Déise selector Queally hails ref Kirwan’s use of advantage rule

WATERFORD selector Peter Queally paid tribute yesterday to referee Diarmuid Kirwan’s use of the advantage rule in the dramatic conclusion to Sunday’s All-Ireland senior hurling quarter-final.

When Waterford sub Dan Shanahan rounded Galway’s Eugene McEntee late in the game the defender clearly pulled his opponent back, but Kirwan gave Shanahan the advantage, and the 2007 Hurler of the Year placed Shane Walsh for the game’s crucial goal.

“It was a very good piece of refereeing,” said Queally yesterday, “Diarmuid gave Dan the benefit of the doubt for a couple of seconds and it turned the game.”

Queally added that Waterford have not ruled out the possibility of Ken McGrath and Gary Hurney getting some game time in the All-Ireland semi-final, though time is against both players as they recover from knee and shoulder injuries respectively.

“It’s too soon to say but we won’t be ruling them out completely,” said Queally.

Corner-back Eoin Murphy admitted he was worried when Galway were six points up in the second half.

He said: “You’d be thinking at that stage, ‘we’ll need to sneak a goal here’. They had a chance to go seven clear but they missed and we were able to hang in there. Fair play to Dan and Shane for getting the goal when the chance came.” Queally paid tribute to Shanahan – and to the men supplying him with possession.

“In 2007, Dan got a name for scoring goals, but if you look back over his career he was really well known for his high fielding, and on Sunday he was back to his old ways.

“Great credit has to go to the men outside him too – for the goal Aidan Kearney made a great interception and put in a great ball to Dan. The same with Eoin Kelly a few minutes before that for an earlier chance.”

Galway had an opportunity to snatch an equaliser, but defender Murphy points to a mitigating factor in Joe Canning’s late miss.

“The wind was swirling a bit and I think it caught Joe’s (Canning) last shot a bit. I’d say if you gave him that shot 10 times he’d score it nine times out of 10.

“When he got it I was thinking ‘oh God, the last fella you’d want to have the ball’. But he’s only 20, he’ll be back.”

Queally says Waterford are drawing comfort from finishing strongly in recent games. “Apart from the first game against Limerick we’ve finished very strongly in games this year, even in the Munster final – our problem that day was maybe we came a bit late in the game.

“The difference last Sunday was that we got a goal towards the finish, which obviously was a huge boost, but it’s good for the lads to know that they’ll be able to finish the game strongly.”

Now Waterford face Kilkenny, who beat them by 23 points in the final last September.

“Our lasting memory of that Kilkenny team would have been of last September and the All-Ireland final,” said Murphy.

“But we’re keen to have another crack off Kilkenny. There won’t be much expectation either, and that should probably suit us as well.”

“Kilkenny are an awesome team,” says Queally. “They’re one of the greatest teams of all time.

“At the same time we’re not about to build them up into some unbeatable team. We need to focus on playing as well as we possibly can.”

Veteran wing-back Tony Browne, meanwhile, added that Waterford had proved a point on Sunday.

“It’s hard to keep going but you keep searching for that All-Ireland medal.

“When you get to semi-finals and win Munster finals, you believe you can do it. I was there in the days when we weren’t winning any games. I want to hang in there while the going is good.’’