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

Excitement and nerves really starting to build , roll on Sunday!!!

PTH2009 wrote: »

Aussie in trouble about the helmet pull ive heard

Tickets just arrived on my season ticket account. Same section as last week Block 118 North Stand

Can the CCCC suspend him even though the ref missed it? It should have been a straight forward red card shown to Gleeson on Sunday.

https://extra.ie/2018/06/05/sport/gaa/austin-gleeson-bonner-maher

KevIRL wrote: »

Not on telly
No delayed coverage
Highlights on Sunday game
Wlr covering it live.
Go on the duck from work and head to limerick

Was afraid that was the case, will try and get someone to cover for me or just bail and go watch it.

Take no prisoners wrote: »

Anyone else think that we completely played into Tipp's hands down the home stretch on Sunday. Bombed ball down on their half back line which they mopped up and put us under massive pressure. Really lifted their fans at the same time. Puck out's during that phase were poor. Thought Gleeson had some poor wides which killed our momentum at this key stage in the game also and was guilty of giving away some frees.

We've been doing that for years now, bombing blind ball downfield with no one competing for it that just puts us under pressure again when it comes straight back in on us. As the game wore on we reverted to this more and more, we could have switched our matchups to try and get back on top there but ideally fresh legs were needed. We don't have many fresh legs at the minute unfortunately

Ropaire wrote: »

Was afraid that was the case, will try and get someone to cover for me or just bail and go watch it.




We've been doing that for years now, bombing blind ball downfield with no one competing for it that just puts us under pressure again when it comes straight back in on us. As the game wore on we reverted to this more and more, we could have switched our matchups to try and get back on top there but ideally fresh legs were needed. We don't have many fresh legs at the minute unfortunately

Ropaire wrote: »

Was afraid that was the case, will try and get someone to cover for me or just bail and go watch it.




We've been doing that for years now, bombing blind ball downfield with no one competing for it that just puts us under pressure again when it comes straight back in on us. As the game wore on we reverted to this more and more, we could have switched our matchups to try and get back on top there but ideally fresh legs were needed. We don't have many fresh legs at the minute unfortunately

Fresh legs were introduced. Tommy Ryan, Jake Dillon and O’Halloran were brought into the forwards. The problem was the type of ball that was going in was aimless high ball. The type that Tipp love - the type that killed us in the 2015 Munster Final against Tipp.

What was needed on Sunday was low fast ball down the wings for O’Halloran and Tommy Ryan to run on to. Instead, ball after ball went into the clouds giving them little chance of competing. If the forwards had gotten low ball we’d have won the match comfortably. The fact there was no gameplan switch with 10 mins to go worries me. The line reacted too late/not at all when it was clear for all to see that we were getting cleaned in the half forward line.

Thought Darragh Fives tore a muscle? He’s back already?

letowski wrote: »

Can the CCCC suspend him even though the ref missed it? It should have been a straight forward red card shown to Gleeson on Sunday.

https://extra.ie/2018/06/05/sport/gaa/austin-gleeson-bonner-maher

How can this be picked up, after the game, by TV (if it happened at all) and a goal allowed to stand that was clearly not a goal?. Potentially applying technology to penalise a player after a game but not applying the same logic to the goal?. Pretty poor stuff.

Jjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

Deise_2012 wrote: »

Thought Darragh Fives tore a muscle? He’s back already?

Supposed to be out for Munster championship. Where does it say he's back?

KevIRL reported that he trained Tuesday with Maurice. Be a big bonus if he were back

Good team. Kearney will be a decent option off the bench. Any idea when the team travel up? Night before or day of match?

Good no i was thinking the day of the match would mean an early start and notngood in this heat to be stuck on a bus the morning of a match.

The obvious immediate response to last Sunday’s game in Limerick was delight with Waterford’s display of resilience mixed with a lot of excellent hurling, tinged by disgust at the umpiring fiasco which denied Waterford a precious victory.


