A step taken in the right direction
A decade has slipped by since I managed a Limerick U21 side to win their only Munster title in the grade in the very same ground and this was my first time to return to the venue.
Having seen Waterford perform so well in NFL Division Four, culminating in promotion and an unlucky defeat to Limerick in their first Croke Park final appearance, I was here to run the rule over their continued progress.
As Waterford had already beaten Clare in the league and were playing at home, they were in the unusualposition of being favourites and needed to take the next step forward in their development and win a championship match.
Whether the team was feeling the pressure of the favourites tag or not, they started the game very poorly and were six points to two behind at one stage in the first half and their recent good league form seemed to be in the distant past.
Clare were getting a lot of men behind the ball and Waterford were struggling to break them down despite having plenty of possession and good approach play to the final third.
They were guilty of over-elaboration on more than one occasion with Liam O Lionain the worst culprit while Michael O’Shea and Gary Brennan were causing problems for their defence at the other end of the field.
However, a good switch by the Waterford management resulting in Gary Hurney going to centre forward worked the oracle and for the last 15 minutes of the first half, they played most of the good football and reduced the deficit to one point at the short whistle, with Tommy Prendergast, Wayne Hennessy and the two Hurneys – Patrick and Gary –prominent.
The fact that they had refused to panic and played their way out of trouble was noteworthy and they had a notable advantage in terms of pace and sharpness in a lot of areas of the field.
Clare again started the second half better than their hosts and won an amount of possession around midfield with Gordan Kelly doing well at centre-back and taking advantage of the fact that Hurney had been relocated once again to full forward.
However their good work, crucially, was not being registered on the scoreboard.
The move of Hurney appeared to be an error by the Waterford management team but it paid a rich dividend when he used his upper body strength to field a high ball on the edge of the square before blasting to the net for the most important score of the game.
At this stage one would have expected Waterford to push on and take the game by the scruff of the neck but they failed to do so and only scored the insurance point in injury time despite the fact that Clare had been reduced to 14 players when Declan Callanan was sent off for two yellow cards.
Another area that cost Waterford dearly in this game was free-taking, some very scoreable frees were missed on a day that was perfect for that particular job, and against betteropposition, they will pay the ultimate price for such waywardness. Brian Wall, Wayne Hennessy and Gary Hurney were all guilty in this regard.
Looking at Waterford’s overall performance, their defence coped well after the first quarter but were guilty of coughing up some soft frees while Michael O’Shea’s pace did causeproblems at times.
As the game progressed, their half-back line became more prominent with Shane Briggs leading the way, ably assisted by Tony Grey and Eamonn Walsh, who won good possession overhead.
Tommy Prendergast is a promising midfielder who performed solidly all through and kicked a very good point when scores were at a premium. They have good pacy forwards in Liam O Lionain, Conor McGrath and Wayne Hennessy but their approach play all too often failed to produce an end product and their ability to penetrate and finish has to improve.
The two Hurneys provide the physique up front but Waterford cannot afford to be overdependent on one player and based on yesterday’s evidence, they were overly reliant on Gary.
The beauty of this though is they have won a championship game playing poorly and as a result will take back the underdogs tag for the semi-final against Limerick, who also have to travel to Fraher Field.
Waterford have taken another small step in the right direction.
Bigger steps await them.
