The battle of Spain and Rodgers for the Irish Press Cup
The first Waterford team that beat Meath in the All-Ireland minor hurling final of 1929 that was played for in February, 1930.
Waterford’s All-Ireland minor semi-final win over Kilkenny in Wexford was greeted with celebration and no little relief by followers throughout the county seeking some sign of hope for the future following another year of disappointment on the senior championship scene.
Underage titles, when compared with elite counties such as Kilkenny, Tipperary, and Cork, have been few and far between where Waterford is concerned, but when they have been delivered, they are seen as a promise of good days to follow in the near or not too distant future.
This year’s minor championship journey has followed the same route as that which led to the famous win in 2013. A three-point defeat to Limerick in the Munster final replay saw Waterford into a quarter-final against Antrim under the back door system as provincial runners-up up and a decisive win there was followed by a dramatic two-point win over Leinster champions Kilkenny in Croke Park.
With Galway having eliminated Limerick in the other semi-final, Waterford went in against the Tribesmen as outsiders but produced a brilliant performance to score a decisive 1-21 to 0-16 win for a third All-Ireland victory.
Most of that side went on to win the U-21 All Ireland, under the same management, against the same Galway side in 2016 while players such as Austin Gleeson, Tom Devine, Stephen Bennett, Patrick Curran, Shane Bennett, Mikey Kearney, D.J. Foran, Michael O’Brien and Conor Gleeson were very much to the fore on Deise senior panels leading up to the All Ireland final defeat in 2017 and beyond.
Players from those underage winning teams made a telling contribution to Waterford’s competitiveness since in winning Allianz League titles in 2015 and 2022, as well as making two other final appearances and two All-Ireland finals as runners up in 2017 and 2020.
The first ever Minor Hurling championship was contested in 1929 with Waterford defeating Meath in the final to a championship title to the Deise for the very first time on a score of 5-0 to 1-1 in February 1930. While Waterford followed up the minor success by competing strongly throughout the thirties at senior level, the only early success came with the Junior All-Ireland victories of 1931 and 1934, with the minors of ’29 Pa Sheehan, George Kehoe, and Declan Goode featuring strongly. The same three players alongside former minor colleagues Locky Byrne, Tom Greaney, Jackie Butler, Nicky Fardy, and Sonny Wyse went on to win Waterford’s first senior Munster title in 1938 before losing to Dublin in the All-Ireland final. It had taken eight years for senior success to follow on from the minor victory.
The forties continued to be lean years on the minor front until 1947, when expectations were high. Waterford progressed to the Munster final for the first time since 1934 with what was deemed a very strong side, only to lose out to an outstanding Tipperary side on a score of 2-4 to 1-2. With six of that team eligible the following year, hopes were high and they did not disappoint with a 9-5 to 0-4 semi-final win over Clare before turning the tables on Tipperary with a decisive 3-6 to 0-3 win in the Munster final.
A decisive win over Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final set up a mouth-watering final against Suirside neighbours Kilkenny and in a dramatic encounter, Waterford set the scene for a famous minor/senior double with a 3-8 to 4-2 victory. The Waterford team was Joe Flynn (Cappoquin), Martin (Wattie) Morrissey ( Mount Sion),Sean Hayden (Mount Sion), Michael Hogan (Dungarvan), Tom Cunningham (Dungarvan), Mick Kelliher (Cappoquin), Vin Walsh (Cappoquin), Tom Gallagher (Mount Sion), Joe Conlon (Mount Sion), Michael O’Connor (Cappoquin), Mick Flannelly (Mount Sion), Willie Conway (Cappoquin), Maurice McHugh (Dungarvan), Paudeen O’Connor (Dungarvan), M. Brown (Cappoquin). Subs – Donal Whelan (Dungarvan), Joe Flannelly (Mount Sion), M. J. Ryan (Dungarvan), (Dungarvan), B. Foley (Ferrybank).
