“We shouldn’t be out of this championship”
Waterford manager Davy Fitzgerald reacts to a decision during Sunday's Munster SHC defeat to Limerick on Sunday. After the game he spoke to Tomás McCarthy. Photo: Inpho.
Davy Fitzgerald batted away a question about his future as Waterford senior hurling manager after Sunday’s championship exit in Limerick. The Clare man received a two-year term, with the option of a third, when he was appointed back in August 2022.
“Ah Jesus bud, all I want to do now is go home and take a breather. I’m absolutely shattered. The one thing I’m proud of is I know that we’re right back up there within touching distance. The last ten minutes today isn’t a reflection of what this Waterford team have been like in the championship. I do think it’s an injustice that we’re out of it and I’m disappointed.”
Fitzgerald felt that they should have secured qualification before boarding the bus to the Gaelic Grounds. “Yeah, a hundred per cent, we should be through. If you take the three matches, I thought we were right there. We showed that. It’s disappointing for the lads because they’ve come on in leaps and bounds. We’ve definitely made a lot of progress.” He had no issue with the outcome. “We just didn’t seem to be at that pitch today. Maybe it was just so much went into last week. We kept in that game by just staying with it. There was no question who was the better team today. I felt we were chasing the game. I didn’t see that same exact drive and energy on the 50-50 balls that we had the last few days. But I can’t say a word to the players. We shouldn’t be out of this championship and I know that myself. That’s down to us maybe and maybe a few decisions that could have gone our way. I thought Limerick were the better team today and I’ve no qualms about that at all.”
The exertions in Ennis the previous week drained them of energy in the last ten minutes. A Limerick team, off a fifteen day break, knocked over nine of the last ten points. “A hundred per cent. I felt, for most of the day, that they were really at the pitch of it. I’d like to see us a small bit fresher. There’s no point making excuses, Limerick are going for five in a row and I’ve nothing but respect for them. They’re some team. I just feel sorry for the lads. People have said stuff during the year that this was wrong and that was wrong. There was never anything wrong with the Waterford camp. They’ve been exceptional and we both get on great together. The two years I’ve had with them have been unbelievable.” Fitzgerald got animated on the sideline when Aaron Gillane and Cian Lynch won debatable frees in the second half. “To be totally honest, when we were back to two points, I was a small bit disappointed with Michael (Kennedy). I think he gave them a few easy frees. In saying that, we didn’t deserve it anyhow and I mean that. We genuinely didn’t. They just got a few handy ones at one stage that I wouldn’t have been happy with. Definitely on the day Limerick were the better team and I have no qualms about that whatsoever.”
Limerick’s physicality wasn’t the difference between the two teams in his view. “It looked like that but I actually just think that if you look at our energy levels, they weren’t the same with some of our players. When you’re playing Limerick, you need to be at full tilt. I’m just so disappointed because there was such a good Waterford crowd there today. I could hear them. I tell you, that bunch are a good bunch. You could see that in the last two or three days. I don’t think we did ourselves justice today. Two points down with ten minutes to go and we get beaten by ten. You could see that we totally ran out of juice at the end of it.”
On three occasions in the second half, they got within two points of the team chasing five All Irelands in a row. “We came right back into it and we had another chance or two. Limerick did miss a lot in the first-half, we have to be honest about that. I just don’t feel we were at the same pitch we were at previously, especially last week.” The substitution of Jamie Barron on 46 minutes was a tactical change rather than injury related. “We just needed to shake it up as much as we could. We were trying to make changes to get a bit of life into it. We did like. We got ourselves back to two points down with ten minutes to go.”
