Waterford hungry to taste success

THE Gaelic Grounds should host an interesting spectacle this weekend, with Galway and Waterford a most unusual pairing for a national hurling final.

Despite Galway’s summer short-comings in recent years, the hunger for success is much more pronounced in Waterford, where they have been without a national title since their last league success in 1963.

This is a match Justin McCarthy and his team dearly want to win, if only to yield something tangible from the amount of hard work invested over the past few seasons.

“It has been a very competitive league,” McCarthy said yesterday, as the build-up to the league final swung into top gear. “Things have gone well for us in the past few weeks, we have come out on the right side of some narrow results and we have to be happy with how things went.”

Waterford can be unhappy with the lack of foresight that has created the congestion they are now facing. A week after hoping to end their national drought, they enter into the most significant game of their season,

For Galway, the aims are different. National titles are not to be sniffed at by Galway hurlers, especially in these days. But Conor Hayes views Sunday’s game as a chance to enjoy a championship-intensity game.

“We are not out in the championship until June 19. I think we are the last team out in the championship,” Hayes said of Galway’s eternal problem. “So taking on a team like Waterford, who are out next week, will stand to us. It will be a good test for us. We will need this game whether we win or lose, but getting to the league final is a reflection on how well some of our players have done in the league.”

Meanwhile, as Waterford report a clean bill of health for Sunday’s game, Hayes will be sweating on the fitness of midfielder Fergal Healy.

Healy retired early from Galway’s last league encounter against Limerick with a rib injury. “Fergal is still troubled by that rib injury he picked up the last day,” Hayes said. “He has come on a bit in the past few days. Even so, it is very doubtful whether he will be able to start.”

Alan Kerins has a calf injury, but is expected to start and while David Tierney has yet to recover fully from a broken thumb, he may also start. Some Galway players are in the midst of exams, but that is unlikely to curb the involvement of Tony Og Reagan and Adrian Cullinane.