about there being no great public interest in this match. However, when the weeks work is done and the sun comes out as promised, be assured the Wexford faithful will flock to ‘the park’ to urge on their side. Nothing lifts Wexford quite like the sight of Offaly coming to town. They may be quiet at first but if the team gains a foothold in the match, they won’t be long regaining the support of the home crowd. Vital for Offaly go make a good start then.

The principal worry about Offaly is the onset of yet another second half fadeout. In fact the recent league final made history in that it was the first time a fadeout yielded a win as the attack stuttered and the Trojan work in defence carried the day.

The three most recent championship meetings (’03, ’04 & ’06) have been characterised by second half Offaly fadeouts with Offaly’s second half scored amounting to 0-2, 1-3 and 0-2 respectively. In short, each was as galling as the other. Thurles recently saw an inability by forwards to win their own ball, an inability to read breaks, passing or shooting while leaning on the back foot under pressure, and an opposition defence storming onto breaking ball or misplaced passes and firing quality front-foot ball to their attack.

Freetaking is becoming an issue too. Paul Cleary should be taking ‘65’s and anything further out as Shane Dooley’s backhand stroke doesn’t yield from distance. They’d also be better served with an extra man in around the goals to collect a breaking ball. Also, you couldn’t depend on Dooley nailing a pressure free late in the game which would be needed to grab a draw. Neither could you depend on Brian Carroll or Joseph Bergin, who would be either of the alternative freetakers, in that situation.

Another crucial issue is that of pace in the attack, with really only Bergin having a turn of pace which would leave defenders for dead. Mark Egan, who has a turn of pace and can take frees, was grossly underused during the league, while Alan Egan would be another good alternative but isn’t on the panel at all!

A lack of alternatives in attack is also a worry. Cathal Parlon, who had a good league final and probably should be lining out on Saturday, is the only other forward who got any meaningful game-time during the league as most substitutions tended to involve defenders. Interesting, then, to see Dylan Hayden, Eddie Bevans and Derek Morkan added to the panel since the league final.

Wexford alternatives may well include moving Rory Jacob to full forward as they did in the league final. With their panel so threadbare due to the number of injuries, Paul Carley will likely be the first man to be called from the bench if their attack needs a boost.

Wexford have had many alternate purple and gold strips in recent years with varying degrees of purple and gold and the current one features considerably more gold than purple. Offaly had so many misplaced passes in that match which went to Wexford players that I wonder if there was a clash between the two jerseys.

Offaly went to Nowlan Park three years ago to face Wexford in good form and in confident mood and were overturned by Wexford’s greater hunger. This is an almost similar situation. Wexford can only improve following a near no-show in Thurles and we can be sure that they will, particularly with Fitzhenry steering them from goals.

A win is vital here as it would offer the possibility of a match against Kilkenny with a back-door still open. Defeat would hasten the qualifiers and a one-in-three chance of drawing the losers of Tipperary and Cork, and a one-in-two chance of having to travel away, which is best avoided. Defeat there would mean relegation playoffs and a possible risky away trip to Belfast.

Best to win in Wexford then. We can almost depend on the defence being watertight. If the forwards can lift their game in the second half and pick off regular scores after the break then Offaly just might.

the flying saucer wrote:Eddie Beavns and Dillen hayden have just been called in,but Derek Morkan has been on the panell since last year,a young player perhaps,but may be Joe Dooley should give the young players like this a chance,as this young man proved he knows where the goal post is in a recent championship game against Ballyskenagh,having scored 1-12. 1-8 from play.

Above all, I can't understand why there was no response to the Oakley hit. Surely the logical response to that, seeing as the referee didn't take action, was for Joe Brady to call a high, lobbing ball onto his head and absolutely flail into Kehoe in the exact same fashion? The whole eye for an eye thing might be a bit biblical, but you can rest assured that if the Tipp or Kilkenny captain was similarly assaulted when he was unable to defend himself, lads would be queuing up to stand up for their leader

the flying saucer wrote:Eddie Beavns and Dillen hayden have just been called in,but Derek Morkan has been on the panell since last year,a young player perhaps,but may be Joe Dooley should give the young players like this a chance,as this young man proved he knows where the goal post is in a recent championship game against Ballyskenagh,having scored 1-12. 1-8 from play.