Leinster Hurling Quarter Finals

cruiserweight

Two quarter finals this weekend, Wexford vs Offaly and Laois vs Galway. Then next weekend we have Dublin vs Antrim. The teams have been named for this weekend already

Wexford:
1. D Fitzhenry, 2. M Travers, 3. P Roche, 4. D O'Connor, 5. M Jacob, 6. R Kehoe, 7. C Kenny, 8. S Doyle, 9. D Redmond, 10. T Waters, 11. A Shore, 12. D Lyng (Capt), 13. R Jacob, 14. S Banville, 15. P Atkinson.

Offaly:
1. Brian Mullins, 2. David Franks, 3. David Kenny, 4. Paul Cleary, 5. Rory Hanniffy, 6. Ger Oakley, 7. James Rigney, 8. Kevin Brady, 9. Brendan Murphy, 10. Daniel Currams, 11. Joe Brady, 12. Derek Molloy, 13. Brian Carroll, 14. Joe Bergin, 15. Shane Dooley

Galway:
C Callanan; D Joyce, S Kavanagh, O Canning; F Moore, J Lee, A Cullinane; K Hynes, A Smith; A Callanan, K Hayes, C Donnellan; D Hayes, J Canning, N Healy.

Laois:
T Doran, J A Delaney, D Maher, B Stapleton,M Whelan, B Campion, M McEvoy, J Young, J Walsh, D Peacock, W Hyland, O Holohan, J Purcell, J Rowney, E Jackman.

Offaly vs Wexford is the big one for me. With so many good players out injured for Wexford, I would make Offaly slight favourites, even with the game being in Wexford Park. Hope I am wrong

premierstone

Have to say Cruiser them Wexford forwards dont exactly inspire much confidence, half forward like looks particularly inexperienced tbh I've never heard of either the centre forward or the left half forward.

Erin Go Brath

Offaly certainly had the sharper forwards in the Div 2 final. I'd give them a slight edge but then Wexford have home advantage. Too close to call.

Anyone know if this game is being shown live on tv?

cruiserweight

premierstone wrote: »

Have to say Cruiser them Wexford forwards dont exactly inspire much confidence, half forward like looks particularly inexperienced tbh I've never heard of either the centre forward or the left half forward.

Both young lads, but given our current injury list there are very few other options. The following players are currently out injured, all or most of them would be in the team, bolstering a number of areas

Stephen Nolan
PJ Nolan
Barry Lambert
Eoin Quigley
Colin Farrell
Keith Rossitter
Darren Stamp

On a totally different but related subject, when the semi final draw is made I have a funny feeling that it will end up Wexford/Offaly vs Kilkenny and Antrim/Dublin vs Laois/Galway. Looking at the stats for appearances in the last 10 finals they are Kilkenny 9 appearances and 9 wins, Wexford 8 appearances and 1 win, Offaly 3 appearances and 0 wins

cruiserweight

Erin Go Brath wrote: »

Offaly certainly had the sharper forwards in the Div 2 final. I'd give them a slight edge but then Wexford have home advantage. Too close to call.

Anyone know if this game is being shown live on tv?

Yeah on Saturday evening at 7 on one of the RTE's.

Jugs82

Looking forward to Saturday - have the jersey in the wash but am a bit disapointed that i cant go to the match

Oh well....

I think Wexford will be up for this after the last day so should be a great competitive match - alot will rest on the the performance of the Offaly Full Back Line Vs. Wexord Full Forward Line

As for Galway Vs. Laois - Anything other than a double digit win for Galway wuld be a surprise but from what i heard about the practise match's Galway played up to this, I wouldnt be in any way terrified of drawing Galway in the Semi's

cruiserweight

Jugs82 wrote: »

I wouldnt be in any way terrified of drawing Galway in the Semi's

If you get there ;)

Daysha

Offaly/Wexford is too close to call imo. The thing is neither team can afford to lose this one. It would be a bad blow for Offaly to come up short in Leinster again after their improvements in the last 12 months, while Wexford would benefit hugely if they can get another decent run going. If they can win this one and hopefully get a handy draw in the semis, they'll be in much better shape for the AI series then they have been in previous years, when they're usually off the back of a Kilkenny trashing.