To focus on the already-infamous “ghost” goal for a moment. As Jason Forde’s long-distance free approached, the umpires were in the classic positions – one at the post and one behind the goal. As the ball landed in the square, the umpire behind the goal moved forward, but had barely come around the corner at the right-hand stanchion when Austin Gleeson made his catch at the second attempt. There is no way the umpire in question could have been sure that the ball had crossed the line, while the other umpire, who was much better positioned, took no action.


We can only guess at why the latter allowed himself to be overruled by the former. The “villain” umpire looked much younger than his partner and quite self-confident in his deportment. Liam Sheedy remarked afterwards on the smirk on his face as he left the field at the end of the game. There is a type of official who seem to be more focused on showing who is in charge than in getting their decisions right. The referee in the 2010 Leinster football final between Louth and Meath immediately comes to mind. I am also reminded of the similar high-handed expression on the face of the umpire whose very controversial last-minute decision handed the 2008 Munster Under-21 final to Tipperary (against Clare). People like this have no business officiating in any sport.


To add insult to injury, Tipperary substitute Jake Morris was almost standing on the goal line when the ball entered the square. Not noticing this was a basic error on Alan Kelly’s part. And you would have to ask how, standing 55 metres out, Kelly had a better view of the Ronan Maher shot which the (this time) perfectly placed umpire signalled wide. One might also mention the nine steps Tipperary fullback Seamus Kennedy took before releasing the ball in the lead-up to Tipperary’s equalising free at the end. And the clear push in the back which sent Jamie Barron over the sideline to give Tipperary a late sideline puck. Or the free given against Patrick Curran just after half-time when the hurley was knocked from his hand in the tackle before he handpassed the ball away.


I have long argued that the linesmen in big games like these, who are themselves established intercounty referees, should be allowed to signal fouls not seen by the referee (as is the case with soccer, where the pitch is much smaller). Similarly, umpires for these games should also be qualified referees (and therefore better able to assist the referee as required) with specific training on best umpiring practice. And, if games are being filmed for TV, what is wrong with having an additional official in the control room to consult on key issues which arise?


Yet, despite all this, in my view Waterford should never have allowed themselves to get into a position where a controversial goal would cost them the win. The first half was evenly contested, with both teams having periods of dominance, and Waterford benefitting from two handy breaks which were expertly dispatched to the net. At half-time my main concern was the ability of Waterford to maintain the tempo of their effort, given the injuries that had been carried into the game and the lack of game time of many of the players, due either to these injuries or sheer neglect on the part of Derek McGrath.


I was therefore most pleasantly surprised when Waterford took complete charge of the third quarter of the game. In the first 15 minutes of the second half Waterford players had a total of 43 possessions to just 19 for Tipperary. Yet for all this domination on the field, in this period Waterford only added three points more than Tipperary, when they should have put themselves out of sight.


The fact is that Waterford made a bags of exploiting their one-man advantage, and they made an even bigger bags of defending the eleven-point lead they had built up by the 54th minute. The big problem for Waterford is that the style of play they have favoured in the last three years has focused on delivering long balls out of defence rather than working the ball upfield via passing movements.


While we did see some good passes last Sunday, far too often the first choice of too many defenders was to belt the ball up the field which, given Tipperary’s aerial dominance, usually meant giving Tipperary easy possession. With Tipperary having only two players up front, it should have been easy for Waterford to play a short puckout to a spare full back. Once he attracted a Tipperary player to him, this should have left a spare Waterford player to pass the ball to, and so on. Clare and Cork do this to great effect all the time.


With their big lead, Waterford should have been focused on denying Tipperary possession. Having the extra man should have facilitated this. Time after time in the second half last Sunday, Waterford players ignored unmarked nearby team mates and hit fifty/fifty long balls or simply ran into trouble.


