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.