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

One of the most uplifting days for me was the drawn 92 minor final and Flynner exploding on the scene like a meteor.

We had heard the rumours but nothing could have prepared me for what I witnessed that day. It's not an exaggeration to say that single handed he threw down the gauntlet to Tipp, scoring 3-6 along the way. But it was the sheer skill and audacity he showed along with a complete lack of respect for Tipp that I had never witnessed in a Waterford hurler up to then which was the most optimistic aspect. I left Cork that day believing anything was possible.

His last goal will always live in the memory - described by Jack Lynch at the time as the best goal he had ever seen in Pairc ui Chaoimh. How often did he go on to score important goals to win matches for us. We owe him a lot.

After that 2002 and 2004 were unreal, not alone for the victories but the style with which we won them.

upthedeise16 wrote: »

Do lads remember the limerick match, I think the drawn game in 03, that couldn’t be shown on TV or even highlights as Semple failed a safety inspection? If you wanted to see the match, you had to be there or am I gone crazy and making that up?

Yes I was at it, incredible game. Just a shame the cameras weren’t there due to some safety issue.

Deise Gael wrote: »

One of the most uplifting days for me was the drawn 92 minor final and Flynner exploding on the scene like a meteor.

We had heard the rumours but nothing could have prepared me for what I witnessed that day. It's not an exaggeration to say that single handed he threw down the gauntlet to Tipp, scoring 3-6 along the way. But it was the sheer skill and audacity he showed along with a complete lack of respect for Tipp that I had never witnessed in a Waterford hurler up to then which was the most optimistic aspect. I left Cork that day believing anything was possible.

His last goal will always live in the memory - described by Jack Lynch at the time as the best goal he had ever seen in Pairc ui Chaoimh. How often did he go on to score important goals to win matches for us. We owe him a lot.

After that 2002 and 2004 were unreal, not alone for the victories but the style with which we won them.

My brother went to some awful crap through the 80's, so you can imagine how stoked he was coming back from that game. And it was only the start of what was a summer for the ages. The number of times I watched the highlights of the Munster U-21 final that were on 'Sportsworld' must have been in the hundreds.

Stopitwillya wrote: »

[quote="[Deleted User];112862290"

iirc serious complaints about reffing at the time,but that may have been partisan(possible carlow ref??)
/quote]

Pat ahearne from Carlow was the ref and he won man of the match in the limerick leader that week. Think it could have been his last ever intercounty game and fortunately in the replay justice was done.

The ironic thing is that he has a loads of close relations in Co. Waterford. The poor guy just lost complete control of the game.

PTH2009 wrote: »

checked my hard drive only have the 2nd half/Extra time of that game. Thought i might have the full game but sadly not. The more i think about 2017 we really got lucky with the draw and been kept away for a Tipp team which i think we would of stuggled against

is there any footage of the 1993 Kerry defeat in the Munster Championship, that would of been a major shock even for that time

I don't think it was ever shown. Kerry County board chairman Sean Kelly at the time spoke about it at the Sunday game which I saw.

mountgomery burns wrote: »

Why in the name of Jesus would you want to watch that?

It would be right up PTH street. Someone should make a compilation for him, include 08AI final, 2011 and 16 Munster finals, along with 82/83 Munster finals. Remind him of the good old days

mountgomery burns wrote: »

I've seen people have put up there club team of the last 20 years in different counties. Anyone want to give it a go?

Will do myself but will need to think. Bound to be plenty of controversy in this one!!

SOK Ballygunner

N Connors Passage W Hutchison Ballygunner T O’Gorman FMW

T Browne Mount Sion Philip Mahony Ballygunner K Moran DLS

E Kelly Mount Sion/Passage S O’Sullivan Ballygunner

Padraic Mahony Ballyguuner Ken McGrath Mount Sion S Molumphy Ballyduff Upper

J Mullane DLS M Shanahan Lismore P Flynn Ballygunner

Honourable Mentions:
I O’Regan Mount Sion
F Hartley Ballygunner
M Ferncombe Abbeyside
H Barnes Ballygunner
B Phelan DLS
T Feeney Ballyduff Upper
E Barrett DLS
J Barron FMW
C Carey Passage
A Kirwan Ballygunner
N O’Donnell Ballygunner
B Coughlan Ballygunner
K Fitzgerald Passage
S Prendergast Ardmore

I’ll not going to justify all my selections as most pick themselves.

