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Replying To Afinestick96: "Another day we completely let Dublin out of jail so frustrating . Would have took a draw going up yesterday though. If Clare win next week in Carlow are they already promoted?" Yeah, they would already be promoted in that instance
But they've a bye in Week 7 so after our game, their next game wouldn't be until the 1B Final four weeks later
That's why I think he goes strong against us no matter what, he'll want them to be road-tested for Championship and they probably don't think games against Antrim, Down, and Carlow will do much for them on that front
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 908 - 22/02/2026 12:05:41
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Replying To ElGranSenor: "Yeah, they would already be promoted in that instance
But they've a bye in Week 7 so after our game, their next game wouldn't be until the 1B Final four weeks later
That's why I think he goes strong against us no matter what, he'll want them to be road-tested for Championship and they probably don't think games against Antrim, Down, and Carlow will do much for them on that front" Of course he will go strong. He did last year against us too
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18475 - 22/02/2026 12:51:09
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Replying To Magpie2: "I don't think anybody believed we would win.
We didn't but ŵe could have and should have.
Hats off to the lads last night. They showed great fighting spirit and to get a draw in Croke park with a very inexperienced team against an almost full strength Dublin side was commendable.
A bit more experience and I think we would have taken the two points.
We were shaky enough in our full and half back lines at times and it needs addressing.
Jippo would have been a towering strength at full back but hopefully he will be back soon and steady the ship.
Now it's on to Ennis to take on the Banner boys.
Obviously it won't be easy but I wouldn't completely write off our chances of putting one over on them next week.
We are making progress and we must be patient." Tell you one thing, would want make the Park as hostile as possible when they come down in May. And direct as much of that at O Ceallaghain, Hetherton and Crummy as possible also.
countyman2022 (Wexford) - Posts: 938 - 22/02/2026 13:06:48
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Replying To Viking66: "Conor Burke started and played the whole game. I think their only other starter missing apart from Sean Currie, who has a fracture, was Paddy Doyle. Colin Currie has left their panel. Exiled and Barney would know more?" Yeah, sorry, think Seán Currie wasn't in the squad and Conor Donohoe came on, only other starters from last year against us who didn't play were Paddy Doyle and Dunleavy
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 908 - 22/02/2026 13:38:43
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Four games in, here's how I see things so far
Antrim game was very rough but given the conditions and the team we had out that day, we have to make some allowances
Down performance was more worrying but at least we were able to get through it in the end (Just like the Antrim game)
Carlow game was an improvement (And they had beaten Waterford and drawn with Offaly in the league the year before)
Hard to evaluate the Dublin game given the red cards, didn't handle the extra man well but still battled well
Standard isn't as high in 1B so while we have been scoring more and we haven't been struggling as much as league year, it's hard to know just how much of that is because of our play and how much is because of the lower standard
At least we haven't lost though, even though all the games have been close, we've learned an awful lot and you'd hope that'll stand to us going forward
Seem to be getting stronger each day and on the plus side, we've been able to get a good few games into young players like Conor Foley, Darragh Carley, Éamon Wickham, Richie Lawlor, David Codd, Jack Redmond, Simon Roche, and Tucker Kinsella
Would be happy enough with how they've all played so far, still a lot of room for growth on their part but at least they're showing something, hopefully these games will stand to them going forward, just have to be patient with them
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 908 - 22/02/2026 14:46:24
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Replying To ElGranSenor: "Four games in, here's how I see things so far
Antrim game was very rough but given the conditions and the team we had out that day, we have to make some allowances
Down performance was more worrying but at least we were able to get through it in the end (Just like the Antrim game)
Carlow game was an improvement (And they had beaten Waterford and drawn with Offaly in the league the year before)
Hard to evaluate the Dublin game given the red cards, didn't handle the extra man well but still battled well
Standard isn't as high in 1B so while we have been scoring more and we haven't been struggling as much as league year, it's hard to know just how much of that is because of our play and how much is because of the lower standard
At least we haven't lost though, even though all the games have been close, we've learned an awful lot and you'd hope that'll stand to us going forward
Seem to be getting stronger each day and on the plus side, we've been able to get a good few games into young players like Conor Foley, Darragh Carley, Éamon Wickham, Richie Lawlor, David Codd, Jack Redmond, Simon Roche, and Tucker Kinsella
Would be happy enough with how they've all played so far, still a lot of room for growth on their part but at least they're showing something, hopefully these games will stand to them going forward, just have to be patient with them" Apart from those lads Cian Byrne is only 22. David Codd is only 23 I think. James Byrne 24ish. Ross Banville is 25, and I dont think started a League game before?, Another new player who has got decent gametime is Darren Codd, and Diarmuid O'Leary and Rory Higgins got gametime yesterday. Ciaran O'Regan, Philip Dempsey, David Clarke and Ciaran O'Connor got 1st League starts also.
