Past hurler (None) - Posts: 927 - 17/05/2023 21:49:15    2479330

Timbertony (Wexford) - Posts: 404 - 17/05/2023 23:23:41    2479335

Well we can definitely file that one under the term "one we left behind"

The decision making in our play when a man up was terrible really, constantly soloing down the field in to traffic and getting turned over, from being at the game ive no idea where we actually positioned our spare man but we sure as hell didnt use him well.

Against Kilkenny even when we looked like we might not pull it off we hurled with our brains, intellingent use of the ball but that seemed to go out the window this evening.

We do have some really good players on that team though with size and skill to match but we do need to get over the line with some of these teams at some stage.

tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1501 - 18/05/2023 07:53:20    2479338

wexford2012 (Wexford) - Posts: 94 - 18/05/2023 07:56:04    2479339

Firstly well done offaly and best of luck in the final. From a wexford point of view really disappointing. Wides wides and more fupping wides. When will we learn.

I'll ask one question do ye remember an incident and Offaly got a free out of it it was in the second half and I think it was screeny went down. Ref told him to get up he held onto the ball and he was injured should have been a free out for over carrying and then he blows up for a throw ball he consulted with the linesman and gives a free in. It was one of the most bizarre decisions I've ever seen

Wexfordgaa (Wexford) - Posts: 364 - 18/05/2023 08:26:05    2479342

That was disappointing and while you can't fault the effort of the players it was one we psychologically left behind us.
We did better with Offaly at 15 than at 14. I was watching in the early hours here on a buffering stream and I feel the tactic of short puck outs only to be hunted down time and again contributed to our downfall. It appeared so predictable that Offaly dropped back and knew 1-2 forwards would eventually force a turnover or a mistake.
All our problems seemed to be because the Offaly half back line were able to bypass our sweeper. Sweepers have been proven to not work at the top level, a better strategy is to cut out the supply and work like dogs out the field.
Unless in the ground it looked different, we lost our shape once we went down to 14.
Psychologically, Wexford think it will happen when a man up, oppositions seem to make it happen.
So disappointing and it looked like Offaly had huge support whereas Wexford had a handful. If Wexford supporters won't even go to Carlow for a match, where do they want every match to be? Great supporters? MYTHBUSTED.

StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 1831 - 18/05/2023 08:43:34    2479344

Afinestick (Wexford) - Posts: 999 - 18/05/2023 09:10:48    2479347

Hugely disappointed with last night . Where we tried hard and fought to the end . It always looked a bit away .
I thought offaly were that bit slicker ,cuter and their scores come a lot easier Screeney Jesus lads took some scores you would pay to see on there own . Any time we got momentum they broke it with some exceptional inspirational scores . They raised their supporters voices who on the night surely gave them a huge advantage . Was expecting a mich larger wexford contingent .
Can understand why we kept extra men back as in fairness the pace and accuracy of the offaly forwards were always a huge threat they used the ball very well and picked out free men on several occasions regardless of our extra men back .
Short puck outs being our strategy prob cost us 4 or 5 points by over playing it . Saying that carrying the ball into traffic with no one to offload too before we each our own 65 ? Options to offload were minimal to say the least . Was that our tactical error or Offalys good prep work done on us and had and stuck to their game plan ? Let them run turn them over take our points keep us pinned back .
Was strange in a wexfird game especially at underage we did nt any stage hit the full forward line with high ball . Especially when we were getting into trouble time and again coming out with shirt puck out . Shamey was nt used as full forward really and hit little impact further out the field. Sure cillizn and luke would have relished breaking ball in or around the 21 or square .
Not taking anything away from our lads as they are a good team but offaly looked to have the edge on us in the skill level especially in the scoring zones which ultimately win them the game well matched in every other aspect .
The jeering booing whilst frees been taken is the most disgusting and inexcusable behaviour that can be witnessed at a gaa game . Anyone at the game will know what I m talking about and whom the behaviour belongs too .
Broken hearted today but we are still Wexford and always will be .