Wayne Hutchinson played a lot of his hurling for Ballygunner at 6 where he was a colossus but As with our county team, there have been issues at full back so he will for in there.
Thomas O’Gorman has always been a nightmare for any forward in the club championship, a rash and would make any club team in the county.
Eoin Kelly has an outstanding scoring record for both his clubs and had to be on it and Shane O’Sullivan is a top club player even if I didn’t feel he was quite up to top level intercounty standard and over the last 15 years, he has done his club some service! A great servant for Ballygunner.
Had to have Ballyduff Upper player in their for their county final success and Molumphy was huge for them, a real leader.
For me, Maurice was a much better club player than Dan but Dan was a much better intercounty player. I’ve been to club matches where if you didn’t know who Dan was, you wouldn’t pick him out as an intercounty player, never mind a POTY while Maurice consistently scored goals and 10+ points per game.

For some of the honourable mentions, Mark Ferncombe has always provided Abbeyside with scores, while Tom Feeney played senior club hurling up to last year, a true great. Alan Kirwan was always a player I liked with Ballygunner as was Niall O’Donnell in the full back line. A few players I picked carried their clubs and have kept them senior so also included them and other were great servants to their clubs.

I’ve definitely forgotten a few but that would be my selection for a club team from 2000-2020

PTH2009 wrote: »

Never knw that

Anymore info on that era

From memory we played Cork, Galway, Offaly, Kerry, Dublin and Tipperary anyway, not sure who else. We ended up ultimately getting relegated. We beat Tipp and were very competitive against Cork, Galway, Offaly and Kerry, can't remember if we got a win over Cork or Galway. The Dubs beat us easily in Croker.

Offaly beat Kerry in the '72 All Ireland final in a replay.

In '72 we had beaten Limerick in the first round and came up against Cork in Fermoy. They beat us 2-8 to 0-9. We threw it away actually with two silly goals and Wally Connors from the Mitchells going to take out the Cork full forward but only succeeding in taking out Mick Ahearne from Stradbally and the two of them being carried off.

The Waterford team was John Colbert(Ardmore), Mick Ahearne(Stradbally), Jim Wall(The Nire), G. Mooney(?) A Lannon(Kill?), Wally Connors(Mitchells), N Walsh(?), Pa Walsh(Kilrossanty), Johnny Hennessy(Ardmore), Tom Power(Mitchells), Michael Power(Tramore), Tom Casey(Dunhill), Vinny Kirwan(Mitchells), P.McMahon(?), Billy Fleming(Tramore)
Vinny Rourke(Clasmore), Tom Moore(Dunhill) and Tom Fleming(Tramore) came on as subs.

Waterford had some fabulous footballers around that time. Jim Wall Pa Walsh and Johnny Hennessy were masterful and regulars for Munster. Jim Wall and Pa Walsh won Railway Cup medals in 1972. Monty Guiry from Kill and Pat Clancy from Stradbally also played for Munster. Mick Ahearne was a Kerry man, think he was stationed in Stradbally as a guard. Tom Casey was an even better footballer than he was a hurler and was only around 18 at that time. Vinny Kirwan was also a brilliant footballer. Tommy (Snail) Power from the Mitchells was great to watch too.

I think Mitchells won the county '70, Tramore in '71 and Sradbally in '72. Mitchells again in '73 and Affane in '74. It was a very competitive time for football in the county.

PTH2009 wrote: »

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970%E2%80%9371_National_Football_League_(Ireland)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971%E2%80%9372_National_Football_League_(Ireland)

Thanks for that, I think we drew with Cork and Galway.

In the early 1970s the National Football League was divided into Northern and Southern Divisions. Each division in turn was divided into two groups of eight, with promotion and relegation between the two.

Waterford had a really good team at the time. In 1970-71 they finished second to Tipperary in Group B of the Southern division and were promoted to Group A. There was also a knockout between the top two teams in the two Groups B, with Waterford beating Laois in their semi-final by 1-9 to 0-6 before losing the final to Tipperary by a point, 0-10 to 1-6.

They were very unlucky to be relegated from Group A the following year. They beat Tipperary, drew with Kildare and Galway and lost by a point to Cork, and ended up being relegated by one point.