Waterford’s substitutions didn’t help. Replacing the ineffective Mikey Kearney with Tommy Ryan was fair enough, but then bringing on two more loose ball players, Brian O’Halloran and Colin Dunford, meant we had very few players from midfield up able to compete for ball in the air, especially after DJ Foran was replaced by Jake Dillon. In the circumstances, persisting with a mainly long ball game, including from puckouts, was asking for trouble. Over the course of the game, Stephen O’Keeffe hit 21 long puckouts, and Waterford won only five of them. It would have made more sense to me to bring on Seamus Keating, a strong player able to mix it, and Mark O’Brien, a great workhorse. Colin Dunford was on the field for eleven minutes and didn’t manage a single possession.


A few additional observations. I reckon that if Kevin Moran hadn’t foolishly got sent off against Clare and had played last Sunday, Waterford would have won the game, as Moran is a great finisher in championship hurling and his power would have been of huge assistance, especially in the closing stages. And if Stephen O’Keeffe hadn’t gifted Tipperary a point with his trademark bloomer, Waterford would also have won. I also thought that O’Keeffe should have done better with the shot that beat him, which came more or less straight at him and didn’t bounce in front of him. Waterford also gave away far too many soft frees, twelve of which (over half of Tipp’s points total) were converted by Jason Forde.


Michael Walsh was way ahead of everyone else on the pitch with 19 possessions, and would have been a deserving man of the match. Apart from clean possessions, he also had a very high count of blocks, intercepts, flicks, etc. He also looked very much at home in the half back line, where his reading of the game saw him consistently hoovering up ball.



It is a great tribute to Austin Gleeson and Pauric Mahony that they came next in the possession count for Waterford (14 and 12 respectively). Assuming they came through last Sunday’s game unscathed, one would expect them to be even sharper next Sunday. Apart from the “ghost” goal, Austin Gleeson dropped a number of other high balls which would normally stick, and hopefully they will next Sunday.


Tom Devine also had a fine game on Sunday – his impact was even greater than his eleven possessions, such was the panic he caused when he had the ball. Patrick Curran and Jamie Barron also had eleven possessions each, with the excellent Conor Gleeson next on ten. DJ Foran only managed five possessions, but hit three points from them, and also frequently disrupted to Tipperary rearguard with his aerial challenges. His neglect by McGrath means he still is somewhat short in the fitness and conditioning department, and not yet fully up to the pace and physicality of intercounty hurling, but he is definitely worth persevering with.


Next Sunday Waterford will come up against a team which is better organised and coached than them, and which has shown great fighting spirit. Waterford will have to match that spirit, and bring their superior conditioning and experience to bear. With Kevin Moran back, and hopefully Austin Gleeson and Pauric Mahony in better fettle, a victory here is within Waterford’s grasp. We also need a bigger input from Stephen Bennett, who was relatively innocuous last Sunday.


Waterford possession count: S O'Keeffe (6); S Fives (9); C Gleeson (10); N Connors (4); Philip Mahony (7); A Gleeson (14); M Walsh (19); J Barron (11); S Roche (7); M Kearney (6); Pauric Mahony (12); DJ Foran (5); S Bennett (7); T Devine (11); P Curran (11); T Ryan (5); J Dillon (3); B O'Halloran (2); C Dunford (0); S McNulty (0).

mountgomery burns wrote: »

Thought Paudie Mahony was excellent last week. Best game I've seen him play in a few years, real ledership in the first half and when he tired it was very noticeable that there was nobody there to fill the void.

Somebody said Brick broke his finger in the first half. He dropped the ball for the first goal with the sun at his back, can anyone confirm if thats true or not?

I actually thought he played well in the first half but think he was the spare man second half.

Ya broke the finger in first half, he received a few minutes treatment for it. Probably contributed to the fumble sadly but being the warrior he is there was no chance of him coming off. Hopefully it won’t cause him any bother Sunday.

Who’s on the microphone breathing heavily?

KevIRL wrote: »

Tom Mcglinchey

No, it’s like there’s someone leaning in over the microphone having a ****

dxhound2005 wrote: »

How do you know what that sounds like?

I’m a wanker