Waterford GAA Discussion Thread 2011-2012

cleaboy boy wrote: »

Shane transferred to Carrigtwohill at the start of this year, his brothers Daragh and Niall play with Tourin, as far as I know there is a lot of upheavel in Cappoquin, players have walked and management also.

Heard another one of the Fives - Darragh I think - maybe heading to Carrig as well.

great win, Jesus there are some scorer's on that team, cant wait to play cork, this is a very good minor team, and cork apparently have a good minor team too, be nice to see some of the future stars in action

Brilliant result for the lads, delighted. Like I and others have said before it would have been a shame if this group of players had their season finished last night. Hopefully Stephen Bennett is back to fitness, he at least has another few more weeks to get back up to full fitness for Cork. 4-18 is serious scoring, I don't know what Clare were like but credit still due to the lads.
Well done to all involved.

WumBuster wrote: »

Why is the minor semi final is at a Cork venue? When the teams last met in 2010 the 1st match was played in Cork where it ended in a draw and the replay was in Waterford which the Deise boys won. I don't think its fair if that replay counts as a home fixture on the home/away basis that this championship is run.

I know what you're saying but they don't take account of that, they always alternate every year from where it was played the year before.

after watching them again last night, i still think theres more in that team, young hahessy in the corner is a find, not sure still about the full back, looks slow and tentative, tramore lad in the other corner i will give him a pass as he played as if he was questioning whether he should have ben there, goalies puck out is terrible to the point the players out the field look as if they havent a clue where its going to go, it could drop short, it could take a minute to come down and still drop short, and he looks as if he played in goal for the second time, devine was quality and aggressive at wing back, gleeson is the best minor centre back i'v seen and i'v seen a few in the first ten minutes of the second half and he was imperious through out he looked like a senior hurler playing minor, young bennet in the left back slot, has all the hurling and confidence in the world, but he is a defender first, second, and last, he plays wing back like he was a loose third midfielder, i think his man got the goal and possibly got most of the clare scores they got from play, has to be tighter and his deliveries has to be quicker, i suppose it asks the question, does he see himself as a wing back?.midfield is fine harney puts in some shift, and by saying that i am not dismissing his quality i think this guy has all the quality of a brick walsh with at this stage a tad more hurling, brave, aggressive strong tough good engine able to hurl but a ball winner what you need, and mark o brien seems to be growing into his role good striker brave moblie strong looks a good hurler i thought he was very unlucky to be subbed V Tipp.,our half forward line farrell looked up for it and when he is, he is quality but when he is not he offers nothing games play around him, lst night in the first half he looked as if he was hurling with great confidence, 3 great points prior to half time and his delivery to the inside line was excellent, hope he can keep that up he will be talked about in the same vein as some of the quality around him, roche center forward looks as if he had a bit more confidence he would be very good but he does not seem to believe how good he can be, did some really nice stuff, knits the game together well, well able to hurl, but allowed himself to drift from the game, i think dj foran should be there but just my opinion, How did cormac curran not start the last day , and this alone makes me question wht the selectors know, huge man, great hurler, great stuff in him, aggressive to the point of being beligerent, wonderfull ball winner and makes great decisions on the ball, and can take a score, if the goalkeeper could reach him with every puck out, i would let him under them all , massive plus from the tipp game.inside line quality quality quality quality quality, don't need to say any more some of the scores take by all three were magnificent, had the clare full back line in all sorts of trouble, if i had to pick one thing its i would like to see young gleeson have a little bit more confidence he is a lovely hurler, good pace, took the first goal like he was doing it all his life, but then allowed the other two, Kearney and curran to run the show, has the qualty to be as good as both of those , i just wonder if he is an inside forward.Stephen bennet is not fit, took both goals well, dj foran should be either full forward or centre forward, dungarvan keeper should be in goal and whilst the full back had a wonderfull game , he is unfit and tentative, other than that great win, and the quality of some of the hurling and scores was a joy to behold, we would have beaten tipp if the team was placed like this and we hurled at this pace, Clare were poor, and waterford dropped the intensity for the last 20-15 min, what can you do?. Will beat cork and then will beat tipp if we tidy up the small things, fellows recover from injury, we get abit fitter and sharper in certain areas , good team, and as for patrick curran better team player than paul flynn at this age[i think he has another year at minor] better work rate and all the class, he was getting stick last night and took it and got better some of his scores and passes for others around him was worth the free entrance alone[not for me though], Great night.,

Cork lads playing the béal bocht. Who are they trying to kid?