While such as Maurice McHugh, Sean Hayden, Joe Conlon, Paudeen O’Connor and Willy Conway of that minor team went on to figure on senior panels in the early fifties Mick Flannelly, Tom Cunningham, Michael O’Connor and Donal Whelan continued on to achieve Munster, National League and All Ireland glory between 1957 and 1963.
Waterford had a twenty-six-year wait for further underage success, and it came at U-21 level in 1974 when Waterford, as rank outsiders, had convincing wins over Limerick and Kerry before going on to shock a fancied Clare side in the Munster final on a score of 2-5 to 1-3. There followed a decisive All Ireland semi-final win over Antrim to set up a first underage clash with Kilkenny since 1948. After a thrilling final in Thurles Kilkenny were victorious on a score of 3-8 to 3-7. While players such as John Galvin, Pat McGrath, Jim Greene, Kieran Ryan, Liam O’Brien and Tom Casey all went on to figure prominently for the county at senior there was to be no further silverware for Waterford until 1992.
That year was a turning point in Waterford’s hurling story. The minor hurlers came from nowhere to take the Munster title after a Paul Flynn master class in both games gave Jim Greene’s side the Munster title, beating fancied Tipperary on a score of 3-16 to 3-7 in Cork. The All-Ireland final was reached following a win over Antrim in Ashbourne, but in the curtain raiser to the senior final in Croke Park a very good Galway side proved best, winning on a score of 1-13 to 2-4.
Meanwhile, the U-21 hurlers were putting down a marker under Tony Mansfield, Peter Power and Joey Carton when scoring a 1-10 to 0-11 win over Cork in Walsh Park. There followed a great win over championship favourites Clare in Thurles and after beating Antrim in the semi-final Waterford faced Offaly in two never to be forgotten games in a packed Nowlan Park. The drawn game saw Waterford scoring 4-4 to Offaly’s 0-16 and in the replay the roles were reversed with Waterford shooting 0-12 to Offaly’s 2-3.
All Ireland winning captain Tony Browne returned to play his part in the winning of the Munster title in 1994 in the company of many of the ’92 minor side and though beaten by a star studded Kilkenny side in the All Ireland semi-final the stage had been set for Waterford’s return to the top flight of senior hurling with reaching the League final, Munster Final and All Ireland semi-final in 1998 with players from the ’92 and ’94 underage teams such as Tom Feeney, Ger Harris, Tony Browne, Fergal Hartley, Anthony Kirwan, Paul Flynn, Sean Daly, Derek McGrath and Mark O’Sullivan involved alongside rising stars such as Dan Shanahan and Ken McGrath. Browne Hartley and Flynn of the ’92 sides carried on to feature in the 2002 Munster final win over Tipperary, the first of four Munster final wins in the opening decade of the new millennium.
A rising tide lifts all boats and while All Ireland success evaded the senior side the underage scene continued to improve with the winning of another Munster title in 2009 and the success of De La Salle and Dungarvan Colleges in the Harty Cup that gave experience of top flight underage competition to players that was to benefit so many of them, not only in the All Ireland minor win of 2013 but also at senior level over the following years.
Clearly, there is no guarantee that success at adult level will follow on from good underage teams. In Waterford’s case, it has taken as many as ten years to follow a minor or U-21 success with a senior title of any kind. Teams like Clare and Offaly, both defeated by Waterford in 1992, followed on with two senior All-Irelands each within a few years, with teams comprised of many of the same players. Limerick’s recent surge to the pinnacle of hurling dominance was built around their minor teams of 2013 and 2014, so the question could reasonably be asked as to where did Waterford go wrong in the follow-through to their underage successes.
Either way it is clear that underage success does provide a platform for progress at adult level. Not all of the minors taking part on Saturday will progress to senior inter-county status but it is important that, regardless of the result, they are given the opportunity to progress further and realise their full potential.
Both Waterford and Clare have defied the odds to meet in this All-Ireland final. At this stage, Waterford’s win over Clare in Dungarvan means nothing. Clare recovered to beat a Cork side that beat Waterford twice. All could be decided on whether it is Cormac Spain or Paul Rodgers comes out on top in the scoring stakes. A great game is in prospect.
