Waterford boss: 'I hope this performance will show this is a cause worth fighting for'

Déise boss Tom McGlinchey hopes Saturday’s brave showing against Cork will make Waterford football an easier sell to players not involved in the county set-up. 

The manager has spoken of his difficulty in enticing players to wear the Waterford shirt, with no player from Stradbally, the county champions in 2015, part of the group this year.

“I hope this performance will show this is a cause worth fighting for,” McGlinchey remarked.

McGlinchey said his camp were “absolutely gutted” at having fallen short. He pointed to James Loughrey’s black-card foul on Michael Curry right at the death as crucial in keeping out a potential match-winning goal.

“It was the tackle that won them the game because there was a goal on and we didn’t get it. Cork conceded the free, conceded the point and, ultimately, won by a point. Those Waterford lads gave it everything, they died with their boots on. When you lose by a point, you look at the small margins and that’s something we’ll reflect on. We’re hugely disappointed but immensely proud of the players.

“It is hugely frustrating and if Cork don’t go on and do something successful this year, our performance will be forgotten about. We have to worry about ourselves now and try and get a run in the qualifiers, but that won’t be easy because Waterford have a poor history in the qualifiers. There’s one win in the last 16 years so history says they won’t do well in it, but the lads said we’ll give it a go and hopefully, that’s what we’ll do.”

McGlinchey didn’t agree with the summation that their approach was extremely negative.

“It’s hard work but I wouldn’t like anyone to come away and think it’s negative with 14 men behind the ball because when we broke we broke with pace and had support. It’s one thing that slightly annoys me. Dublin and Kerry played and they have 14 men behind the ball at times. I remember the league final and in the first 12 minutes, Bernard Brogan tackled twice inside his own 45 so everyone does it. The easy option is to say the weaker teams do it.”

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