Davy hails effort as Déise on a high

WATERFORD manager Davy Fitzgerald was elated at the final whistle on Saturday night and was loud in praise of his charges.

“It’s down to the players and how hard they worked. The game went against us two or three times but they worked hard – they were never going to give in easily.

“We still have a lot of work to do. It was a good win but you have to give credit to Cork. They fought hard and it takes two teams to produce a good contest. People mightn’t be happy that there weren’t enough scores, but trust me, there was so much commitment out there that it was hard to get the space to get scores.

“I’m just proud of the lads because we took a knock and a half two years ago. We were written off and I was told stay away, maybe, that there was no way back. This is nice — when a team comes back and shows the heart and courage to win again after the beating we got.”

Asked to compare winning a Munster title as a player and a coach, Fitzgerald said he was “fair happy” to have won both.

“It means a lot. It was special to win it as a player and I don’t think there are too many Clare men who have managed teams to the Munster championship. I’m fair happy to be doing it.

“It’s big, especially when you win it with a team that’s been knocked and put down a good bit.

“It’s like life — if you work hard and stay at it you’ll get your rewards and I’m delighted for those boys.

“I’ve seen them low, I’ve seen them down, but we’ve come back again.

“We’ll enjoy the few days, the high, but we’ll have to get back to reality after that.”

The Clare native said he was calm at the end of the 70 minutes as he prepared his side for extra time.

“You can ask them — you’d imagine it was fairly heated but it wasn’t. The one thing I said to them ‘I know we’re going to win’. I looked them all in the eyes, they said they weren’t tired and I believed it — they’re a fit team, I knew they’d go out and give it everything.

“John Mullane was honest enough to tell me he just couldn’t go on (calf injury), even though he’d have died to stay on. He was honest and that’s what we want.

“Certain guys would love to play and they’re probably not happy, they’d love to play more, but we have to do what we think is right. If we think guys are up to it we’ll put them on, if not we won’t. It’s nothing personal with me.

“We won’t get the calls right all the time but we’ll try to be honest, that’s all we can do.”

Fitzgerald dismissed talk of his tactical approach, preferring to share the credit with his backroom team.

“We don’t use tactics, we just go out and play. I don’t know what they’re talking about.

“I heard people talk about the team that won but I’d like to see more positional changes, a lot of the young lads who came in more than did their part, but I’m also delighted for Dan that he got the goal. He got a lot of stick for the last year or two, but that was nice.

“I have key people here, and it’s far from a Davy Fitzgerald show. The backroom staff work their socks off – Ger Hartmann in Limerick, who did great work with the older lads, Peter Kirwan for the recovery work during the week, Tommy, Una, Joe, my selectors Pat (Bennett) and Pádraig (Fanning).

“It’s great when everyone is part of it. We’ve had some low days as well.”

Although the attendance on Saturday night was well down on what would be expected for a Munster hurling final, Fitzgerald was loud in his praise of the provincial competition.

“That was never gone. You’d have a lot of rubbish being talked and you can see that.

“Did you see the reaction of the people afterwards? That’s what hurling is about. Standing up there looking at the people . . . that means a lot to me, I wanted to see the people’s reaction and the lads’ reaction.

“Isn’t that what sport is about? That’s what I love, and that’s why I’m part of it.”