Donal O'Grady: Puck-outs the winning platform as Déise suffer restart meltdown
Limerick players, from left, William O'Donoghue, goalkeeper Nickie Quaid and Seán Finn combine to block the shot of Neil Montgomery of Waterford during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Final match between Limerick and Waterford at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
At half-time in the All-Ireland final, the most amazing thing was that Limerick only led by three points. They had been completely dominant in that first period and Waterford didn’t display the manic pressurising energy levels that they needed to overturn the favourites.
The Treaty served up a complete collective team performance in the first period, full of energy and enthusiasm. They displayed a huge workrate, hunting in groups and never allowed any Waterford player to settle in possession. The expectation that they might be unable to maintain that awesome energy through the second half might have given some hope to their opponents at half-time.
