McGrath hoping for minimum ban

WATERFORD Allstar Ken McGrath, who was sent off in the NHL meeting with Galway, will use video evidence in a bid to ensure his availability for the championship when his case is heard by the GAC tomorrow night.

McGrath was sent off along with Diarmuid Cloonan by referee Barry Kelly in last month's Division 1A clash. If the players are reported for dangerous or reckless play a one-month ban will apply. However, if the report says one or both of them were dismissed for striking then a three month suspension will be automatic.

If McGrath is found guilty of striking he would miss the champions' first round Munster SHC game against Kerry on May 18 and, should they progress, the semi-final against Limerick on June 1.

If Waterford were to lose the semi-final he would also miss their game in the first round of the qualifier series.

The Mount Sion clubman is adamant he was not guilty of any foul play in the Galway game and is hoping that the video evidence will convince the Games Administration Committee of that fact.

Tomorrow night's meeting will be the penultimate one for the present GAC members, with a new committee to be put in place at annual congress later this month.

But Waterford people are anxious. "Everyone involved with the county team are keeping fingers tightly crossed in advance of tomorrow night's meeting," a County Board official said.

"To hand Ken a three month suspension for his sending-off in the Galway game would be a travesty of justice," he added.

Meanwhile, across the border in Wexford, there is a much more confident air. The Model County produced a miracle against Offaly on Saturday to secure their Division One status and book a place in the top flight play-offs against Clare, Kilkenny and Galway.

The only man in the country not expressing surprise at the achievement is first-year manager, John Conran.

"When you lose, you soul-search, go and look for answers, whereas when you win you might feel a little bit too smug. After the Tipperary game (a massive loss, second-last game), we had a lot of soul-searching.

"There's great character in this squad of lads, they sat down together themselves and decided there was no way they were going to be judged on the quality of hurling they produced that day. The team themselves got it together, started to work very hard at their game it's nice to see some of the fruits of that labour begin to appear. We hadn't started back training till mid-January, so we were probably two or three weeks behind most other teams, and up to the Tipp game, we hadn't done a lot of hurling, concentrating on getting our fitness levels up.

"We decided we'd better start doing a bit of hurling, so we met earlier in the evenings, got in a bit of stick work, worked on the skills, and the lads have jumped ahead, you can see it in them.

"For us, last Saturday against Offaly was very important, but it was paramount that we beat Limerick (the previous game), to put us in the position where we could qualify. We did that, and I felt the last 20 minutes we hurled really well, we gained in confidence a lot, I could see the hurling starting to come out in the lads.

"I knew then we had a good chance of pulling it off against Offaly, but it's important to remember, they were very sub-strength, even from the Cork game, and you have to take that into account.

"I don't think the team we saw last Saturday will bear much resemblance to the side they'll have out against us in the championship on June 8".

For Wexford now, it's the bonus of meeting Kilkenny, Clare and Galway, to see who qualifies for the league final, as opposed to meeting Waterford, Laois and Dublin in a dogfight to avoid relegation.

"Better games for us, certainly, but we'll be under much more pressure. Whether we'll be able to win them or not now remains to be seen, with the quality of the opposition. It's going to be tough for us but at the same time it will prepare us better for the championship than the other games would have.

"Kilkenny would appear to be almost certain of qualification, and Brian Cody has a fair squad of men to work with. They're hurling great stuff at the moment, but it's a long year, a long road without a bend who knows what will happen, before it's all over?".