And breathe. The dust has settled following that thriller at Walsh Park yesterday. Waterford have three points on the board in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship and remain unbeaten – yet still, there’s an air of disappointment.
Davy Fitzgerald’s men fired 3-21 having conjured 2-25 two prior, yet it wasn’t enough to dispel an unrelenting Tipperary, who gamely racked up 1-27 thanks to Sean Kenneally’s injury time goal – giving themselves something to celebrate and blowing the championship wide open in the process.
When Patrick Curran marauded down the left flank and whipped one straight between the posts, the Deise looked home and hosed – but there’s no such thing in hurling.
Manager Davy Fitzgerald was proud of his players afterward – another brave effort. Tenacity, turnovers, tension – everything you associate with the cut and thrust of provincial rivalry. Still, it was one that got away.
“We should have won that game. We’re four points up, time up – I knew once they got the goal, it was going to be a draw. If they even fell over their laces, they were going to get a free. That’s OK. That’s OK too. I don’t blame them the referee or anything else.
“I’m extremely proud of the lads. They fought very hard, worked very hard. We went down in the second half, and we came back and we battled and we got back into it. I’m extremely proud of that. This It’s a different bunch of guys. They’re resilient. They’re disappointed – because they know it was won.
Going into the game having been trounced by Limerick, there was little expectation on Tipperary – they were supposed to come here and roll over and let Waterford have a procession on to the All-Ireland series. If only it proved that simple. Fitzgerald knew what was coming, irrespective of what had been thrown in the Premier’s direction.
“Everybody knew what was coming today. If you look at the game last week, Nicky Quaid made an unbelievable save, Sean Finn made an interception that they were in on goal for – and they hit the post. If they got two or three of them goals, that wouldn’t have been close to that same result last week. That’s me looking at it, just analyzing it, right?
“I don’t think the result last week was as bad”, he explained. “They probably felt terrible because they got the trouble they did – but if they got two or three breaks. Their work ethic today was off the charts. They did some different stuff today that they didn’t do last week, and threw a few curveballs at us. It took us a small bit to figure it out and get it, but then we did a few things that they couldn’t get, – so that was probably even more tactical than you realized out there today. “
Conor Prunty left the field with just six minutes on the clock – succumbing to a quad issue. Fitzgerald blooded Jack Fagan and his side rallied to fill the void—but he warned them that they cannot defend in a similar twenty in two weeks time, unless they want alarm bells to sound.
“To lose your full-back, who I rate as one of the best full-backs in the game, it’s tough. It was tough. That was a big blow to us.
That’s why I’m actually so proud of the boys. We got over that and we built it on after – but they’re gutted. The lads feel it was one that got away from us. Probably watching the game, the neutrals would be happy. It was ebbing and flowing and goals and points – there was stuff all over the place! We have to be a small bit tighter than we were, and we will be a small bit tighter. If we go to Clare and be that loose back-to-back, we will be punished big time.”
Permutations, possibilities and ifs and buts were in full flight like the sound of James Owens’ final whistle – but for Fitzgerald, it’s a bit more simple than all of that. Waterford will go to Ennis then on to Limerick, and they’ll be in with a chance come the end of it.
“If we get another win, we’re probably in the Munster final. We’ll be close enough that we won’t be far away from it. Could we qualify with three? There is a chance we could. Is there a chance we might even if we don’t win another game? There is a lot of permutations – so the best thing is I’m not going to think about it. funny, I was listening to Liam Sheedy on Sunday Sport last week and they were talking about Clare and Limerick qualifying – he was saying, sure, it’s a given.”
Despite Sheedy’s confidence that Waterford will do little to disturb Clare’s passage to bigger and better things – Fitzgerald is adamant that his team are making up ground on those considered their superior.
“He said Waterford go up to Clare and Clare will definitely win that one. I was there saying we might as well not turn up at all – but we will turn up. That’s going to be a big occasion. There will be 20,000 in Cusack Park. The respect I have for their players is massive – but we are going to go up there and give it everything we can. The best thing this year compared to last year is no matter what, we’re in the last game. “We haven’t been beaten in the Munster Championship in our last three games. We haven’t been beaten.”
When asked why he was running towards the tunnel at the break, Fitzgerald joked he was going to see if Liam Cahill was OK as he was berating referee James Owens for not awarding the Premier a first-half penalty.
“I just wanted to make sure he was good!” he said. Jokes aside, the Deise boss had one overwhelming thought leaving Walsh Park.
“It’s just killing me for the goal. We should have been smarter in how to deal with it. That play shouldn’t have been allowed to develop. When you’re four points up with a minute and a half or two minutes to go – we should have killed the play. You can take what you want from that. We should have killed the play out on the sideline. We should have got something from that.”
Three points on the board with two games to go – another positive result for Waterford would surely spell an elongated summer. All roads lead to Ennis on May 19th. It won’t be easy, but then again – what is it?
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