Derek McGrath reveals Eamonn Fitzmaurice support

Waterford manager Derek McGrath has revealed that a phone call from Kerry football boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice lifted his spirits following the crushing Munster final defeat to Tipperary a fortnight ago.

“The amount of positivity I received personally after the Tipperary game was really heartening,” McGrath told WLR FM’s On The Ball programme.

“I got a lovely call from Eamonn Fitzmaurice, I’d be friendly with Eamonn from college. It was just a lovely call from him reinforcing his own beliefs and what he’s had to put up with down in Kerry which is probably 100 times the scale of what happens in Waterford based on the expectancy in Kerry each year. Things like that hearten you to keep going, to drive on and to realise that success doesn’t happen in a straight line, I suppose.”