Self-belief the key, says proud McCarthy

IN the throbbing, seething, cauldron that was Páirc Uí Chaoimh yesterday, Waterford’s hurling character underwent the ultimate test.

Picture the scene. Just two minutes of normal time remaining, Tipp two points to the good and a place in the June 27 provincial decider against Cork awaiting them.

At that stage it was a Waterford team minus its three most celebrated names. Tony Browne didn’t even start when he failed a last minute fitness test; Paul Flynn had been substituted midway through the half, and then the cruellest of all blows when captain Ken McGrath was forced out in the closing 10 minutes with a rib injury.

But new heroes emerged. Debutant Brian Wall played as though he was a veteran of the championship scene, and most tellingly of all, Paul Flynn’s replacement, Paul O’Brien, turned on the wizardry that finally brought Tipp crashing down.

Tipp will argue that they were deserving of at least a draw, and are adamant that a first-half Eoin Kelly effort that was waved wide was a point.

For only the second time in the county’s illustrious hurling history Waterford will contest the Munster final for a third successive year. That last happened in 1957, 1958, and 1959 when they went on to capture the All-Ireland title for only the second (and last) time.

It’s a statistic that cuts little ice with team manager Justin McCarthy. “Statistics are fine in their own right but they don’t win championships for you,” he said.

But McCarthy couldn’t conceal his delight with his team’s overall performance, insisting a it will bring them on even further as they prepare for a repeat of last year’s provincial decider against his native Cork.

“It was a tough championship game, as tough as I have ever been involved in either as a player or a manager,” he said. “Tipp are a very good team and it is to our eternal credit that we could summon the reserves in the closing minutes to beat them.”

“Brian Wall showed just the stuff that’s in the men from the Nire on his championship debut,” he said, “and Paul O’Brien proved to be a revelation when he came on.” The Déise supremo said that while the last-minute withdrawal of Tony Browne was a huge blow he had great faith in replacement Brian Wall: “I had no fears whatever for him, even if it was his senior championship debut”

He also spoke also of the great belief among the players who, he said, are maturing all the time. “There is great leadership, and that rates very highly with me,” he said.

McCarthy said the panel now has genuine strength in depth with one player as good as the next. And without that strength in depth, he added, they just would not have survived Tipp’s torrid test.

Asked about the mouthwatering prospect of the renewal of rivalry with his own county in the final, all McCarthy would say was that they have three weeks to prepare for it.

“Three weeks to get our act together, three weeks to focus on what will be another huge test of our fellows. Three weeks to prepare mentally and physically for what promises to be a memorable final,” he said.