Foley content to get another day out

EVERGREEN Limerick captain Mark Foley was honest to a fault at the final whistle.

Having led his team to a stirring draw, would he and his teammates have been glad of another day out at half-time?

“Absolutely. I think we did well in the first half – even though we played poorly we were only down six points at the break, and it could have been a lot more.

“At the end of the day we’re happy with the draw. Conditions were tough and we didn’t play that well, but I’m sure that Waterford will feel the same way. After that both teams should be a lot sharper next Saturday for the replay.”

It wasn’t all negativity. The wing-back acknowledged that he and his fellow defenders were under the cosh in the first half, but pointed to David Breen’s goal on the resumption as the starting point for Limerick’s resurrection.

“We didn’t get out of the blocks at all in the first half, and Waterford opened us up a couple of times as well. John Mullane in particular was getting great ball into him from out the field.

“But we’ll have to be positive as well. As I said, it could have been a hell of a lot worse for us. We were only six points down facing into the second half, and we got the goal just at the right time, after the break.

“We controlled things from then on, even though we found it hard at times to get scores.”

One of the few talking points in the game was the return of Limerick to the dressing room before the start of that second half. A spontaneous reaction to a downpour, said the captain.

“Ah, just the way that happened, the rain was incessant when we came back out,” said Foley. “We had no rain in the first half so when we came out and we saw how bad it was, we went back in to keep fellas dry. There was no more to it than that.”

The Justin McCarthy factor wasn’t significant either.

“I don’t think so, no, not for the players anyway,” said the Adare clubman. “I know that the thing had to be addressed for the media and so on, but the players would only want to go out and hurl, it wouldn’t really be a factor that way.”

With the teams facing a replay on Saturday in Thurles, will the 70 minutes of championship hurling be a big help in preparations?

“I think so, a Munster championship game is as good as a month’s training really. I think our touch wasn’t as good as it should be in the game, so hopefully everybody will be up to the pace of it by the time we play next Saturday.

“Then again, every game brings a team on, so Waterford will probably feel the same. They’ll probably be a lot better as well, so it should be a better game than it was today.”

Foley acknowledged the poverty of the game’s entertainment value.

“The quality was poor. All through the game fellows were struggling with their touch. The conditions were not great but having said that when you are putting in that kind of effort in training, you would expect the quality to be a bit better.

“While it was close and exciting at times, the quality was not great and I am sure that from a neutral perspective the quality would be a bit better next Saturday.

“It was very difficult and the ball was like the proverbial bar of soap and fellows were sliding all over the place. There were many instances in the second half when fellows were putting up their hands under dropping balls and it was just slipping away from them.

“Today it was all about just getting the basics right. Even holding onto the hurley was very difficult in the second half when you were trying to get a shot off. Next Saturday you would be hoping for better conditions and better fare.”