Waterford GAA thread - mod warning post #1 and #51

upthedeise16

I felt yesterday watching Dublin was like watching Waterford under McGrath, they lacked the presence up front and hadn’t the numbers up to score enough against Limerick.
While their long distance shots went over against Tipp, they didn’t yesterday. Sean Moran hurled a lot of ball as Dublin sweeper, but Tom Condon had a field day as the free man in the Limerick defense. Limerick were able to pop passes to free defenders and work the ball out of defense at their ease with runners off the shoulders and tbh, their delivery to their forwards should have been better. Enjoyed seeing Eoin O’Donnell in the flesh again yesterday and is as fine a full-back in the country, uncompromising and I thought he was outstanding but the corner backs we’re struggling beside him.
The Gaelic Grounds for last years munster championship match against limerick was a dark day. Our half back line which included Brick couldn’t live with the movement and pace of the Limerick attack and we really struggled, I think we are in a better place now to put pressure on the Limerick deliveries as if you leave Byrnes and co deliver good ball, the Limerick attack will hurt you. We need to stop their runners off the shoulder by going man to man which I think we will under Fanning which is great.
I know Prendergast did well yesterday but I still am not sure who should partner Barron in midfield but i learned that Dunford is not the right man which was my opinion already. I don’t think Austin Gleeson in the man to partner Barron either as marking a midfielder could see Gleeson score 3 points but his marker 4. It’s a hard call as Moran has been good in the halfback line. I’d go with Prender for next week.
I feel Limerick are strong at midfield and O’Donavan doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Lynch will do fantastic things sporadically and pop up with a score or an outrageous assist but the work his midfield partner gets through is immense. For me O’Donavan’s workrate, tackling and excellent stick delivery makes him much more important to Limerick as well as being able to drive a sideline 65 yards, he’s so underrated and destroyed us last year in the Gaelic Grounds.
I’m looking forward to the week ahead, Waterford will be tired after 3 weeks in a row but it should be a great final and a great test for the team.

Cake Man

Great result yesterday, credit to the lads for digging in when the chips were down. Was fearing the worst after 5-10mins as Galway we’re cutting through us with ease. Even going down to 14 I thought Galway would use the spare man to nudge ahead and wrap it up but we came up with crucial scores when they mattered.

I think playing the final in Croker next weekend is great. A huge game against the reigning AI champions in CP will bring on all of the lads, that’ll be great experience for the likes of Kearney (assuming he’s not suspended?), Lyons, Prendergast, Hogan, Roche etc. No harm trying to get as much exposure to playing there as we might only get an average of one trip there a year. We’d want to be trying to banish those days of hoodoo’s with Croke Park!

blueflame

Having examined the "Aussie gate" video really closely, I would take a number of issues with the tweet and comments.

1. As i see it Aussie does go to ground and while his left-knee appears to come down it is not clear if it connects with the Galway player , but his it is almost certain that his right knee does not make any contact an this is the contact the tweeter seems to be referring to as she mentions the lower back. If you look carefully he is in fact bending trying to pick up the ball and not trying to land on the Galway player.

2. If you watch for the reaction of the Galway player, No 7 who is a mere foot way from the incident with a 100% clear view, there is no reaction whatsoever. If there was an suspicion of Aussie "dropping the knee", it would most certainly have been seen and would have provoked a reaction .

3. The injury sustained by the Galway player was almost certainly caused by a awkard fall where his arm got caught by Tommy Ryan in a rather stupid and clumsy tackle.

This i am afraid is something of witch -hunt on Aussie, and anyone trying to who is trying to compare this with the filthy and blatant stroke last week on Shane Bennett needs both their eyes and their heads examined.


I genuinely hope Joe Canning injury is not in anyway serious and that he is back soon, he is a great and hard hurler but anyone complaining about the ferocity of the challange should look back at the shoulder Shane Bennett received in the Galway game in Walsh Park two weeks ago, both of them were almost identical, very fair but both bone shuddering challanges.

Very happy with both result and performance yesterday. It was far from a vintage performance but you cannot expect that every week, when you have an off day as happens, it is important to dig in a grind out a result, taking whatever luck goes your way. that was what we did yesterday, we dug deep, we cling onto their coat tails and came good in the end. Form me I think management are making mostly the right calls at the right times and the panel are really buying into it.

Next week is a massive challenge, and i am looking forward to seeing how we perform against Limerick. Another really good step in the right direction yesterday but a long way to go.

hurler on de ditch

JeffKenna wrote: »

puzl wrote: »

Nice to see the same people who lined up last week to complain about the shot to the stones on Stephen Bennet are out again today. What, what was that we heard last week? Crickets? Colour me unsurprised.

