“They are all nearly back ahead of the Clare game”
Waterford’s manager Peter Queally and Paddy Leavey celebrate at the end of the game. Photo: INPHO
Waterford boss Peter Queally admitted that Austin Gleeson faces a race to be fit for the Munster championship opener against Clare on April 27 following Sunday’s league final triumph.
He is confident that Conor Prunty, Michael Kiely, Patrick Fitzgerald, Kevin Mahony and Carthach Daly will be available for that Walsh Park encounter. “They are all nearly back. We’d be hoping by next weekend, two weeks out from championship, nearly all bar Austin Gleeson. He’ll be a little bit longer, he suffered a more severe soft tissue injury in his hamstring about two weeks ago. He might be a bit tight for the first round but everyone else will be back in time for it.”
There are a couple of additions to the Déise injury list however. Jack Prendergast was unable to take the field on Sunday while Peter Hogan limped off three minutes from time. “It looks like Peter picked up a hamstring injury so he will have to be assessed. Jack picked up a shoulder injury last weekend training. We thought it was ok but we didn’t chance him here today. It’s still a bit unstable, it’s an AC joint in his shoulder that’s injured. Hopefully he’ll be ok in a week or two.”
Management and players turned the campaign around with six straight wins following that early Carlow setback. “We got a lot of bodies back, we had a lot of injuries in January. We had a panel of 42 at that stage but against Carlow we had to get two fellas that were injured to tog out and make sure we had 26 on the day. That will tell you the accumulation of injuries we had during that period.
“Gradually fellas started to come back and freshen up the whole team. We got a few key fellas back at vital stages that helped us to perform better. It is hard for new fellas coming in when they are surrounded by new fellas as well to make an impression. I think getting the experienced fellas back as the league went on helped the new fellas perform.”
Queally was pleased to see the game out against a fast finishing Faithful. “We started very well, hurled very well in the first half, a lot of good scores. Very wary coming out in the second half because we started the second half two weeks ago very poorly. We hurled very well for 15 maybe 20 minutes of the second half but really fell away then for the last 10 or 15 minutes.
“We would be really disappointed we didn’t close out the game. Having said that, Offaly had a lot of momentum there and brought it to three or four points but we dug in again and got a couple of vital scores just coming into injury time that allowed us get over the line. Definitely character building.
“We were never going to win this game pulling up, there was always going to be a kick in Offaly. They really threw everything at us. I’d be delighted the way the lads didn’t panic.”
The performance of Mark Fitzgerald was pivotal. “Mark is a huge player for us. He’s had an excellent season so far between us in the National League and UL in the Fitzgibbon Cup. He’s an immense player, hugely talented and very committed. When we were missing Iarlaith Daly and Conor Prunty in the earlier games, we had to play Mark at full back. To have one or two of them back releases Mark to the half back line which makes a big difference to our team.”
Sunday provided ideal championship preparation in his view. “It’s better than not getting to the final and having no game. You saw that the surface was very good. It’s our first chance this year to play on a pitch that replicates what we’ll have in championship. That helped us today. Our lads are crying out for summer conditions. That was a big help for us and good preparation for three weeks’ time where hopefully Walsh Park will be in similar condition.”
