Waterford GAA Discussion Thread 3 ***Updated Mod Note Post 1***

robopaddy2 wrote: »

Shaun Murray is dungarvan. Good prospect aswell.

Its safe to say the Mahonys are Ballygunner to the absolute core!

one thing about that article

2his younger brother Pauric (currently injured) are among the large contingent from the club on the current Waterford squad, which also includes Barry Coughlan, Stephen O’Keeffe and Brian O’Sullivan. Philip’s uncles, Billy and Shane O’Sullivan, have also worn the blue and white of Waterford with distinction."

Shane is still on the panel, granted no game time, but he hasn't retired yet

On what was a very wet Sunday, I looked at the Waterford/Dublin game again and put together some statistics which might be of interest.
Looking first of all at possessions (where players took the ball in hand), it might surprise to learn that Waterford had more possessions than Dublin in the first half (68/54) but Dublin had a lot more possessions in the second half (76/54). Over the whole game, therefore, Dublin had 134 possessions to Waterford’s 122.

So why were Dublin not able to turn this superiority in possessions into a winning total? It was not due to shooting inaccuracy, as Dublin had only six wides to Waterford’s eleven. Part of the answer is that a lot of Dublin’s possessions in the second half (in particular) involved lateral passing across the field in the midfield area which did little damage.

Another part of the answer is that Dublin’s two full backs (Cian O’Callaghan and Paul Schutte) only had four possessions between them in the first half but 12 in the second half, reflecting the greater pressure they came under after the change of ends.

A third part of the answer is that Waterford worked much harder in the second half to prevent Dublin from making good use of their possession – in the first half I counted just five hooks/blocks/tackles but this rose to 16 in the second half.

There were some other plays such as flicks and balls played off the hurley without being taken in hand. There were few enough of these. I reckon that the strike by Shane Bennett for Waterford’s first goal was the only ground ball struck by a Waterford player in the entire match, which is reflection of just how much hurling has changed in recent years. I was watching a match from 1997 between Kilkenny and Galway on TG4 recently and I was amazed by how much ground striking there was, and how often the ball was hit long up the field without the player in question looking up.

I have made up the following table of how many possessions each Waterford player had, and (in brackets) how often these possessions were put to good use.

Used well
Stephen O’Keeffe 5 (4)
Shane Fives 5 (5)
Barry Coughlan 1 (1)
Noel Connors 0 (0)
Darragh Fives 11 (6)
Tadhg de Búrca 11 (7)
Philip Mahony 8 (8)
Jamie Barron 12 (7)
Kevin Moran 17 (9)
Austin Gleeson 7 (7)
Brick Walsh 13 (12)
Jake Dillon 7 (6)
Maurice Shanahan 8 (5)
Shane Bennett 9 (4)
Colin Dunford 8 (3)
Stephen Daniels 3 (2)
Patrick Curran 2 (1)

Kevin Moran was way ahead of everyone else in terms of possessions (17) but frequently he used these poorly, especially in the first half. While his contribution to the team is massive in terms of his inspirational ability to win ball and drive forward, poor use of the ball has, unfortunately, been a recurring feature of his play, especially his tendency to run into cul-de-sacs when driving forward. We saw two examples of this in the first half against Dublin.

Compare this with Brick Walsh, who had the second highest number of possessions (13), all but one of which were used well. This combination of work rate and constructive play on Brick’s part has been a crucial factor in Waterford’s revival this year.

Jamie Barron, Tadhg de Búrca and Darragh Fives were the other Waterford players with possessions in double figures. I think Barron doesn’t protect the ball enough when running with it, which leaves him open to being dispossessed. Darragh Fives got on the ball a lot, but lacked a little sharpness in disposing of it, which is understandable, given his long layoff.

Austin Gleeson only had seven possessions, but used them all well (a big improvement on previous games). While Philip Mahony also used all his eight possessions well, I am concerned about his ability to challenge for ball in the air. Danny Sutcliffe won four balls in direct contests with him, and had eleven possessions in all, which is a lot. Given how good Kilkenny are in the air, I would be a bit worried about this weakness for next Sunday.

The media pundits also all seemed to think that Dublin had assigned Ryan O’Dwyer to mark Tadhg de Búrca, but it seemed to me to be the other way around i.e. that, rather than playing his usual deep-lying sweeper role, it was de Búrca who was marking O’Dwyer. De Búrca also encountered problems in this role, losing four balls in direct contests with O’Dwyer, including a first half point and the ball which led to Dublin’s goal. I would like to see de Búrca putting on another half stone of muscle, in order to bring greater body strength to these contests.

