Waterford SHC: Peter Queally brings final touch to underdogs Roanmore

Roanmore's Waterford SHC semi-final win over Dungarvan means they’re the fourth club manager Peter Queally has brought to a county final

Roanmore manager Peter Queally is leading his fourth team into a Waterford SHC final. Picture: Denis Minihane.

Roanmore contest Sunday's Waterford SHC final against Ballygunner (Walsh Park, 2pm): the city side will be underdogs as the Gunners hunt for an eighth title in a row.

Roanmore have one significant ace, however. Their semi-final win over Dungarvan means they’re the fourth club manager Peter Queally has brought to a county final.

A phone call from a contact in Abbeyside, Queally’s last posting as a manager, alerted Roanmore chairman John Ryan to Queally’s availability for the 2021 season. Since regaining their senior status Roanmore had contested six quarter-finals in the last seven years.

“We felt that it might be worth looking elsewhere to bring us on further, though we had very good clubmen over the team,” says Ryan.

“We were on it straightaway and couldn’t believe our luck that we could get someone on Peter’s level — he was very close to the Waterford job, after all.

“He brought the lads together and he was impressed by them, but we were happier with what he had to offer.

His dedication is just fantastic, and so is his man-management with the lads.

“He’s able to get it out of the players, he knows their strengths and weaknesses, and those of the opposition. He’s not roaring or aggressive, he’s very steady, and that approach suits our bunch, because a lot of them are young.”

Abbeyside chairman Neil Moore gives Queally a glowing reference.

“In fairness, he managed our senior hurlers and our senior footballers (Ballinacourty) at the same time. The first year we got to the county hurling final and the second year the hurling final.

Some of the junior infants class pupils at Gaelscoil na nDéise, Waterford, wearing the Roanmore club jerseys, with a thumbs up for their local Roanmore team ahead of the Waterford SHC final Sunday. It’s Roanmore’s first senior hurling final in over 30 years. Picture: Denis Minihane

“We’d always try to get someone to do the two teams, we’ve found it’s easier to get one person rather than having two managers fighting with each other for nights for training and so on.

“But Peter was excellent, we made great progress in hurling in particular — we beat De La Salle in the semi-final but Ballygunner were that bit too good in the final for us on the day. That was 2019 and we hadn’t been in a county final since 2008.

“He brought great professionalism to the set-up and improved fitness levels — he was very well organised, we played a good few challenge games against teams outside the county, so it raised standards all round.”

The brightest entry on Queally’s CV is the 2013 county final win over Ballygunner with Passage, who hit 2-4 late on for a shock win.

Michael Murphy, chairman of Passage, says the county final display was an endorsement of the manager’s approach that entire season.

“He’s very player-oriented, the playing group is tight and happy with each other. If someone isn’t happy with something they can say so without a problem.

“With managers now there’s probably two hours’ work for every hour at training, and his preparation was fantastic. Whether we scored or conceded a goal in the first minute, had someone sent off or the opponents had someone sent off, all the scenarios were played out and players prepared for every eventuality.

“And that came through on the day of the county final, the way we won with those late scores, because he’d prepared them so well for all those possibilities.” (If readers are surprised that the fourth club Queally managed to a county final weren’t consulted for this piece, there’s a simple explanation: it’s Ballygunner.)

Roanmore haven’t been in a county final in over 30 years. Neil Moore says Queally handled a similar situation for Abbeyside very well in 2019: “He dealt with the build-up to the final very well — the vast majority of our lads hadn’t played in a county final before so had little experience.

“He kept the hype low and focused very much on the match, and that experience — and with Passage before us — will definitely stand to Roanmore this Sunday.

Queally in his playing days for Waterford

“While Peter was an outsider technically he was living in the area, which meant he knew a lot of the lads to see and being out and about he’d know the lads. They always responded very well to him — the year or two before that our results weren’t great but he raised standards immediately and the lads bought into the improved levels of commitment straightaway.”

John Ryan underlines the consistency of Queally’s approach with Roanmore: “In our first game of the season against Passage we didn’t play that well, but Peter has kept it the same all year.

“Each week he gets them together on the Monday for a chat about the match, leaves them off on the Tuesday, Wednesday a bit of work and then eases into the weekend.

“The structure of the season at the moment suits that approach, it probably suits managers that they can keep it consistent. The games are coming so quickly that it’s probably easier than if there are long gaps between them.”

That attention to detail off the field helps with different challenges, adds Michael Murphy.

“The year Passage won it with him it was very difficult locally for us.

“The three Bolger brothers drowned in a fishing tragedy around that time, and one of our underage coaches passed away suddenly in a very short space of time. We were actually at the funeral of the coach when word came through about the Bolgers.

“We suspended all activities, obviously, and he handled it very well when we eventually came back.”

Murphy was still playing junior for the club and had a close-up view of Queally ’s management style.

“He got the players out on the pitch and spoke very well about the lads we had lost, he put people in the right frame of mind. He was able to build a unit but that’s because he’s aware there are more important things than hurling — that if someone is struggling with something outside the sport they won’t hurl well.

“He was brilliant with us. His wife’s from Passage, her family is a stone’s throw from the pitch, so if he’s down with them he’ll drop up and chat.”

That win with Passage means Ballygunner “are forewarned and forearmed”; about Queally, says John Ryan, who adds: “Anything we can tap into from his experience is going to be a bonus.” Can that experience be decisive?

“It’ll help Roanmore, certainly,” says Murphy.

“Will it get them over the line? I don’t know, but they couldn’t have a better manager going into their first county final in over 30 years.

“They probably won’t do much physical work this week so I’d say a lot of what Peter will do is get them ready for the day, because the occasion can get to players sometimes.

But he’ll have them well-grounded. They have the right man with them.