Hopefully we might see Patsy Molloy, Cillian Byrne, Sean Rowley and maybe a couple of other younger lads also before the end of the League also. Maybe Kehoe and Whelan?
Overall its been a great League from the point of view of lads seeing what Senior intercounty is about. Up to them to kick on and improve now.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18475 - 22/02/2026 15:55:55
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Replying To Viking66: "Apart from those lads Cian Byrne is only 22. David Codd is only 23 I think. James Byrne 24ish. Ross Banville is 25, and I dont think started a League game before?, Another new player who has got decent gametime is Darren Codd, and Diarmuid O'Leary and Rory Higgins got gametime yesterday. Ciaran O'Regan, Philip Dempsey, David Clarke and Ciaran O'Connor got 1st League starts also.
Hopefully we might see Patsy Molloy, Cillian Byrne, Sean Rowley and maybe a couple of other younger lads also before the end of the League also. Maybe Kehoe and Whelan?
Overall its been a great League from the point of view of lads seeing what Senior intercounty is about. Up to them to kick on and improve now." Agree 100%
I think Banville started a couple with Egan though. He was out of it for a while then afterwards the fiasco in the park in 23 was it? Or 24
Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 4276 - 22/02/2026 18:22:01
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Stuff we need to work on….
Defending puck-outs: Think we give up the ball too easily and the good teams just find it too easy to play the ball out, wasn't very difficult for Dublin for the first twenty minutes last night. Could understand it against a weaker team but against stronger teams, I just don't think it works, it also makes it easy for teams to work the ball out to the half-back-line and then launch high balls in on top of our full-back-line
Using the extra man: Playing with two extra men is so rare that tbf, I don't think you can really prepare for it but we should've been more prepared to make use of our extra man. It's not that simple to use him tbf; the other team could just sit off the puck-out and look to block midfield so can either risk running it through a crowded midfield or else play it in long to the full-forward-line. Maybe there's a case for trying to overload one side of the middle third and underload the other side so as to open up space on the underloaded side? Either way, that's something we need to prepare for
Ball in to the forwards: Some of the ball into the forwards last night in the first half wasn't great, wasn't very favourable ball, had played in decent enough ball against Carlow but failed to back that up last night when 15vs15
Forwards winning physical battles: Don't want to single him out but need the likes of Tucker to show more aggression and intensity, he has the hurling and the athleticism to be a good hurler at this level but he needs to show aggression when coming out for the ball, Dublin last night showed him the level he needs to get to
Full-back might be the biggest issue of them all but we've known that for a while now and Jippo (If fit) should solve that to some degree. Only problem there though is his injury record; 5 games in 6 weeks in the Championship will be tough going. He's also not a long-term answer for us, think someone like Eoin Whelan could be a good full-back in time but we haven't seen him yet in the league (Tbf, he did miss a lot of last year through injury)
These issues and how successfully we address them will go a long way in determining just how well we fare this year
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 908 - 22/02/2026 18:31:38
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Replying To Doylerwex: "Agree 100%
I think Banville started a couple with Egan though. He was out of it for a while then afterwards the fiasco in the park in 23 was it? Or 24" I think he started when we got hammered against Clare in 2023
Have it in my head that he also played away to Westmeath too that year, would guess he started
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 908 - 22/02/2026 19:10:42
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Replying To countyman2022: "Tell you one thing, would want make the Park as hostile as possible when they come down in May. And direct as much of that at O Ceallaghain, Hetherton and Crummy as possible also." Repeated attempts to reply to this post have been unsuccessful, but for once I agree with you.
Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 4276 - 22/02/2026 19:52:29
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Replying To ElGranSenor: "I think he started when we got hammered against Clare in 2023
Have it in my head that he also played away to Westmeath too that year, would guess he started" Think he might have come on v Dublin in Croker one year? Beat ourselves that day.