I remember well their game in Fraher Field against Galway, who were beaten in the All-Ireland final in 1971. It was a really good game which Waterford probably should have won. From memory the Waterford team lined out as follows: Tommy Fleming (Tramore); Mick Connolly (The Nire), Jim Wall (The Nire), Pat Clancy (Stradbally); Noel Walsh (Kilrossanty), Mick Power (Tramore), Achill Lannon (Kill); John Hennessy (Ardmore), Pa Walsh (Kilrossanty); Seán Aherne (Stradbally), Monty Guiry (Kill), Vinny Kirwan (John Mitchels); Billy Fleming (Tramore), Tom Walsh (Kilrossanty), Another. I can’t remember who the other forward was – Vinny Kirwan may have been at corner forward with the missing player on the wing.

There wasn’t a weakness on that team, and with proper training and coaching they would have been a match for any team in the country. John Hennessy was probably the best footballer Waterford every produced until he broke his leg at a relatively early age. The three Walshes from Kilrossanty were all brothers.

In 1972-73 Waterford failed to get out of Group B, with Dublin and Kildare being relegated from Group A. That was unfortunate for Waterford, as Dublin topped the group in 1973-74 with 12 points, Kildare got 11 points and Waterford finished just behind on 10 points. I was at the game against Dublin in Croke Park which Waterford probably would have won when Vinny Kirwan got through on goal late on but Paddy Cullen pulled him down outside the large square denying Waterford the goal they needed to win. I remember Tom Casey of Dunhill, with his mane of blond hair, playing in that game. He was a key player for the Waterford Under 21 hurlers who got to the All-Ireland final later that year.

It is hard to believe that the same Dublin team went on to win the All-Ireland that year – an amazing achievement by Kevin Heffernan. That was the end of that Waterford team, and the county faded away into football obscurity thereafter.

Mastermcgrath wrote: »

It’s gas how people still haven’t grasped the seriousness of the situation. suggesting the championship will Simply crack on by 10th June.... hilarious. We won’t even be at the peak of this by then

Well if the emergency is downgraded in June/July games would be possible over the summer.

It becomes a question whether the GAA pander to requests from players for months of training prep or just give them a months notice of championship games and tell them to get on with it.

County boards annually give clubs about 2 weeks notice of championships restarting so the precedent is there.

JeffKenna wrote: »

Even if this is downgraded come June/July I can't see how big attendances at championship games would be allowed. They'll still be cases around and any mass gathering could be a potential spark to start it again.

Don't underestimate the GAA's ability to generate revenue.

It would be possible to hold games with limited attendances for air on TV. Think of all the huge stadia that could comfortably accommodate social distancing if they really wanted to should the rules be relaxed over the summer.

As an aside, the GAA have form in ignoring bans of mass gatherings!: https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/columnists/paul-rouse/whats-the-real-story-of-gaelic-sunday-473076.html

mountgomery burns wrote: »

100 years ago, they would not be allowed do anything without government directive now.

How much money does the GAA get for broadcasting rights? And how would they allocate already scarce tickets to the Dubs if they had to put a cap on capacity?

Personally, I think when people go back to work and pubs reopen, and public transport is once again bustling, there would be no reason why concerts and sport events would be treated differently. I think there will be something in the summer at this point, even if the situation will get worse before it gets better. Might be July though before a ball is thrown in.

As far as I'm aware TV rights are worth in the region of €12-14m per annum.

Realistically if the Championship starts in July there won't be any Dublin football games of any consequence until August. They have circa 3,000 season ticket holders who are entitled tickets to games, and in the early rounds of championship those are the only fans who can get tickets to games in places like Wexford Park which has a capacity of 4,200.

Put those games in Croke Park with a capacity of 6-7k and they'll have no problem with social distancing. Thurles, Killarney, Limerick and Cork also have huge stadia which could also comfortably manage with a reduced capacity.

Gardner wrote: »

if the GAA had any bit of balls about them they would scrap the intercounty championship this year. every community, town and village in Ireland will be affected by this. By the time this is over let the communities, town and villages come together and support their local team and not the intercounty teams.

Let the club championship have a much better go of it, rather than dealing with the usual scrap they normally get. If they started at it in July (circumstances permitting) and have a game every two weeks.


The crowds would be much lower so that obviously help with the current environment.