Formertownie (Wexford) - Posts: 360 - 18/05/2023 09:17:22    2479348

Tactics were oh so wrong last night.I really thought we were going to win but alas no. Too many of our key players underperformed. In fairness to Offaly they fought like tigers and in all honesty deserved their victory. The main problem from a wexford point of view was our front men. Not one goal attempt in 60+ minutes. Shooting from crazy distances instead of working the ball in. Of course that habit is popular with wexford teams nowadays.
Their marksman supreme was Screney. He was outstanding and unmarkable. The huge Offaly crowd helped to push them over the line. Where were the great wexford supporters last night?
I thought our backs were good, especially Roche. Offaly had only one goal chance and Screney put it away in style. On a more positive note, once again I was very impressed with Cian Byrne. Brilliant freetaker and got some great points from play.
We should rest him this week and play him against Kilkenny. Frees may well decide that game and I don't believe we can afford to leave him out.
Yeah, a game we could have won but fell short once again. So for now it's back to the drawing board as they say.

Magpie2 (Wexford) - Posts: 455 - 18/05/2023 09:53:16    2479355

Few thoughts on yesterday's match as a neutral
- Similiar to the AI semi final vs Tipp a few years back this was definitely a winnable game for Wexford. Like that game Wexford failed to use the extra man and rather than using the extra man and playing it short up the field, ye hit 50-50 balls long which made it relatively easy for the Offaly backs. Every time ye ran at pace, Offaly were panicking and fouled ye. If you did more of that you would have won.
- The size gap between Wexford and Offaly was definitely noticeable. Wexford were physically bigger and I thought that Offaly went down very easily all evening. They weren't as organized as Offaly though and it eventually cost ye.
- The biggest positive for Wexford is that there is some very talented players coming through. Cian Byrne was brilliant and the best player on the field, closely followed by the No. 7. Was Oisin Pepper injured. I thought he'd play a starring role for ye this year?

Frontier1000 (Cork) - Posts: 61 - 18/05/2023 10:09:21    2479358

I feel if we have won last night and put in a good performance in the All Ireland final then we would have five or six lads who would make it to senior out of that team. now I feel it will be only one or two and the rest will just disappear like so many really good U20s over the years. We have left so many behind in the past decade and it might be a long time before we are in another final.

I think if we had won last night Rossiter would have been primed fro the senior job - but his tactics were poor last night and he showed an inability to use the extra man wisely. Plus his right hand Rory Jacob is clearly not doing a good job at Peters who had a poor season - so is probably way out of his depth

Yellow (Wexford) - Posts: 589 - 18/05/2023 10:10:41    2479359

Afinestick (Wexford) - Posts: 999 - 18/05/2023 10:21:15    2479367

beano (Wexford) - Posts: 1492 - 18/05/2023 10:40:52    2479370

Players and management no doubt waking up to loads of regrets this morning. Two very evenly matched teams. Will never understand the difficulty a lot of teams have playing with an extra man and inability to make it count. Disappointed with the forwards except for the Byrnes. Always felt we needed to score a goal to win but never threatened to get one.
As for the Wexford support less said the better.
Congrats to Offaly hope they win the final now

HurlingBuzz (Wexford) - Posts: 550 - 18/05/2023 10:51:21    2479373

Afinestick (Wexford) - Posts: 999 - 18/05/2023 10:53:30    2479374

On another note what is gone wrong with our support base lads? If we cant turn up in big numbers for a Leinster final in Carlow when will we
Afinestick

I was trying to work that out as well. I remember 2013-2015 the u21 finals, huge Wexford crowds even at finals in Thurles. Looked more like 8-1 Offaly to Wexford when they zoomed to the crowd during the game. Most of Wexford is 1hr to Carlow is it not? Mainly closer than many parts of Offaly. Crowd is worth a point or two in every match, even shouting for frees, cheering team on and that was the scoring difference.

Nobody in Thurles last year for AI Quarter final which was my last Wexford game before travelling and support has got worse since? A shame with some good hurlers coming through.

StoreysTash (Wexford) - Posts: 1831 - 18/05/2023 10:59:35    2479377

Wexford have no idea how to play ball with a man up!! Couple of things 1.u can push him up the field
2.yes use him for sort puckout,but the delivery has to be so fast from there to get it inside
3. You absolutely stick to running the ball at all costs to get it to the shooter or draw frees,this tactic is most demanding on players and takes alot of work to get right!!!

