Waterford chairman says Déise should play weaker counties first

Waterford County Board chairman Paddy Joe Ryan has called on the Munster Council to restructure provincial football competitions at all levels in the wake of a 41-point loss for the Déise U17s at home to Cork on Tuesday night.

He proposes that Waterford, Tipperary, Clare and Limerick should play off on a round robin basis before tackling the big two.

“We had a great group of people involved, they done their upmost and they put a lot of preparation into it,” reflected Ryan on that 6-24 to 0-1 reverse. “I’m returning to my old point that the four weaker counties should be playing each other before we meet Cork and Kerry.

“It’s been my opinion for the last 20 years and it will never change. That doesn’t always find favour but that should be the position.

“We’ll never improve otherwise and that includes senior as well.

“We’re playing Cork in the first round of the Munster championship; we would be better off to be playing one of the other three counties.

“I’ve always espoused this at Munster Council level.”

Ryan acknowledged there is difficulty in appointing selectors for football development squads at present but couldn’t fault Tim Lenehan and his management set-up for their efforts in preparing the U17 side.

“There is a huge problem in getting mentors for football teams in Waterford.

“It’s important to say we had an excellent group involved with this team on Tuesday night, they were a very dedicated group of mentors and they put a lot of preparation into it.”