Déise players 'made sacrifices' in preparation for Limerick, says Queally

Waterford bounced back from last week's disappointment against Cork. 

Waterford manager Peter Queally and Limerick boss John Kiely shake hands at Azzurri Walsh Park. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

Waterford manager Peter Queally praised his “hurting” charges for making sacrifices in responding to last Sunday’s trimming by Cork with this victory over Limerick.

Queally wasn’t making excuses for the 14-point loss but mentioned there were preparation issues behind the disappointing performance.

He spoke of how the players took time off college and work this past week so that they could train on a pitch that was unaffected by the poor weather.

“Look, the first thing is that we looked internally,” said Queally. “The management team, we looked at ourselves.

“The things that we got wrong in the lead-up to the Cork game, some of it was out of our hands. The elements weren't great and we couldn't get pitches. We were training on astro turf at 9pm and these things.

"It's not ideal preparation but we made sacrifices and the players made sacrifices this week. We went early, got a sand-based pitch (in Gold Coast, Dungarvan), it didn't have floodlights so we trained kind of in the middle of the day. But we got a good training session in and that physical preparation was a big thing for us.

“And then of course we had Shane O'Sullivan back with us this week. He was celebrating with Ballygunner the previous week, so Shane was a big addition to us as well. That mindset work, that's what we needed more than anything to work on this week, our heads as well as the bodies and that."

First day out, John Kiely wasn’t too critical but admitted there was plenty of room for improvement. “There were patches where we were quite good and more phases of the game where we just lacked that little bit of sharpness, some dropped balls, misplaced passes, missed pick-ups and all told, disappointed with the sharpness, really.

“I think there were occasions where we just got outfought as well and particularly in the first half, breaking ball off opposition puck outs was something we did particularly poor on.”

He acknowledged the black card and penalty was a major blow to Limerick but refused to find fault with Matthew Fitzgerald who conceded the penalty and was then sin-binned.

“From Matthew's perspective, I certainly wouldn't be laying the blame at his door anyway. I thought for a young guy making his debut and playing corner-back, I thought he did exceptionally well.

“He was really good on the ball, very sharp, very crisp and very tidy, a real positive from today if there was one, that's the real positive.” 

Captain Conor Prunty’s quad injury was the only blemish on Waterford’s day. "Unfortunately, it's just a recurring thing with Conor," said Quelly. "It's put a dampener on today. Up until the injury, I thought Conor was a colossus for us. He's a brilliant leader and captain as well. But I know Conor and he'll do everything to get back now in the coming weeks and stuff to make sure that he's right again."