Debutants proved their worth, says Derek McGrath

There was an air of vindication to Derek McGrath’s tone; relief too.

The Waterford manager had rung sweeping changes for this visit of Galway, 10 in total from the side that fell to Dublin a week earlier, and it was clear from his post-match reflection that comments from outside the camp disagreeing with his team selection did not go unnoticed.

The scoreboard is where it counts most, and Waterford, come 3.30pm, hadn’t paid the price for the number of relatively inexperienced players management had thrown into the mix.

“I am delighted with the spirit and resilience shown. I am delighted, in particular, for guys that were making their debuts — Conor Gleeson, Colm and Shane Roche,” he said. “It was probably well flagged beforehand that we had made a lot of changes, but that wasn’t any disrespect to Galway or the actual league itself, and we did well in cocooning ourselves from any comments surrounding what kind of team we were picking. We did what we felt was right for our team and we are glad to stand over it.

“Conor Gleeson and Shane Roche did very well in defence. They are clever lads. I am delighted for them because in the run up to the game, there was a lot of talk, even within Waterford, that maybe we should have made five changes, that 10 was overly dramatic. The start helped us. We didn’t want a situation where any of the lads would be disheartened or any type of a ‘B team’ status associated with them because we don’t feel we are in the company of a lot of the top teams who can put out different teams.”

Having picked up points from four of their five round-robin games, McGrath is pleased with how the spring has materialised thus far.

“I am very happy. I have been on the record in saying that I totally disagree with the format of the league. The stigma of the word ‘relegation’ certainly haunted me for the first year. It is built up so much and it is hard to separate yourself away from the word. So when you have the six points in the bag which will keep you up, there is a real sense of relief because you have your box ticked at board level — the coffers are swelled by the higher crowds. That is a factor for every manager. If you didn’t say that, you are telling a lie.”