Waterford’s safety first approach was a fatal error
The Dub announced that “it would be great to see a Dublin/Waterford All-Ireland final”.
I thought the Kilkenny man’s answer worth recording: “If that happens the final will be played in Lourdes, because it will be another miracle!”
And how right he was.
I wrote here Saturday that I hoped this game would see a continuation of the free-flowing hurling of the Munster U21 final on Wednesday, would have the same entertainment and none of the tactical stuff that spoils so many games. Sadly yesterday’s fare was far removed from what we saw in Limerick. I know people like to see their team winning but they also want to be entertained, they want to see their team playing good hurling. Those who paid their money in Croke Park yesterday didn’t see any of that unfortunately.
We did see a couple of great goals from Richie Hogan, some well-taken points by Henry Shefflin near the end, and a fantastic individual display from John Mullane.
Also we were treated to good play from Kevin Moran while he was in midfield. But for the life of me I can’t understand why he was shifted to wing-forward where he was far less effective.
Overall though this game reminded me of a cat playing with a mouse, and indeed Waterford finished as meek as mice. They didn’t go after this game, were too defensive right to the end and didn’t attack Kilkenny as they should have. The one player who did attack was John Mullane and caused by far the most damage.
His efforts proved that scores are there to be had from this Kilkenny defence if you go about it the right way.
Waterford didn’t repeat, or even try to repeat, the free-flowing hurling we saw against Galway. They went back to being cagey again, trying to keep the score against them down instead of going full-blooded for the Leinster champions.
It doesn’t matter what you lose by if you’re going to lose. But you’re not going to win by sitting back and not throwing players forward when you’re behind by six points.
And the blame for this rests with the players on the field as much as on the management on the sidelines — when you sense a team is vulnerable, as Kilkenny were, you must try to make them more vulnerable, you’ve got to put some doubt in their minds. Not enough Waterford players did that yesterday. Noel Connors did it, Brick Walsh did it, Kevin Moran did it, and John Mullane certainly did it, and when four big leaders in the team set the example like that, everyone else should have followed. Sadly, they didn’t.
I thought Waterford were in a good position at half-time, despite trailing by six points. They had conceded a late goal but they had the wind behind them in the second half.
They should have attacked from the throw-in, thrown everything at Kilkenny, but they didn’t, and instead they allowed their opponents onto them and soon were 10 points in arrears.
And this was against a Kilkenny team that wasn’t anywhere near their best.
Why didn’t Waterford apply more pressure to this Kilkenny backline?
They looked vulnerable in the first half, Paul Murphy and Noel Hickey especially, but Waterford never took advantage. As the game went on, the Kilkenny backs were able to grow more comfortable. Waterford pulled men behind the ball, Kilkenny pulled men behind the ball leaving loose men in both defences. Quickly it became a contest to see who could soar highest for the uncontested catch, and who could puck the ball furthest.
Where now for Waterford? It’s okay to boast that you’ve been in four semi-finals in a row but semi-finals are there to be won, not lost, and I think Waterford supporters have had enough of these sob-stories. They need to become more ruthless mentally, but then again it’s been like this for them for the last 10 years and more. Have they learned anything?
I’m sure they’re going to lose some players, players who have given great service, and they’ll go without that All-Ireland medal.
It is a pity. A pity also for the Waterford supporters — they turned up in their thousands again yesterday, for another dose of disappointment. They deserve better.
To Kilkenny, and I think Brian Cody will be delighted. They won by six points, I don’t think they wanted to win by any more than that. Their finishing was poor at times with many fellas only ticking over — that’s unusual for Kilkenny.
I did say Saturday that they have a lot of mileage on the clock, but I also said I thought their focus wasn’t on yesterday, it was on the first Sunday in September and another crack at Tipp, whom they expect to beat Dublin.
Well they’re there now, and with plenty to work on for the next month.
Isn’t that what Brian Cody always wants? On this display, there won’t be any razzmatazz about Kilkenny before the All-Ireland final, just as they like it.
But they are where they want to be.
