Under siege, Davy proves his tack ain’t dead yet

Fitzgerald has felt increasingly under siege since returning here. Plenty of that harsh analysis has been justified. He inherited an immensely talented unit. There was never any doubt they could and should have been better.

Sun, 21 Apr, 2024 - 20:11

Maurice Brosnan

As the national anthem rose to its crescendo in a packed Walsh Park, Davy Fitzgerald lifted up the golden necklace he had been clasping for the duration of the melody and kissed it. This was a decisive day for his side. He evidently knew it.

At the final whistle, he collapsed to his knees with his head in his hands. Peter Queally extended a celebratory arm, before gently coaxing him back to his feet. They now have two weeks to prepare for a clash with former manager Liam Cahill and his native county: “I don’t even want to think about Tipperary now,” Fitzgerald said outside an elated dressing room post-match. “I’m hardly able to stand up as it is.”

At first let us play the hits. Waterford’s woeful record has been well-publicised. Before today the only victory of 2024 was against Offaly. For the first time in the history of the Munster round-robin they won a fixture against a team other than Tipperary. It is just their third win in 17 games under the new format.

Fitzgerald struck up a familiar tune too. They were written off. They were competitive in every contest this season. The gossip was garbage. “As I told you earlier on in the year when you heard rumours about certain players not playing,” he declared eyeballing one particular reporter, “don’t always believe what you hear.”

All of this was typical. His behaviour on the sideline followed a familiar pattern. Early in the first half, Patrick Horgan turned to protest a shot waved wide. The linesman was positioned perfectly, directly behind the puck in front of the main stand. Fitzgerald cut it off abruptly before he could even contemplate a reversal. When the same official intervened to penalise Calum Lyons for throwing away Shane Barrett’s hurley, the Waterford boss erupted. Arms wide, neck outstretched, temples bulging, the default defensive stance.

So, it continued. During one lull as the tie entered the final quarter, the travelling Cork contingent had enough. A roar rained down from the Slievekeale Road side: “Shut up Davy!” Talk about fighting a losing battle.

But that shouldn’t detract from the praise he deserves after Sunday. Waterford shredded Cork in the opening exchanges and drove for home every time they threatened to come back. Much of this is down to Fitzgerald himself, a manager who for all the criticism and mockery, appears to be gradually, defiantly, driving back towards silverware contention.

This was the thrust of the most damning critiques. He had been surpassed. No longer able to succeed in the modern game. That was far from the case in this match.

His precise puckout planning and elaborate signals? Cork couldn’t handle them. Jamie Barron’s sent sparks flying with his early goal after a long Shaun O’Brien puck. Red defenders were pulled out of position all over the pitch. Michael Kiely should have had a goal from a similar move in the second half. Damien Cahalane’s second yellow came after a well-worked restart up the left wing. Patrick Fitzgerald beat him to the sliotar and took a slap for his trouble.

They absorbed those hits all afternoon and kept coming back for more. In the Waterford dressing room wall was a Michael Jordan poster and quote: “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” A mantra.

Cork drew level after the turnaround only for the home outfit to rattle off three-in-a-row. Alan Connolly did what Alan Connolly does and delivered a green flag. There were two minutes left and two in the margin. O’Brien drilled the restart to Kiely; he fed Patrick Curran and the gap was suddenly three once again.

Consider their next score. Another puckout. Another Fitzgerald signal, three fingers held high in the air. This time his number one went short for a one-two. The next pass went wide to Calum Lyons who dropped into a pocket in the corner. He looked up the line and sent a dart into the vacant space. Dessie Hutchinson knew it was coming, collected and swung over. It was class.

Stephen Bennett endured difficulty with his striking all day. Between 65s, frees, point and goal efforts, he was inaccurate with seven. He still stood up to drill the penalty down the stretch. In the centre Neil Montgomery’s performance was made of solid steel. His tenacity in a ruck forced a free and allowed them to launch just before that.

What is all the more impressive about that perseverance is that it wasn’t constructed on any bedrock of confidence. Their minds were full of conviction despite some doubts about the merit of it. Montgomery explained as much afterwards.

“Thank God,” he said while at the centre of an autograph circle. “Thank God we got over the line there. Look, in the league we got a lot of slack for not getting the right result. You are trying things. They aren’t working out; you are missing players. At the end of the day championship is when it matters.

“We had a good hard look at ourselves a few weeks back. Talked it out as a collective, management and players. Changed our direction I suppose and put our shoulder to the wheel. We did come in not 100% sure how it would work because it was the first test today.”

All of which is true. This was step one, there are more challenges to come. But this felt like concrete evidence that they have what it takes, for the squad and for the manager.