Déise staying grounded, says O Líonáin
The past few years have seen the squad schooled in hard knocks when it comes to their efforts to escape from NFL Division Four.
After Sunday’s emphatic dismissal of Wicklow, they are on the brink of rising to Division Three next season but leading attacker Liam O Líonáin remains cautious despite their promising position with two games remaining.
“All year, our policy has been to treat every game on it’s own and not look ahead. Everyone will say we’ll beat Kilkenny next week, but who are we to take them for granted? We have a great chance but we know what it’s like for matches to slip away, like it did against London last year. Those disappointments stick in your mind.
“It’s in our hands now though and it’s great we don’t have to depend on others.”
On Sunday, Waterford displayed a ruthless streak in defeating the Garden County by nine points and seriously damaged their opponents promotion prospects in the process.
Manager John Owens termed it the best performance of his tenure and O Líonáin concurs.
“It definitely was one of the best displays I’ve seen by us. Someone asked me afterwards who played well, and after I’d finished answering them I’d named out our whole team.
“It was that sort of day. We’ve finished strongly all year and that’s helped us win tight matches against the likes of Leitrim and Limerick when we were behind.
“On Sunday we just building on our lead and a lot of that is down to our fitness.
“We’re improving all the time and our confidence is better this year taking on better-known teams.”
Waterford’s progress has been achieved despite being shorn of key players like Sigerson Cup winner Sean O’Hare, experienced defender Eddie Rockett and dual stars Liam Lawlor and Shane Walsh.
Gary Hurney only recently rejoined the squad after being involved with the county hurlers at the start of the season but the panel has benefited from the influx of new faces. Michael Donnelly and Conor McGrath have enhanced their attacking output while Kieran Connery has formed a strong full-back line with the O’Gorman twins.
“Michael Donnelly has been a great find,” agrees O Líonáin. “He’s very effective from play and frees while Conor McGrath is very pacy and has outstanding ability as well.
“For a guy who has a hamstring injury at the moment and was away for a year, he’s playing very well. Having Gary Hurney back as well is great, as his experience is invaluable. But the panel is very good and you can see that in the spread of scorers.”
O Líonáin’s return from injury has been another boost. His useful knack of grabbing goals was evident last season when he struck six during the NFL campaign and he fired another brace against Wicklow on Sunday.
“It was nice to get a couple but I’m getting a bit of stick for the second one. Robert Ahearne fisted it and it was going in before I touched it. I told him I’d give it to him afterwards!
“I had a bad quad injury at the start of the league but the physio has been very good and I’m getting back to 100% now.”
Their form has marked an excellent start to John Owens’ era at the helm of Waterford, but O Líonáin has not forgotten the work of his predecessor John Kiely. “John Owens has been doing great, he’s got a strong panel together. The lads are very serious about it, he gets us well motivated and the lads are responding well.
“But none of us are every going to forget what John Kiely did.
“He instilled pride in Waterford football and raised the profile. He gave us a lot of confidence and encouraged us that we were as good as the other big counties. “A lot of this progression is down to him.”
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