Wexford last night played short yes but overplayed the ball to many passes!!! Offaly had loads of time to get to the ball carrier because of overplaying it and it gave there defence plenty of time to defend!!! I felt Offally switched the play alot wit a quick hand pass deliver into the corners which was just what Wexford needed to be doin!! The speed at which we done things was not at the speed Offaly did them and ultimately that was the difference in the end, tactically slow and hurling slow means your second best most days!!! We have some good hurlers to look forward to but they are small men unfortunately!!!

theboys (Wexford) - Posts: 263 - 18/05/2023 11:11:59    2479381

Savage, if not a small but frustrating, game last night. Adam Screeney v Cian Bryne was a battle of two of the best hurlers in the country at this age (crazy when you think Screeney would still be minor under the old ages).
Cian Bryne and Roche two best, Conor Foley at times but still expected a small bit more from him but was the best of the senior lads. Cillian Byrne looks a good prospect too for a young lads, had flashes.
A overall positive year for the u20s. But it was scary how similar to the seniors form the last few years it's was. Kinda showed up the shortcomings of Wexford as whole ATM, they lost to Galway, Dublin and Offaly this year, struggled over the line v Westmeath but beat Kilkenny twice to save the year. Didnt know how to play against 14, didnt win too much primary ball feom puckouts despite being a nice bit bigger than a very young Offaly team and were slow to counteract any Offaly chnages. If that doesnt sum up our senior team over the last 5 years then I don't know what does.
Thats the negatives done but still Doesn't take away from a super Offaly team and a right good game too, they have some right good hurlers who are only going to get better at this age over the next 2 years and at senior level down the line.
I'd give Cian Bryne a go at senior now while he's in top form and confident. I'd love for him to play the Westmeath game to bank some senior minutes for Kilkenny game but what can you do. Super free taker and very accurate and hardworking from play too.

Throughthemidfieldhewasstormin (Wexford) - Posts: 318 - 18/05/2023 11:23:27    2479385

Some people just love to complain no matter what, I don't think we should look back at the game that negatively. Assuming there's always a winner, you're going to lose half of your 50/50 games. We hit 0-12 from play, they hit 1-11; we created 33 scoring chances, they created 32; we hit 10 wides, they hit 8. You can't really blame inaccuracy as the reason why Wexford lost, the game was decided by very fine margins and hitting two wides more than the opposition isn't exactly all that bad by Wexford's recent standards.

People also tend to over-react to wins and losses. For those saying that Keith Rossiter blotted his copybook last night and that maybe only two of the starting XV last night might make into Senior Intercounty players, I doubt they'd be saying that had Wexford won. The same goes for last week; no-one would have been lauding this team had they lost by two points to Kilkenny. Plus players aren't machines, they are allowed to have off days, especially if they're young and inexperienced. Conor Foley wasn't that great against Kilkenny but was one of Wexford's best hurlers last night; people shouldn't judge players definitively based on a limited number of performances.

And I think people can be too quick to take a Wexford-centric view of things; for as much as you can say Wexford lost it, you could equally say Offaly won it. When Offaly went down to 14, their half-forward line came alive in terms of winning primary possession and helped them to regain a foothold in attack; there's nothing a sweeper can do about that. And for those criticising our use of the ball, the best way to use a spare man in defence is to deploy a running game. But the Offaly half-back line had swamped our half-forward line so running the ball was just like running straight into a brick wall. Besides, I think people are over-stating how much we turned over the ball when a man up, I felt like most of the ball was going into the corners towards Cillian Byrne and Luke Murphy (Who did both have good games).

Long story short, there are a lot of good hurlers on that Wexford team (And on that Offaly team), both sides were very dogged, and ultimately someone had to lose. No need to over-react, we're not that far away with this crop of U20 hurlers (Or last year's for the matter). The 22yos, 23yos, and the 24yos are the real problem right now

ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 501 - 18/05/2023 11:45:38    2479390

Formertownie (Wexford) - Posts: 360 - 18/05/2023 11:49:36    2479392