We’ll stick to our guns, vows Derek McGrath

Derek McGrath hears them knocking — but they can’t come in.

The bangs have been persistent in Waterford since last year’s All-Ireland semi-final when critics surmised tactics were responsible for the team’s inability to close in on Kilkenny when they were three points down and 15 minutes remaining.

A county spoiled by the swashbuckling but ultimately underachieving Justin McCarthy era gleefully accepted the results achieved on McGrath’s watch last season – played 12 won nine, drew one lost two — garnered predominantly by a flock of fledglings. But the manner in which they achieved that return wasn’t palatable to some. Never mind Waterford were breaking scoring records from previous years, the ways and means was apparently unbecoming.