One underage provincial title per decade key to Waterford development, says Paul Flynn

The Déise legend was a selector with for  Saturday’s All-Ireland minor-winning side.

HOPE: Tommy Ryan and Paul Flynn before the game.

A Munster underage title every 10 years will keep the Waterford conveyor belt ticking over and keep the county’s reservoir of hope sufficiently topped up, Déise legend Paul Flynn has said.

Flynn served as selector with Saturday’s All-Ireland minor-winning side, the same title he wore when working with the all-conquering U21 class of 2016.

The points he made nine years ago he repeated at Semple Stadium on Saturday evening.

“You have to compete. Seán Power won a minor All-Ireland in 2013 and three years later the U21 was won, that team has been the backbone of the senior team over the last number of years.

“I said when we won the U21 in 2016 that if Waterford could compete in a Munster minor final every six, seven years, or win a Munster final every 10 years, and just keep the whole thing going and give everyone a bit of hope, all the coaches that had these young lads, and clubs and schools. That is the main thing,” said Flynn.

In the nine years since, Waterford have failed to lift provincial silverware at minor or U20 level. In fact, there has been just a single U20 championship victory - and that over Kerry - in the nine years since.

It is a record that made Saturday’s All-Ireland decider a must-win for Waterford.

“The county, the underage set-up, it will give everyone a lift. It gives hope to everybody,” Flynn continued.

“It gives everybody a shot in the arm, the development squads underneath, teams above, everyone. The amount of older people here today, supporting Waterford for years through thick and thin at every level, it is just brilliant.” 

All-Ireland glory seemed an unlikely possibility on the evening of their no-show Munster final defeat to Cork. Flynn spoke of lads crying in the dressing-room afterward. Management quickly turned defeat into a positive. They’d come within two points of a highly vaunted Cork outfit despite not showing up. Imagine what they can achieve, players were told, if they turned up for the hour.

“The Munster final was by far our worst performance. We were standoff-ish, we didn't put any pressure on the ball or the man. We had tears in the dressing-room, and obviously that is part and parcel of it, but the good thing we had with that performance was we couldn't be any worse or play any looser for 45 minutes, and we still got it back to two points. That was the stick we used with them for the last couple of weeks.

“We didn't play well for an entire match until Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final, and we played again today for an entire match. That was the difference in our performances between Munster and the All-Ireland series. We were in both halves in both matches and that was the winning of the All-Ireland semi-final and final. Fair play to them, they were brilliant.”