Timbertony (Wexford) - Posts: 512 - 22/02/2026 20:36:45
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Replying To ElGranSenor: "Stuff we need to work on….
Defending puck-outs: Think we give up the ball too easily and the good teams just find it too easy to play the ball out, wasn't very difficult for Dublin for the first twenty minutes last night. Could understand it against a weaker team but against stronger teams, I just don't think it works, it also makes it easy for teams to work the ball out to the half-back-line and then launch high balls in on top of our full-back-line
Using the extra man: Playing with two extra men is so rare that tbf, I don't think you can really prepare for it but we should've been more prepared to make use of our extra man. It's not that simple to use him tbf; the other team could just sit off the puck-out and look to block midfield so can either risk running it through a crowded midfield or else play it in long to the full-forward-line. Maybe there's a case for trying to overload one side of the middle third and underload the other side so as to open up space on the underloaded side? Either way, that's something we need to prepare for
Ball in to the forwards: Some of the ball into the forwards last night in the first half wasn't great, wasn't very favourable ball, had played in decent enough ball against Carlow but failed to back that up last night when 15vs15
Forwards winning physical battles: Don't want to single him out but need the likes of Tucker to show more aggression and intensity, he has the hurling and the athleticism to be a good hurler at this level but he needs to show aggression when coming out for the ball, Dublin last night showed him the level he needs to get to
Full-back might be the biggest issue of them all but we've known that for a while now and Jippo (If fit) should solve that to some degree. Only problem there though is his injury record; 5 games in 6 weeks in the Championship will be tough going. He's also not a long-term answer for us, think someone like Eoin Whelan could be a good full-back in time but we haven't seen him yet in the league (Tbf, he did miss a lot of last year through injury)
These issues and how successfully we address them will go a long way in determining just how well we fare this year" What's our starting team for championship first round looking like?
Timbertony (Wexford) - Posts: 512 - 22/02/2026 20:40:53
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Replying To ElGranSenor: "I think he started when we got hammered against Clare in 2023
Have it in my head that he also played away to Westmeath too that year, would guess he started" He came on as a sub up in Mullingar, but Clarke and Higgins started that game.
All 3 started and finished the game against Clare.
I remember Banville going off injured up in Birr in the Walsh Cup that year. Joe O'Connor only rejoined the panel that week after getting back from Oz.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18475 - 22/02/2026 20:58:22
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Replying To Timbertony: "Think he might have come on v Dublin in Croker one year? Beat ourselves that day." I think that was 23 as well. Loads of wides, Dunbar hit the crossbar in injury time.
Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 4276 - 22/02/2026 21:02:12
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Replying To ElGranSenor: "Stuff we need to work on….
Defending puck-outs: Think we give up the ball too easily and the good teams just find it too easy to play the ball out, wasn't very difficult for Dublin for the first twenty minutes last night. Could understand it against a weaker team but against stronger teams, I just don't think it works, it also makes it easy for teams to work the ball out to the half-back-line and then launch high balls in on top of our full-back-line
Using the extra man: Playing with two extra men is so rare that tbf, I don't think you can really prepare for it but we should've been more prepared to make use of our extra man. It's not that simple to use him tbf; the other team could just sit off the puck-out and look to block midfield so can either risk running it through a crowded midfield or else play it in long to the full-forward-line. Maybe there's a case for trying to overload one side of the middle third and underload the other side so as to open up space on the underloaded side? Either way, that's something we need to prepare for
Ball in to the forwards: Some of the ball into the forwards last night in the first half wasn't great, wasn't very favourable ball, had played in decent enough ball against Carlow but failed to back that up last night when 15vs15
Forwards winning physical battles: Don't want to single him out but need the likes of Tucker to show more aggression and intensity, he has the hurling and the athleticism to be a good hurler at this level but he needs to show aggression when coming out for the ball, Dublin last night showed him the level he needs to get to
Full-back might be the biggest issue of them all but we've known that for a while now and Jippo (If fit) should solve that to some degree. Only problem there though is his injury record; 5 games in 6 weeks in the Championship will be tough going. He's also not a long-term answer for us, think someone like Eoin Whelan could be a good full-back in time but we haven't seen him yet in the league (Tbf, he did miss a lot of last year through injury)
These issues and how successfully we address them will go a long way in determining just how well we fare this year" "It's not that simple to use him tbf; the other team could just sit off the puck-out and look to block midfield so can either risk running it through a crowded midfield"
Thats what Offaly did to us in Carlow in the 2023 U20 final. Im sure Keith and a good few of the current Senior team remember that evening well.