I've watched the Gleeson thing back a few times and perhaps I'm blind but I can't see his knee making contact at all.

Yep ,you're blind or at least visually impaired

RayVaughan1984

Waterford are going to have a long summer.. Strength in depth and some very classy hurlers.

Barron is key..Such a class act. Gleeson needs to sort his discipline and even in a positional sense,if Waterford channel him effectively they can win an AI this year. Joe Canning,for all his flair and class which he has in abundance would want to quit the moaning after every free committed considering they are always stone wall frees,is he expecting special treatment?appears so. Impressed with Waterford's attitude throughout

Galway will be a major force yet,but would want to cut down on the aimless shooting especially by likes of Johnny Coen at times under zero pressure, however with Burkes and Cooney to come back,they will be a different animal.

Would have to fear for Tipp in Thurles,can see Waterford dispatching us.

Deisegodeo

What in the name of jaysus was the Galway lad doing tapping over the last free with 20 seconds of injury time left. Not a single Galway forward went close to the Waterford goal for a dropping ball....did Galway think there was more time left to be played?

KevIRL

Deisegodeo wrote: »

What in the name of jaysus was the Galway lad doing tapping over the last free with 20 seconds of injury time left. Not a single Galway forward went close to the Waterford goal for a dropping ball....did Galway think there was more time left to be played?

Don't know about the players but there was some confusion around where i was in the stands about the injury time. 8 mins was signalled about the 74th minute and some seemed to think it was 8 more minutes which would have meant the game ending in the 82nd minute

puzl

Yeah it was very confusing KevIRL. I mean, I was glad to hear the whistle, but wouldn't have moaned if there was another few played too.

KevIRL

puzl wrote: »

Yeah it was very confusing KevIRL. I mean, I was glad to hear the whistle, but wouldn't have moaned if there was another few played too.

Not really confusing at all though. It's always the minimum total amount of injury time that's displayed. Anything else up to the ref. There was never an additional 8 minutes anyway from cannings injury

DiscoStew

KevIRL wrote: »

Would you have changed your opinion after seeing the highlights last night. It was a wild stroke from Kearney. Very unusual for him. Luckily it didn't connect

Ya I think a yellow was fair after seeing it on tv. It looked worse than was his intentions I think. The fact that it was a nothing ball made it all the more frustrating. Strange Harte didn’t even get a yellow for the strike down on him though.

whiteandblue

https://twitter.com/peterswellman/status/1110161789990457344

Joe Canning is grand, dead leg!

deiseach

KevIRL wrote: »

Not really confusing at all though. It's always the minimum total amount of injury time that's displayed. Anything else up to the ref. There was never an additional 8 minutes anyway from cannings injury

Canning went down about the 70th minute and he was led off about the 74th minute, so the eight minutes that went up then seemed to indicate an extra four minutes from that point. Where the confusion arose is Deisegodeo's point: "What in the name of jaysus was the Galway lad doing tapping over the last free with 20 seconds of injury time left. Not a single Galway forward went close to the Waterford goal for a dropping ball....did Galway think there was more time left to be played?" The game went deep into the 79th minute which made people wonder whether the eight minutes was effectively 12 minutes. Then he blew up. If this was Championship there'd have been uproar.

cosatron

RayVaughan1984 wrote: »

Waterford are going to have a long summer.. Strength in depth and some very classy hurlers.

Barron is key..Such a class act. Gleeson needs to sort his discipline and even in a positional sense,if Waterford channel him effectively they can win an AI this year. Joe Canning,for all his flair and class which he has in abundance would want to quit the moaning after every free committed considering they are always stone wall frees,is he expecting special treatment?appears so. Impressed with Waterford's attitude throughout

Galway will be a major force yet,but would want to cut down on the aimless shooting especially by likes of Johnny Coen at times under zero pressure, however with Burkes and Cooney to come back,they will be a different animal.

Would have to fear for Tipp in Thurles,can see Waterford dispatching us.

ha joe is like that at club games here in Galway. always moaning at the ref. Just the way he is. difference between the 2 sides was the goalkeeping, SOK made 2 good saves to keep ye in it and flannery let in a howler to let ye back in it. we should of being going in at half time at least 5-8 points up.

Pogue eile

RayVaughan1984 wrote: »

Joe Canning,for all his flair and class which he has in abundance would want to quit the moaning after every free committed considering they are always stone wall frees,is he expecting special treatment?

cosatron wrote: »

ha joe is like that at club games here in Galway. always moaning at the ref. Just the way he is.