It is interesting to note that Barry Coughlan only had one possession in the entire game, and Noel Connors had none at all during his 30 minutes on the pitch. Given that he was having a hard time on Dotsy O’Callaghan, it might have been as well that he got injured, and what was noticeable was how seamlessly Waterford adapted to his departure, although I would have put Daniels in the corner with Darragh Fives remaining in the half back line.

A few further points. A couple of media pundits wrote about how Dublin’s Shane Barrett did a good job shadowing Kevin Moran, but seeing as Kevin had 17 possessions and Barrett just one, this clearly was nonsense. One might also ask who (if anyone) was detailed to mark Conal Keaney when he came out the field in the second half, during which he had twice as many possession (six) as he had in the first half.

Jake Dillon only had two possessions in the second half, compared with five in the first. Colin Dunford had seven possessions in the first half but only one in the second (the scoring chance that he put wide). Shane Bennett also had seven possessions in the first half and only two in the second. Those statistics go a long way in explaining the fall in the number of Waterford possessions after the change of ends.

Apart from Maurice Shanahan's frees, six Waterford players had shots at goal during the game. Austin Gleeson led the way with six shots, two of which he missed (both sidelines). Shane Bennett had five shots (four misses), Colin Dunford had five shots (three misses) and Maurice Shanahan also had five shots (two misses). Jake Dillon had one shot (scored). We probably need to widen our scoring base, with two forwards (Brick and Jake Dillon) managing just one shot between them.

I have a ticket spare for Sunday. Face Value. Section 305 Row J. Message me if interested.

Really poor tickets available in SuperValu, Tickets.ie and Ticketmaster.

Doesnt look like the Upper Tiers will be available at all which is disappointing.

Hopefully there will be some better tickets available later in the week when the clubs give back what hasnt been sold.

Going to hold tough for the time being

Deisegodeo wrote: »

Really poor tickets available in SuperValu, Tickets.ie and Ticketmaster.

Doesnt look like the Upper Tiers will be available at all which is disappointing.

Hopefully there will be some better tickets available later in the week when the clubs give back what hasnt been sold.

Going to hold tough for the time being

eventually got tickets in sections 310 havign checked the website about 5 times, not great but greater than what was there

Richie hogan struggling with a back injury is the latest on the kk thread

PTH2009 wrote: »

What time are tickets on sale in Walsh park tomorrow ??

Tickets Throw in at 11.30am - 2.00pm

I see PP have cut our odds to 5-2 and moved the handicap from 4 to 3. Probably due to the injury stories coming from the KK camp. Really hope we put it up to them from the off on Sunday, keep it tight and get a foothold in the game. Must say I'll be disappointed if the attendance is less than 50k considering gap since our last Croker visit and the excitement that comes with a coming team. KK fans are hardly saving their cash for the final.

robopaddy2 wrote: »

I have a sneaking suspicion he'll be ok

I'd also be surprised if Mick Fennelly doesn't start. He may not have a huge amount of work done but a player of his quality will still pose big problems around the middle for Waterford.

dobbs2210 wrote: »

Can anybody give me specific directions to get to Colligan rockies/emmets GAA club driving from Kilkenny. Thanks in advance.

This may not be the quickest way but the easiest to explain and it still isn't easy.
Coming from Waterford City about 3 km outside Dungarvan you'll pass the Dungarvan Golf Course on your left hand side (Part of it visible from the road) and a wooded area on the right hand side.
Take the next right on to the N72.

Stay on this relatively straight but undulating road for about 5/6 km (rough guess) until you come to the first yield sign beside a petrol station.
Take the next right onto the R672 which is at the Master Macgrath monument ( across the road from a machinery hire yard).

Now this is where it may get tricky.

I would probably stay on this narrower road for about 5/6 km (again a very rough guess). This road is mostly up hill. Take it all in cause there is some nice views around that area.
The pitch is on your right hand side below the road about 250 meters from the turn off. The turn off is on a left bend on the road. It should be sign posted for the Colligan Gaa pitch.

Good luck with that and if you see any sheep on the road don't panic that's normal around those parts.

Gardner wrote: »

i can tell ya now he will be starting and so will Hogan

Kilkenny will start with 15 and will have 5 subs and whoever is in that will cause us enough problems. I hope we start with same 15 as last game. Our work rate will need to be huge and I don't think that is a problem with this team as they are the most honest bunch of hurlers we have had. Our use of the subs is going to be key. It is a cliche at this stage that it is a 20 man game now but I think we are also better served here than at any stage in the past. Really looking forward to it and think we have a great chance. No time like the present even for a young team. Hon Deise