Play Off 4/11

[Charlie Darwin]

We had a player retire during one season, but that is a different story.

And what a retirement it was!

[nigel-harps1954]

Wexford, I'm sad to say, got everything they deserved tonight. I really like Wexford too, a great club down there. It's a pity they were made to look a total shambles all over the place this week.

Good to see Drogheda back up though, nice to have slightly less journey time next year with Limerick and Drogheda replacing Wexford and Longford, albeit only about 40km of a difference combined.

From pictures it looked a really bumper crowd too. What does United Park hold now? Something around 2,800 isn't it?

[wonder88]

While the play-offs do create a good bit of excitement and boast crowds, there are a lot of drawbacks to the two division structure we have now. The main one is that the first division is a terrible league to operate in and I feel for Wexford having to return to it after just one year. We need to got to a 10-10 league if we are to continue as we are, and guarantee to teams coming up every season, so gap in quality/crowds etc is reduced. Either that, and my preference, just have a single division, with play-offs after the regular schedule ala Conroy report. Wishing Keegan all the best at Galway, wouldn't mind having Paul Murphy at Terryland next season.

[oriel]

Wexford, I'm sad to say, got everything they deserved tonight. I really like Wexford too, a great club down there. It's a pity they were made to look a total shambles all over the place this week.

Good to see Drogheda back up though, nice to have slightly less journey time next year with Limerick and Drogheda replacing Wexford and Longford, albeit only about 40km of a difference combined.


From pictures it looked a really bumper crowd too. What does United Park hold now? Something around 2,800 isn't it?

I think United Park has a safety cert of around 2,200, I could be wrong. Its great to see Drogs up, and it's a win win for both Louth clubs crowd wise, for us it's 20 mins to our closest away match compared to 70k.

Welcome back guys.

[NeverFeltBetter]

This is a good example for Longford too. It wasn't all that long ago the guy in charge of Drogs was claiming the club would go under if relegated and lets not forget the shambles of the last few weeks of last season...they turned it around, and fast.

[ToberonaTornado]

Delighted for John Gill in particular with the Drogs promotion.Got treated pure b****x by the then owner here in Dundalk afrer he got us up in '08.
Congrats Drogheda and all their fans

[pineapple stu]

We need to got to a 10-10 league if we are to continue as we are

A 10-team Premier has been tried twice before and failed both times. No reason to think this will be any different.

A new approach is needed IMO. To be honest, I think the main priority is trying to encourage new clubs into the league.

Either that, and my preference, just have a single division, with play-offs after the regular schedule ala Conroy report.

UEFA don't allow one-tier leagues I think.

Also don't think the Conroy Report didn't have play-offs - it just had a (badly thought-out) top half/bottom half split.

[outspoken]

Craziest game I've ever witnessed. First 40 minutes we were all saying only a matter of time before Wexford scored and killed the tie but failed to take the chances (especially Furlong), them right on the stroke of HT, the hypo sized Sean Brennan scores the goal of his life to put drogs back in it. Drogs score again and then get awarded the dodgiest pen I've ever seen, the Wexford score despite a clear foul on the keeper, their young fans let off pyro and one of them catches fire trying to do so, the older fans go baslistic telling them they will be banned, next thing the smoke clears and the goal has been disallowed. Final seconds of the game 2 Wexford players are racing on on the keeepr, Murphy rounds the keeper and looks set to slide it into an empty net only for drogs centre half (number 4 not sure of his name) to come from no where to clear off the line. Total madness from start to finish. My God I love the play offs.

[joey B]

Painful way to go down for Wexford and Id have alot of sympathy for them,they are ploughing a tough furrow down there in a massive hurling heartland,but if you were to write a manual on how to handle a playoff week then Wexford showed how not to do it,too many distractions between the 'Hurler' and the managers new job the game became a bit of an afterthought to the circus........

[nigel-harps1954]

Some kind of grainy highlights here. Horrendous penalty decision, and an even worse miss by Murphy at the end.

[sadloserkid]

I feel for the Wexford fans because it's a terrible experience to go through. Against that: Mick Wallace is a crook and a fraud and anything that will upset the Property Developer socialist is a silver lining I'm quite comfortable with. The club's poor mouth, "shur aren't we only amateurs out for a good day" attitude irritates me too because I don't feel it's completely genuine. Shane Keegan wasn't on an amateur deal by most accounts! I don't begrudge him his move to Galway either, I think hanging Chin out to dry (though not much of that has gone on here to be fair) is ridiculous. For me, it doesn't reflect on him good, bad or indifferent... the club though...