Henry Shefflin and Eoin Kelly were often accused of the same thing, Colm Cooper as well on the football side. Coincidence??

whiteandblue

Pogue eile wrote: »

Henry Shefflin and Eoin Kelly were often accused of the same thing, Colm Cooper as well on the football side. Coincidence??

Brick is always at it in our own county as well, very frustrating to play against with his attempts to influence referees

hurler on de ditch

cosatron wrote: »

ha joe is like that at club games here in Galway. always moaning at the ref. Just the way he is. difference between the 2 sides was the goalkeeping, SOK made 2 good saves to keep ye in it and flannery let in a howler to let ye back in it. we should of being going in at half time at least 5-8 points up.

5-8 points up .still wouldnt be enough
.

PlayByTheRules

Peter Hogan is a joy to watch lads. Real off the cuff modern day total Hurler. I'd love to see a style of play that gets full use out of him and for him to bed in.

PTH2009

James Owen's confirmed as ref for Sunday

Jjjjjjjbarry

PlayByTheRules wrote: »

Peter Hogan is a joy to watch lads. Real off the cuff modern day total Hurler. I'd love to see a style of play that gets full use out of him and for him to bed in.

Lively out isn't he. Would you go for him or Tommy Ryan? Or is there a way to accommodate both by playing Hogan half forward?

BazBox

Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

Lively out isn't he. Would you go for him or Tommy Ryan? Or is there a way to accommodate both by playing Hogan half forward?

I'd start Hogan every game, if it's not working for whatever reason then you have a brilliant hurler in Ryan to come on.

Mastermcgrath

deisedevil wrote: »

Yes. That's very true. I was just thinking selfishly for travel, and I prefer match days in Thurles. 😂

There was only 2500 in Walsh Park last week for the league quarter final against Clare. And at least 500 of that crowd was Clare.

If I hear even one person moan about having to travel to Croke Park....

KevIRL

Mastermcgrath wrote: »

There was only 2500 in Walsh Park last week for the league quarter final against Clare. And at least 500 of that crowd was Clare.

If I hear even one person moan about having to travel to Croke Park....

Our crowds have been bad the last few years but abysmal of late. There was more in Dungarvan in January for a Munster league game v Clare than was at Walsh park for a league QF against the same opposition.

We'll hear all sorts of excuses this week about the distance and hassle in getting to croke park. The same people will be moaning about tickets availability come May

PlayByTheRules

BazBox wrote: »

I'd start Hogan every game, if it's not working for whatever reason then you have a brilliant hurler in Ryan to come on.

Yeah Hogan for me too, he’s more dynamic. Tommy the better engine to run at teams down straight channels though if a game opened up.

phobia2011

Only tickets I see for Sunday are section 301, buried in the corner!! I’ll have the kids with me, so cusack, hardly only them left?

DeiseDawg

phobia2011 wrote: »

Only tickets I see for Sunday are section 301, buried in the corner!! I’ll have the kids with me, so cusack, hardly only them left?

Yeah, only crap tickets available. Corner flag stuff. I hope it's just that that's how they are releasing them.

deisedevil

Mastermcgrath wrote: »

There was only 2500 in Walsh Park last week for the league quarter final against Clare. And at least 500 of that crowd was Clare.

If I hear even one person moan about having to travel to Croke Park....

I didn't moan. I'd prefer Thurles and not just for travel.

I need to be back early too and I want to go to it. That's all. 😁

DeiseDawg

DeiseDawg wrote: »

Yeah, only crap tickets available. Corner flag stuff. I hope it's just that that's how they are releasing them.

Section 330 lower Hogan now online.
Much better than what was up earlier

Jjjjjjjbarry

DeiseDawg wrote: »

Yeah, only crap tickets available. Corner flag stuff. I hope it's just that that's how they are releasing them.

They always seem to sell off the crap ones first and then work towards the middle until they reach the sections allowed for season tickets/clubs. If the upper section opens you'll get ones right in the middle straight away.

Season ticket holders have a 'bring a friend' option up to 4 x extra tickets which need to be confirmed by midnight tonight. I'd expect that lots of better seats will be available tomorrow.

PTH2009

Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

They always seem to sell off the crap ones first and then work towards the middle until they reach the sections allowed for season tickets/clubs. If the upper section opens you'll get ones right in the middle straight away.

Season ticket holders have a 'bring a friend' option up to 4 x extra tickets which need to be confirmed by midnight tonight. I'd expect that lots of better seats will be available tomorrow.

Doubt the upper tiers will be open. Season ticket holders who didn't use the bring a friend option will be assigned tickets tomorrow

Giveitfong

Coming out of Nowlan Park last Sunday, I had to pinch myself to check that what I had just observed wasn’t a dream and that Waterford had actually beaten Galway. This was an extraordinary result given the trend of most of the game. I have looked at the video twice to try and figure out how this happened.