I think he kept the extra man pretty deep up in Croke Park, so we might concede less goals.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18475 - 22/02/2026 21:03:43
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Replying To Timbertony: "What's our starting team for championship first round looking like?" It's hard to say but here's where were at
1. Fanning
3. Jippo
6. Molloy (it could well be reck of course)
8. Hearne
9. I think David Codd is a good bet.
11. Jacko
14. Chin
Full back line is two of Murphy, Donohue (highly likely) Clarke, Dempsey and Carley who I think has done really well although I'd prefer him further forward.
Half backs then most likely reck and Foley. Possibly Lawlor but Wickham has done very well.
We could see Lawlor or Wickham in midfield rather than Codd.
Out of the 6 forwards I would think jacko, chin, Roche and Cian Byrne are certs.
The remaining two then is hard to pick. Tucker, Codd, Redmond, Higgins(who looked very dangerous) Banville.
While doing this I realized I forgot Kevin Foley in spite of him being excellent last night and by all accounts having a great season so far.
I also haven't mentioned Whelan or Rowley.
This was harder than I expected.
I think for individuals it's still all to play for and we have positions up for grabs outside the spine.
Also heard yesterday it's very likely Rory will be back but I'm afraid to get excited about it.
Doylerwex (Wexford) - Posts: 4276 - 22/02/2026 21:17:01
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Replying To Timbertony: "What's our starting team for championship first round looking like?" Fanning in goal
Then Chin, Damien Reck, Conor Foley, Kevin Foley, Conor Hearne, Simon Roche, Simon Donohoe, Richie Lawlor, Darragh Carley, and Jippo are likely starters assuming they're all fit and ready to go
Other four places are up for grabs
Not sure on the positions though, Cian Molloy is probably a starter if he gets back fit
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 908 - 22/02/2026 21:32:56
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Replying To Viking66: ""It's not that simple to use him tbf; the other team could just sit off the puck-out and look to block midfield so can either risk running it through a crowded midfield"
Thats what Offaly did to us in Carlow in the 2023 U20 final. Im sure Keith and a good few of the current Senior team remember that evening well.
I think he kept the extra man pretty deep up in Croke Park, so we might concede less goals." Yeah and it's what we did versus Antrim last year, it's pretty much the go-to strategy when defending with 14 men
I think when we were up against 13 men, we should have Richie Lawlor in front of Hetherton as he was but the second spare man should have been between their centre-back and full-back, aggressive positioning there would've caused them all sorts of problems
ElGranSenor (Wexford) - Posts: 908 - 22/02/2026 21:35:06
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Replying To ElGranSenor: "Yeah and it's what we did versus Antrim last year, it's pretty much the go-to strategy when defending with 14 men
I think when we were up against 13 men, we should have Richie Lawlor in front of Hetherton as he was but the second spare man should have been between their centre-back and full-back, aggressive positioning there would've caused them all sorts of problems" I was happy with our work rate yesterday, Dublin looked enormous compared to wexford but wexford harassed and won most battles, Dublin started to get a bit shakey on edge and misfumbled balls.Our Aerial battles still need work despite our good tackling in the Air, Richie Lawlor got one outstanding catch despite the size of players that surrounded him
I feel we have every chance this year if we get a bit of luck and get more players back, if Rory came back, wouldn't he relish the black card rule
fathermurphy (Wexford) - Posts: 333 - 22/02/2026 22:58:08
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Replying To ElGranSenor: "Yeah and it's what we did versus Antrim last year, it's pretty much the go-to strategy when defending with 14 men
I think when we were up against 13 men, we should have Richie Lawlor in front of Hetherton as he was but the second spare man should have been between their centre-back and full-back, aggressive positioning there would've caused them all sorts of problems" Agree 100%. A spare man out around the middle works also, can cut out delivery inside.
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 18475 - 23/02/2026 06:33:46
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