There are some lovely people involved in Wexford but, as it stands, they won't be missed by too many at the top tier. All that being said, the best of luck to them. The league could do with more teams, not less and they've been here for a while now.

[White Horse]

I like many of the Wexford Youths people I've meet but there is something about their club that I find repellent.

Apart from it being the vanity project of a sanctimonious tax cheat, they went cap in hand to a local GAA player to "tog out" for them as a number of players decided to bail out on them during the season.

When Dundalk qualified for the Europa League, Stephen O'Donnell said the most satisfying part was to show people that the LOI is not a joke.

Wexford's actions in begging Chin to play for them shows that there is still a mentality in the LOI that means that the LOI will never fully escape the perception of it being a jokeshop.

Lee Chin is not the problem. The people who run Wexford Youths are the problem.

[ForzaForth]

Congratulations and best wishes to Drogheda who took their chances at United Park last night. As has been said, Wexford were dominant during the first 20-25 minutes but didn't take their chances and you often pay for not scoring when you have been dominant for a spell. The game seemed to change around the half-hour mark when Graham Doyle pulled off a great double-save to deny Drogheda from scoring. Drogheda hadn't been in the game up till then. Gary Delaney then scooped the ball off the line to stop Drogheda from scoring after a defensive mix-up. The goal just before half-time was crucial. Brennan's shot was excellent but it wasn't very well defended by our two players out wide who just assumed that he was going to cross.

Wexford looked very nervous from then on and Graham made a fantastic one-on-one save to deny Griffin of Drogheda. The concession of the second goal was poor by Wexford as they shouldn't be allowing anyone a free header. The penalty award looked very dodgy but I was a long way away from it. Looking at the video clip, there was more contact than I thought. The Wexford "goal" was rightfully disallowed by a massive barge on McGuinness but it took the linesman an awful long time to make his decision. On the Wexford chance in the last minute, I think it was Shane Dempsey myself but I might be wrong.

Good luck to Shane Keegan in Galway - the club is now in a lot stronger position than it was when he took over. The ownership of the ground is secure, the voluntary committee who look after everything appears to be much stronger and, unlike when Shane Keegan took over, there are a number of internal candidates who could take over from him. Hopefully, we'll be back in the top division before long.

[MeathDrog]

It was a peno lads. I was level with it and Griffin definitely got caught in the boot as he tried to kick it. You could hear the contact.

The 'goal' for Wexford was bizarre alright.

[disgruntled]

Keegan devastated and eager to give the full story re Galway (in tomorrow's paper) according to Dan McDonnell. Presumably it'll be something along the lines of how it was never supposed to be leaked yet because there's been no denial. If I were a Wexford fan I'd be disgusted with how it has played out today.

The people I feel sorry for are the Wexford players & fans. Wallace is a totally different matter.
You'd have to wonder how the information regarding the manager got out. That can't have been good for the players before an important game like that.

COngrats to Drogs. I think they may have been better off losing this in the long term. I think they would have won the division next year and if we do move to 10/10 rather than 12/8 divisions they might have a better chance of staying up the following year. I quite like United Park. Its a ****hole but its a fun ****hole. Love the roof on the away end. Makes even a handful of fans sound loud.

Who do people think will win the First next year now? I don't think Longford or Wexford will be in great shape. Maybe Longford will surprise me. Cobh could improve on this year and make a run at the playoffs, maybe win it with some luck.

If UCD hold on to their important players they will be very strong favorites for promotion.Who goes up with them is anyones guess.

[disgruntled]

Some kind of grainy highlights here. Horrendous penalty decision, and an even worse miss by Murphy at the end.

Thanks for those highlights Nigel.
Terrible miss by the Wexford player near the end. Seems like Drogheda were really hanging on.

[ForzaForth]

Thanks also, Nigel, for the highlights.

[Charlie Darwin]

You'd have to wonder how the information regarding the manager got out. That can't have been good for the players before an important game like that.

The same way the information about McPartland got out.

[Straightstory]

Drogheda lead 3-2.

Serves Wexford right.

They treated the league with contempt. Players fecking off before the season ended, Lee Chin going to a GAH chicken supper dinner on play off night, the manager agreeing to p1ss off to Galway before the final play off game....

We are trying to improve the league. This pub league amateurish stuff has no place in the top division.

I couldn't agree more. Very well said indeed.

[pineapple stu]

If UCD hold on to their important players they will be very strong favorites for promotion.Who goes up with them is anyones guess.

I think we'll lose a couple, but we've some great players coming through from the U-19s.

We'll be there or thereabouts for promotion or a play-off spot, like this year and last year.