Anthony Daly: Can it always be the manager's fault with Waterford?

The players have to put their hands up and start accepting responsibility for another performance way below the standard

MAKING STRIDES: Clare’s John Conlon and Jack Prendergast of Waterford. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie

As soon as I reached the toll bridge in Limerick on Saturday afternoon, I got spooked. The traffic was backed up, not massively, but big enough to panic me into revisionism of my planned route. So instead of going the conventional way of heading onto Nenagh and then turning off for Thurles, I went out the Tipperary town road, turned off at Murroe-Boher and meandered my way through east Limerick and west Tipperary.

As I passed through the towns of Doon, Cappawhite and Holycross, I was impressed by the size and scale of the GAA grounds in those places. Yet they’re just staging posts on the way to the amphitheatre. After continuing on into Thurles, I parked up before strolling to the back of old stand, captivated by Tom Semple’s edifice as I made my way in under its shadow.