Lessons will have been learned and taken on board
Déise senior hurling manager Peter Queally and his backroom team return to the dressing room after bowing out of the Munster championship. Photos: Noel Browne
Over a week on from Waterford’s exit from the Munster and All-Ireland Hurling Championship and the dust has not yet settled on the great debate surrounding Waterford’s consistency in failing to advance to the knockout stages under the Round Robin system. Social and mainstream media is awash with comment from Waterford followers and commentators on what should be done to change the system in a way that would give Waterford a better chance of qualifying with a return to the back door knockout system the preferred option while others conclude that that this Waterford team is simply not good enough to progress.
A clearly disappointed Peter Queally, in his post-match interview, criticised a system that sees teams out of the championship at the end of a short, sharp campaign played out over five to six weeks between April and May while the top teams continue in the football championship right into mid June at least. The present system is a consequence of the “Split Season” which we are assured by the GPA and Croke Park is what all players want.
On the question of changing the format, there has been no outcry from other top-tier counties for a return to a knockout and back-door format since the change in 2018. The present format is a level playing field for all teams. In the six years of the Round Robin, Tipperary exited the championship alongside side Waterford on three occasions, Clare twice, and Cork once. None of those teams blamed the format or cried out for change. Likewise, in Leinster, Offaly were not whinging on being demoted to the Joe McDonagh Cup, nor were Wexford or Dublin when they failed to progress.
The format as it stands gives teams the certainty of at least two home championship games and it has to be acknowledged that Walsh Park would, most likely, never have been developed were it not required to host two home championship games each year.
The format aside most followers seem to be leaning towards the opinion that this Waterford side is just not good enough to get out of Munster. Such an opinion can be disputed. We can look back to the Covid years of ’20 and ’21 when most of the present players reached the All Ireland final and semi-final, beating Cork, Clare, Tipperary, Galway and Kilkenny along the way, losing only to Limerick. Since the return to the Round Robin we came closest to advancing last year losing out in controversial circumstances to a last gasp equalising point against Tipperary in Walsh Park and a chancy refereeing decision from a situation that would normally have resulted in a throw ball against Clare. Either decision, going as it should have, would have seen Waterford through and the eventual All Ireland champions out. I would say we were good enough to go through last year but the matter was taken out of our hands by poor refereeing decisions.
This year saw the perfect start with a home win over Clare before Limerick again proved our bogey side on producing their best form in Walsh Park. It was all coming down to the away games against Tipperary and Cork. The Tipperary game was winnable when Waterford came from six points down to level matters in the 55th minute but failure to push on and loose marking in defence left the door open for Tipperary to see out the victory.
The lessons from that game had to be taken on board against Cork. Stephen Bennett’s goal against Tipperary in the opening minute was never followed up on as he was not found in such a position close to goal for the remainder of the game. Against Cork our only goal threat fell to Bennett when he was brought down for what should have been a penalty in the first half and it was only when he moved into the full forward line in the closing stages that his goal brought Waterford back into the game before being denied an equalising goal by the post.
The only changes for the Cork game saw Dessie Hutchinson and Kevin Mahony demoted and Patrick Fitzgerald and Sean Walsh coming on board. Nothing else changed with Walsh playing a lone hand up front as Hutchinson had done before him.
The same management team will be in place next year under Peter Queally. There is no man more committed to Waterford, whether it was as a player or now as a manager. It will be Peter’s third year involved, and hopefully he will have most, if not all, of the same players, and perhaps one or two coming back, at his disposal. Lessons will have been learned and taken on board. The margins between success and failure in the championship are small, as Clare demonstrated last year. You always need a bit of luck, and Waterford are overdue in that regard.
Waterford’s minor hurlers saw off a stiff enough challenge from Limerick in Thurles on Sunday last to advance to an All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny. Facing a Limerick team they had already beaten in Fraher Field Waterford were on a hiding to nothing going into this game as strong favourites but without producing their best they held their nerve under pressure to lead all the way through to the final whistle with Cormac Spain’s goal on the call of halftime proving the highlight.
There are comparisons between this minor campaign and that of Waterford’s All-Ireland win of 2013. That year Waterford lost a Munster final replay to Limerick but came through the back door, beating Antrim in a quarter-final and then Kilkenny in a Croke Park semi-final on a score of 2-12 to 0-16. With Limerick beaten by Galway, Waterford went on to a convincing eight-point win in the final against the Tribesmen.
Munster champions Cork face Clare in the other semi-final, and while Cork had seven points to spare against The Banner in a high-scoring Munster game, they will not have things their own way on this occasion as Clare looked a much-improved side when beating Galway last Sunday.
A minor title would be a huge boost for Waterford hurling, and while they will be outsiders against the Leinster champions, the pressure will be on Kilkenny, and Waterford, at their best, can be quietly confident.
The venue has to be decided on but with Cork also playing Clare a double header in Thurles looks most likely on Saturday or Sunday week.