Waterford were wretched in the first half (and part of the second). Their first touch was awful, their striking poor, decision-making woeful, attempted passes going astray, balls being fumbled. Five frees either fell short or went wide, while the goal also came from a mis-hit free. Galway, by contrast, were sharp, their hurling was crisp, they regularly broke the line with hard running, their combined play was excellent, and they put a stream of good low and well-directed ball into their forwards.

Waterford could get no platform: both teams struck twelve contested puckouts in the first half (not counting short puckouts or puckouts played out to unmarked players); Galway won seven of their own puckouts and ten of Waterford’s. Under pressure, Waterford were forced to sending high balls into their full forwards which were mopped up by the Galway defence.

That Galway weren’t out of sight by half-time can be put down to three factors – Stephen O’Keeffe’s two stops (although it should be noted that Galway goalie also made an excellent save from Shane Bennett), Stephen Bennett’s flukey goal, and the fact that the Waterford full back line (especially Calum Lyons and Noel Connors) were holding their own under severe pressure.

Things improved somewhat for Waterford in the second half. Tadhg de Búrca, who seemed to start the game marking Conor Whelan, was placed in a holding position at centre back and began to mop up ball and close down the route through the middle. By the time he went off with cramp in the 63rd minute Galway had already imploded. Kevin Moran also began to come into the game. But Waterford were barely holding their own: after 50 minutes they were still two points behind, as they had been at half time. And the gremlins were still at work, as instanced by Stephen Bennett’s crazy decision to hit what should have been a straighforward free to Pauric Mahony who ended up striking the ball wide under pressure.

Then Mikey Kearney got sent off in the 54th minute and everything changed. It has often been noted how losing a player through a sending off concentrates a team’s mind while having the opposite effect on the other team. Waterford equalised two minutes later and when Callum Lyons put them ahead in the 61st minute Galway went to pieces. Instead of using the extra man to work the ball through the lines to set up scoring chances, they started firing Hail Mary shots from out the field all of which went wide. From the 60th minute on they hit seven wides in a row while Waterford hit just one. Unbelievably, playing with the wind, the failed to score between the 49th and the 77th minutes.

Speaking after the first game, Limerick’s John Kiely remarked on how Dublin made life difficult for Limerick by flooding the middle third of the pitch. At half time Kiely urged his team to stick to their normal processes which they did and won comfortably in the end. It’s amazing how Galway, a high-quality team with ten experienced players on the pitch, completely lost the plot in the closing fifteen minutes. By contrast, as Henry Shefflin observed on RTE on Sunday night, it was Waterford who were making all the good decisions in that period, holding the ball well under pressure and creating the openings for the winning scores.

Calum Lyons moved up a further performance notch in this game and has been the surprise find (to me anyway) of the year so far (with Jack Prendergast not far behind). As a minor, Lyons was obviously a good, skillful, hurler but I thought he was probably too light to make the grade at senior level. He could still do with putting on an extra stone of muscle, but his skill level is very high, he appears to have a great temperament, and his use of the ball is really excellent.

By contrast, the quandary of what to do with Austin Gleeson remains unsolved. Last Sunday, his involvement in the game was episodic and rather marginal. He did not give us the ball-winning capability in the half forward line which we badly need. In these situations he gets prickly and on the wrong side of referees. Last Sunday he was already on a yellow card when he dropped his two knees into the back of the prostrate Darren Morrissey, which on its own could have earned a sending off. He can do wonderful things in the forwards, but it is unpredictable and whole games can pass him by. We have seen from his minor and under 21 days how he can dominate games and drive the whole team on from centre back. For me this is a no-brainer. And, if we are prepared to experiment with Gleeson in the half forwards, why not try the same with Tadhg de Búrca while moving Gleeson back?

My other worry is the siting of Kevin Moran in the half back line. This may be determined by who is available and undoubtedly he plays well there. But over the last few years, his partnership with Jamie Barron has given Waterford the best midfield pairing in the country. They work together very well and Moran has shown time and again his ability to grab a game by the scruff of the neck from this position, whereas he undoubtedly feels more restricted when playing in defence. We will need him at midfield against Limerick.

Finally, I am one of those who was fooled into thinking, when the eight additional minutes was shown by the fourth official, four minutes into added time, last Sunday, that this meant eight more minutes from that point. And it wasn’t just me, and other posters on this site, who thought this, as TG4 posted 12 minutes of additional time after the eight minutes was displayed by the official. However, they corrected it fairly quickly. You would wonder if the Galway mentors were similarly misled, given the way they went for a point from a free, when three points down and the game almost up.