Mastermcgrath wrote: » As in Brick Walsh arguably the best distributor of a ball in the game?
PTH2009 wrote: » Horrible weather up here
mountgomery burns wrote: » There was a camera there in the open stand so imagine they'll show the goals yeah.
Giveitfong wrote: » Waterford 4-22 Laois 1-15 For the second week in a row Waterford scored an aggregate of 34 points in disposing of weak opposition, as they sauntered to an easy victory over Laois at O’Moore Park in Port Laoise today. A feature of the game was that the full forward line, largely missing in action for the last five years, scored no less than 4-15 between them, with Pat Curran hitting 2-2, Tommy Ryan 2-1 and Stephen Bennett 0-12 (0-3 from play). The pitch was better than Thurles last Sunday, but still soft and difficult for the players. It was a cold day, with a stiff wind blowing towards the town goal, and you could see that the players were frozen out on the pitch. Waterford had two changes from the selected team, with Jordan Henley in for Brick Walsh and DJ Foran for Colm Roche, who was absent due to a family bereavement. Henley went to right half back with Mark O’Brien moving to the more familiar surroundings (for him) of midfield. Laois had first use of the wind, but it was of little use to them as Waterford took them apart with some excellent passing movements. Two such movements produced excellent goals for Tommy Ryan and Patrick Curran, while two good saves by Laois goalkeeper Enda Rowlands prevented what looked like surefire goals for Ryan and Bennett. Laois did create some chances, but their shooting was worse than Offaly’s the previous week, with eight first half wides to Waterford’s two. Billy Nolan also pulled off one excellent save. At half time the game was as good as over with Waterford leading 2-12 to 0-3. Things got worse for Laois right after the restart when substitute Lee Cleere, who had just come on, was shown a straight red after an incident involving Tommy Ryan. Waterford brought on Brick for Tadhg de Búrca, who took a knock late in the first half, and Colin Dunford for Mikey Kearney at half time. They relaxed in the third quarter, shooting several wides (including two missed frees by Bennett). Laois, by contrast, upped their game significantly (no doubt with hard half-time words from Eddie Brennan ringing in their ears) and began to get some scores on the board, mainly through frees from their centre forward Mark Kavanagh. It was Kavanagh who got their goal, a good shot from a difficult angle after Billy Nolan had just pulled off another excellent save from close range. Waterford put the game to bed with further excellent goals from Curran (60th minute) and Ryan (64th minute). Ryan’s goal will be a contender for goal of the year, as he gained possession out on the right sideline and then showed fantastic pace and skill to weave his way through the Laois defence to finish to the net. Thankfully this score will have been recorded on film, as TG4 are due to show highlights from the game tomorrow night. There was a big cheer from the substantial number of Waterford supporters in the crowd when Maurice Shanahan came on as a late sub for DJ Foran. He went into full forward and it was noticeable how the outfield players starting playing balls into him. His good late point generated a further big cheer. Earlier, Clonea’s Billy Power replaced Jack Prendergast. It took him a while to get into the game but he did produce some good plays late on. I find it hard to fathom some of the new management’s selection selection decisions. They only used four substitutes even though the game was over by halftime. You would wonder, for example, why they left Kevin Moran on for the full game rather than bringing on Michael Harney or Calum Lyons who were listed in the substitutes. And surely they would have learned more by bringing on a new panel member rather than Brick Walsh for the second half. As with the Offaly game, one would not to read too much into individual performances against opposition as weak as this. Only one of Laois’s six starting forwards scored. I thought Waterford’s man of the match was Jack Prendergast, who had a terrific first half and continued to win ball and show good touches until replaced in the 53rd minute. Conor Prunty was also very impressive, very sure in his play and laying off ball very effectively. Shane McNulty also put in a good hard-working shift. Stephen Roche had a good first half, as did Mikey Kearney who hit three points before being replaced at half time by Colin Dunford who put in a very busy and effective second half. Mark O’Brien played well right through. Tommy Ryan was Waterford’s most eye-catching forward, while Patrick Curran showed his predatory abilities to great effect. It is a pity we have had to wait so long to see Curran and Stephen Bennett operating in the same full forward line together at senior level. Hopefully they will make up yet for the wasted years.WATERFORD: B Nolan; S McNulty, C Prunty, N Connors; J Henley, T de Búrca, K Moran; M O’Brien (0-1), S Roche; DJ Foran (0-1), M Kearney (0-3), J Prendergast; T Ryan (2-1), S Bennett (0-12, 8f, 1 ‘65), P Curran (2-2). Subs; C Dunford (0-1) for Kearney (HT), M Walsh for de Búrca (HT), B Power for Prendergast (53), M Shanahan (0-1) for Foran (63).
TheScoringGoal wrote: » But your point was about Barry Coughlan rarely getting the ball in his hand and striking it. Distribution was not mentioned. So I'm asking you if you rate both getting the ball in your hand and striking it so highly, then how do you rate a player such as Michael Walsh who wouldn't strike a lot of ball? It seems that if you are to apply equal standards to all players then the answer is the same as how you rated Coughlan. For the record I rate Michael Walsh as one of the best players I've ever seen, but I allow that all players are different and bring different strengths to their teams.
TheScoringGoal wrote: » It shows how ridiculous the preliminary quarter final system in the championship is. Both teams Waterford hammered in recent weeks have a better chance of getting there as they only need to beat Antrim, Kerry, Westmeath etc.
Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: » We're lower tier at the moment so not surprising the game wasn't shown. I don't think it's any harm for us to go under the radar for the moment anyway. Hopefully there'll be a good home crowd in Fraher Field for the next game.
spideyman92 wrote: » Seemed like a bigger Waterford turnout but haven't heard nor seen any mention of the attendance yesterday.
Mastermcgrath wrote: » I think it’s a good initiative, it gives the Joe McDonagh sides something to aim for. If getting back into the Liam Mac championship with a once off home tie against a top side is not motivation then what is. Look at Carlow, yes they got a trimming from Limerick last year but it gave them a taste of where they need to get to. 2 impressive results in division 1b so far this year will be better prepared to compete in Leinster.
TheScoringGoal wrote: » Couldn't disagree more. I was at the Carlow v Limerick game last year. It ended 0-13 to 5-22. Neither team benefitted at all from the game and Carlow couldn't celebrate their Christy Ring victory from the previous week due to the timing of this a week later. Carlow got their reward for winning their competition which was promotion. Why should a team that isn't good enough to participate based on their previous year's record be parachuted into the knock out stage of a competition. It would be like Shamrock Rovers playing Real Madrid in the European Cup "preliminary quarter final".