If I had to choose one, Offaly's more impressive performances since they beat Limerick last year should give them a very slight edge, but there's practically nothing in it.

Pride Fighter

Offaly should take this, unfortunately Wexford are going backwards. Do they still have that overweight lad they had at full forward last year, he is not a very skilful player and is indicative of the players Wexford seem to have produced in the last few years. But fortunately for Wexford their current underage players look really good but wont be ready for another 5 years. Until then Wexford will be near the bottom of Leinster.

Dublin's underage players from 3-4 years ago are all maturing nicely and Dublin are now the second team in Leinster IMO. Hopefully Laois beat Galway, send them back to Connacht were they belong:D

I predict a Dublin V Kilkenny final with KK winning by 10 points.

Shan75

I'd fancy Offaly and Galway to win these.Offaly by a couple of points and Galway by about 12.

cruiserweight

Pride Fighter wrote: »

Offaly should take this, unfortunately Wexford are going backwards.

Going backwards yes to some degree. However a lot of their problems can be put down to the long injury list of first team players. Stephen Nolan, PJ Nolan, Barry Lambert, Eoin Quigley, Colin Farrell, Keith Rossitter, Darren Stamp and Des Mythen would make a big difference to the first team. In addition to that, a lot of people only look at Wexford games when they are playing Kilkenny. Nobody has beaten Kilkenny in the championship in the last few years. If you look at all of their games over the last few years, they have not done to badly. Two years ago they were in the league and championship semi finals, last year they were within a point of the all ireland semi finals

Pride Fighter wrote: »

Do they still have that overweight lad they had at full forward last year, he is not a very skilful player and is indicative of the players Wexford seem to have produced in the last few years.

Stephen Banville, overweight, he is certainly big, but I don't know about overweight. It did not stop him scoring last year.

Pride Fighter wrote: »

But fortunately for Wexford their current underage players look really good but wont be ready for another 5 years. Until then Wexford will be near the bottom of Leinster.

Dublin's underage players from 3-4 years ago are all maturing nicely and Dublin are now the second team in Leinster IMO.

A lot of that is speculation. We will wait and see how Wexford and Dublin both do in the next few years. Dublin are progressing and doing well in the league, but the championship is different and until they take a scalp there I will reserve judgement.

Pride Fighter wrote: »

I predict a Dublin V Kilkenny final with KK winning by 10 points.

We will wait and see what the draw throws up

blackbelt

I am predicting a Wexford win.I think they have more resiliency in them for championship games.Although I agree a lot depends on their forwards who blow very hot and cold.I'd imagine they'll come good on Saturday and pip Offaly.

As for Galway v Laois.This one is only a formality.

I think the Dubs will beat Antrim by about 8 or 9 points.Antrim are missing two key players and while Dublin are missing Ronan Fallon,they have enough strength in depth to win this.I'll be watching Liam Rushe and Dotsy O Callaghan to see how that partnership works out in Croker.

cruiserweight

All square at half time in the Wexford vs Offaly game. Loads of wides from Wexford, they really need to get the ball into Banville more

cruiserweight

Wexford win 2-17 to 0-16

cruiserweight

Stephen Banville scores 2-2 and wins man of the match, not bad for a player that some people think is overweight and useless

soccymonster

cruiserweight wrote: »

Wexford win 2-17 to 0-16

Ah damn it:p.. for some weird reason i wanted offaly to win:pac:
banville was class though!

Browney7

Jesus Offaly were terrible for the first 20 mins of the second half. The quality of hurling was poor enough imo but a good result for Wexford all the same.

I think a case of 1 step forward 3 steps back for offaly hurling today down in Wexford park.

Daysha

Deserved win for the yellow bellies overall. A 7 point win probably flattered them, but there's no doubt they were the better team.

Huge setback for Offaly though, they really needed a win to emphasis the progress they've been making. Now they've failed to deliver in Leinster again and could well meet the losers of Tipp and Cork in the qualifiers, in which case it will probably be the end of the road.

conf101

Great win for Wexford. Some shocking play from both teams at times and some great play! I thought the ref was hopeless. I know refs take an awful lot of flack during the summer but this guy was waiting for fisticuffs before he'd blow his whistle!! Great to see Wexford save the two penalities too, not so great to see them give them away though, although I think the second one was quite harsh!!

