McCarthy admits a change was needed

THE Waterford selectors had no choice but to change their goalkeeper following the defeat to Clare in the third of their Guinness championship qualifying games, manager Justin McCarthy acknowledged last night.

While pointing out that aspects of their overall display “annoyed” him that particular day, he as much as admitted that the concession of four goals set off alarm bells in relation to the goalkeeping position.

“There were two goals conceded against Cork, which wasn’t a huge amount in a championship match, let’s be honest. There was one scored against us in the Offaly game and one against Dublin, and that wasn’t an awful lot,’’ he commented. “The goals Clare got were a combination of backs and goalie.

“We had to look at it seriously and say right, we have to make an adjustment here.’’

Teamwork in Ennis had been “slack enough” he said, but obviously not intentional. Quite simply, Clare had played “very well.” Any team that ever went up to Cusack Park to play them - be it in the League or championship - would know that they’d be going flat out.

“It has to be said we didn’t meet a handy team - we met a very forceful team who were well on their game, got the chances and took their scores, and then got the goals to go with it. Some of the goals came from things that just happened, that might never happen again, from balls that should have been cleared and were left behind.

“It was a sweltering day and we had a two-and-a-half hour journey there. It was always going to be a hard game to win, but I was more disappointed with the way we played. We scored 21 points, missed quite a few frees and we made mistakes that were a bit uncharacteristic of Waterford - simple mistakes that annoyed me more than anything else. But that’s in the past. I don’t want to dwell on it. The main aim was to get to a quarter-final.’’

In relation to their decision to replace Stephen Brenner (with Ian O’Regan) for last year’s All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny, McCarthy denied that it had caused their downfall.

“I wouldn’t say it cost us entirely. There were other factors,’’ he said. “One goal might have slipped in, but in a big game that wasn’t a huge amount.’’

McCarthy was amused by the description of Waterford suffering a double whammy when they learned a few hours after the Clare game that the All-Ireland quarter-final draw had pitted them with Cork. From what had been said in advance (about Cork and Waterford not meeting again) they had been “gearing themselves” to playing Kilkenny.

The pairing with Cork did provoke mixed feelings, he agreed, because of the fact of having met them in the Munster championship.

“The feeling was that you’re going back over the same thing again. Over the last few years there has been great rivalry between Cork and Waterford and some great games. We now had to look at the broader picture, of taking them on again.’’

Overall, the three qualifier games provided Ken McGrath with match practice, which he had been seriously lacking in the lead-in to the Cork game in May and also helped Paul Flynn. Since then, Flynn had got a “slight knock” on the leg, but McCarthy’s says he’ll be okay. He has every confidence in their choice of goalkeeper and is encouraged, too, by the progress made by Fergal Hartley at full-back.

“Fergal has settled down quite well. He played very well the last day against Niall Gilligan and held him to something like one point from play,’’ he added.

This time, he says, Waterford are in a better position to take on Cork, in respect of not having the injury concerns they had prior to the last game. In that sense, everything is in order. But predicting their form and attempting to anticipate how much better the All-Ireland champions will be is an entirely different matter.

“The form coming into the game and the spirit is quite high but it’s all on the day. Don’t forget that games between Cork and Waterford over the last four years have been very tight. Cork know they are going to put up a very good display and we know that too. We also know that we are capable of putting up a very good display.’’

From a Waterford perspective, however, he has no doubt that his team needs to play a good deal better than they did in Ennis.

“Definitely we’ll need to be at the top of our form to beat Cork. If we aren’t, we won’t beat them,’’ he says. “Cork are due a big game. They played a fair game against us and a very good first half against Tipperary in the Munster final. They’re going to up their game, and the way I see it, if they do that, we’d certainly want to up our game.”

Whatever the outcome, McCarthy isn’t prepared to look beyond Sunday’s quarter-final. Nevertheless, he accepts that it is “a vital game” for the team and the county.