Prior to this game I reckoned that even though the Clare/Cork first round game was a close and high-scoring affair, this did not mean that the teams were any good. While minor teams can blow hot and cold, Clare certainly looked a poor team last night, or at least were made to look poor by a Waterford team which played with a lot of confidence.


Waterford also had a lot of big men playing well in key positions. Clare, like Wexford, don’t seem to be producing any big players these days. They found it difficult to penetrate the strong Waterford half back line and, while it looked early on that their full forward (their one really big-sized player) might cause some problems, the threat never materialised.


After the sides swapped a couple of early points, Waterford established a hold on the game in the 10th minute when a long ball in from midfield broke behind the Clare defence and full forward Conor Gleeson was on to it in a flash, driving past his marker to finish strongly to the net.


With Cormac Curran winning ball after ball and Austin Gleeson lording it at centre back, Waterford were the dominant team but missed some good chances and, with the aid of the stiff breeze, Clare were just able to stay in touch, going in at half time 1-10 to 0-8 down.


Waterford got the perfect start to the second half when Adam Farrell flighted an excellent sideline across the face of the Clare goalmouth where corner forward Michael Kearney, standing on the end line, did really well to bat the ball down for Cormac Curran to drill first-time to the net.


Waterford followed up with two points but Clare then upped their game and began to win a lot of ball around midfield. They did tack on two points and if they had managed to get a goal at this stage who knows how the game would have developed.



Waterford introduced Stephen Bennett (looking somewhat overweight) in the 40th minute and three minutes later he blasted a penalty to the net after Patrick Curran was taken down going through. This put Waterford into a 3-13 to 0-10 lead.



Patrick Curran was unlucky not to raise a green flag himself when his shot after a great solo run was well saved by the Clare goalkeeper. Waterford added three more points and then produced the coup de grace in the 55th minute when Curran’s super pass allowed the inrushing Bennett to leave the defence in his wake and slip the ball expertly to the net.


The Waterford goalkeeper got little enough to do in general play, but his puckouts lacked length and were very unpredictable in terms of trajectory and where they landed. Given Waterford’s ability to win ball in the air around midfield, they really need reliable and predictable puckouts for maximum effectiveness.


The Waterford fullback Sam O’Neill (who also looks overweight) looked a bit vulnerable to low incoming ball early on but made a couple of great high catches late in the game as Clare resorted to route one in search of goals. In the right corner William Hahessy did fine but in the other corner Barry Whelan seemed to lack confidence and focus.


Austin Gleeson gave a powerful performance, especially in the second half while Tom Devine to his right, back in his favourite wing back position, was also excellent. On the other flank, Shane Bennett made some great runs out of defence in the second half, but he still allowed the man he was marking, Bobby Duggan, to notch 1-2 from play.


Playing at left half forward, Cormac Curran gave an exhibition of ball winning and good control (especially for such a big man). It beggars belief that he did not start in the game against Tipperary, especially given his performances for Dungarvan Colleges and Dungarvan CBS. His point in the first half, when he grabbed a Waterford puckout and drove the ball over the bar against the wind from midfield, was a highlight of the game.


On the other wing Adam Farrell had a very good first half, scoring three points, but seemed to fade out after the change of ends. In the inside line, Patrick Curran gave another sublime exhibition of skill, pace and score-taking, finish with five points from play, while in the other corner Michael Kearney also played superbly, with three points to his credit.


A further encouraging feature of this game was the impression made by the substitutes. Stephen Bennett bagged two coals, Christy Breathnach landed a great long-range point with his first touch, and Kevin Daly made an instant impact when brought in at corner back. DJ Foran (surprisingly a non-starter) won the ball repeatedly following his introduction, and better shooting would have given him a better return than the one point which he did manage.


Ten different players contributed to the Waterford score. Interestingly, Waterford got no points from frees, due simply to the fact that Clare committed no fouls within scoring distance (apart from the penalty concession). By contrast, Bobby Duggan converted five frees for Clare (and missed a couple more). The media made a thing of the fact that Duggan was the only scorer for Clare from the third minute on, but most of his scores came from frees which were mostly earned by other Clare players.


In a post, ManFromCheese described Páirc Uí Chaoimh as a “big open field compared to Fraher Field”. I have seen posters here before describing Fraher Field as a tight pitch. If you look at the distance between the halfway line and the 65 metre lines you will appreciate that Fraher Field is very long (and significantly longer than Walsh Park). It is also very wide, and in my view as big as any hurling pitch in Ireland.