TBH if we got Galway (no disrespect to Laois) or either of Dublin or Antrim in the semi and we played to our potential then I'd fancy our chances but it'll most likely be KK and we'll be lambs to the slaughter once again!

LeoB

7 points might have flattered Wexford but they deserved their win, just about!! I would not wight off the Offally side just yet. Their forwards were pathetic and shot selection was poor. They also missed some easy chances and 2 penalties. If they get a good draw in qualifers and a win under their belts they could well go further than Wexford.

As for the Dubs. They must beat Antrim handy or the old doubts will come back. I dont know a lot about Hurling but the young lads coming thro from the last few years really have to deliver and get scores.Ronan Fallon is a big loss to them.

On what I saw tonight Dublin should get to Leinster final if the Draw is not fixed;). Kilkenny should be seeded and Galway should have to play either of last years Leinster finalists to give a side like Dublin or Laoise a better chance of making a breakthrough.
Seems unfair a Connaught team can stop a Leinster team reaching provincial final and Antrim go back to Ulster final. Thats unfair why not let Dublin Laois or Offaly play in Ulster Final and one of these would probably get to play in all-Ireland qtr final.
Oh well done Wexford, My favourite side after Dublin

overmantle

Nice to see Galway play well yeaterday but not sure what value that game will be to them in the long run.

wexican

LeoB wrote: »

On what I saw tonight Dublin should get to Leinster final if the Draw is not fixed

As partisan as i may be i still believe Wexford to be a step ahead of Dublin and if we draw the Dubs in the Semi-Finals I think with even a handful of our injured players reinstalled we will beat them.

As a previous poster pointed out Stephen Nolan, PJ Nolan, Barry Lambert, Eoin Quigley, Keith Rossitter and Darren Stamp were all missing from the Offaly game. Dublin may be resurgent in Leinster but I would be very surprised to see them beat a Wexford team with Fitzy, Banville, Travers, Nolan, Lyng, Lambert, Roche, Rossi and Stamp!

aidan24326

overmantle wrote: »

Nice to see Galway play well yeaterday but not sure what value that game will be to them in the long run.

Galway were always going to win that one although I didn't expect a 27 point margin. 0-17 is a fair bit to concede against mediocre opposition, although from the reports I've read/heard it seems Galway were only going through the motions for much of this game.

Interesting to see how the semi final draw goes, Wexford will probably be the lambs to the slaughter again no doubt. I think Wexford would hold their own in the Munster Championship, but getting thrashed by Kilkenny in Leinster every year has been soul-destroying for them. If Galway get to a Leinster final against the cats I just hope they don't give us a hiding.

LeoB

Someone has to shout for Dublin and in all honesty my reply was slightly tongue in cheek. But I do think its a slap in the face to Dublin and Laoise to have Galway and Antrim in Leinster. Wexford are well in contention and while I rate them ahead of Dublin and Laois I think Dublin can beat them, but maybe Wexford would feel they also should have a handy path laid out for them like Galway and Antrim. It seems teams trying to make breakthrough like Dubs, Laoise and Wex are paying for the weaknes in other provinces.

1 thing, Wexford have to overcome delivering only 1 good performance a year. On their day Wexford can take either Kilkenny or Galway but can they take the 2 in 1 year!

cruiserweight

LeoB wrote: »

It seems teams trying to make breakthrough like Dubs, Laoise and Wex are paying for the weaknes in other provinces.

1 thing, Wexford have to overcome delivering only 1 good performance a year. On their day Wexford can take either Kilkenny or Galway but can they take the 2 in 1 year!

Wexford in a very different situation to Dublin or Laois. They have consistantly made Leinster finals and the latter stages of the championship over the last 10 years, Laois or Dublin have not done this

Erin Go Brath

cruiserweight wrote: »

Wexford in a very different situation to Dublin or Laois. They have consistantly made Leinster finals and the latter stages of the championship over the last 10 years, Laois or Dublin have not done this

True. People unfortunately always seem to remember Kilkenny giving Wexford a hiding every year but forget that Wexford are highly competitive in almost every other Championship game they play, and regularly make either an AI Quarter or Semi.