No cribs from O’Grady
Despite the concession of dramatic late goal that saw Waterford pip them by a point, O’Grady refused to bemoan his side’s bad luck.
“You could throw out the old cliché about a draw being a fair result, but the team that gets the most scores deserve to win. We’ve no cribs going home. We had our chances, Waterford had their chances as well. We played good hurling at times. We were a little naïve at other times but we don’t have any cribs with our players. They did the best they could and they just came up slightly short.
“That’s the way things go.”
O’Grady admitted ace marksman John Mullane was the last player he wanted to see in possession near goal as Limerick sought to protect a two-point lead.
“If you could stop the play and ask could somebody else from Waterford get that ball, you’d have said we’ll take that. Mullane, I’d describe him as a sort of assassin: he pounces, and that’s it. We defended a free, brought the ball out and we were under a bit of pressure. We didn’t clear it down the wing, and when it went back across it came to the wrong man at the wrong time. If a fella was near him that could maybe haul him down, you’d have gone with that!
“But unfortunately the way the ball broke he stuck it and it went in off Tom Condon’s shoulder which brought it up over Nicky Quaid’s hurley.”
There may have been a suggestion that Limerick should have been awarded a free in the closing attack of the game when Mark O’Riordan was challenged by the Waterford defence. O’Grady felt a lack of experience may have told in that incident.
“If I could take myself back to my own playing days, I’d have gone down dead and stayed there and laid on the ball, and maybe put on a bit of pressure. In fairness to the ref, conditions were damp and I think he let a lot of things go. You could have no cribs with that. A little bit of experience might have brought a free for us but it wasn’t to be.”
Limerick’s performance was hugely positive, particularly in the stellar showing by young full-forward Kevin Downes as he grabbed 2-1 in his first taste of senior championship action.
“He’s talented and is a good goal scorer,” admitted O’Grady. “If I had any disappointment from the day, it’s that we didn’t get enough ball into him. He is a dangerous player and provides us with an attacking outlet. He’s big and strong and has a bit of pace. We need more players like that.”
Limerick now head into phase two of the qualifiers with the challenge being to maintain the high standards they set yesterday. But O’Grady insists that will not be straightforward.
“If we can get back up to those standards for the next match, we’ll see where it takes us. We’re travelling the qualifier route, but you’re not going to get the same intensity or the same build-up. That’s what Limerick hurling needs, they need as much experience as they can get of the big day and the pressure that brings if they want to get back to the top. “There is far more intense preparation for the Munster championship than there is for the qualifier route. You’ll be playing probably on a Saturday night, and it won’t mean the same unless you get back to the quarter-finals.”
