Ryan calls for unity in new Déise challenge

IT TOOK Waterford County Board delegates just five minutes last night to confirm Fourmilewater’s Michael Ryan as the new senior hurling manager.

Ryan becomes the first homegrown manager of the county senior hurling team since Tony Mansfield in 1995, and follows in the footsteps of Gerald McCarthy, Justin McCarthy, and Davy Fitzgerald, who has taken over at his native Clare after three years with the Déise.

Ryan served as a selector in 2006 and 2007 when Justin McCarthy was in charge, with Waterford winning both National League and Munster championship honours in the latter year before McCarthy’s controversial exit. He then stood down in advance of the appointment of Fitzgerald.