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

TheScoringGoal wrote: »

To be fair to Roanmore they are the definition of a hard working team who get the most from their resources. As a poster stated already it would seem that Peter Queally is a good fit for them although whether they can really trouble Ballygunner remains to be seen.

Obviously in the heat of today Mt Sion were at a serious disadvantage having to play almost the entire game without Austin Gleeson. In my view it was a very harsh decision and at least two other Mt Sion players were lucky to stay on albeit one would have been a second yellow.

Similar to Abbeyside last night who despite 14 men put up a good fight when driven on by their county players but I always felt DLS just held too much for them.

Also Gavin Whelan is a far superior commentator to Kieran O Connor. The latter was hopeless again yesterday evening trying to identify players and just using nonsense cliches like " a great ball inside" when someone sends a ball wide twenty yards over the heads of the inside forwards.

I do think Kieran is good on the radio. But TV is a different ball game and he’s out of his comfort zone

Is De Burca back and will he be available for county?
I hear Mikey Kiely hurled well the first day for Abbeyside. How'd he do last weekend? Wonder will Cahill call him up now? We could do with some young talent breaking through under the radar.

Jjjjjjjjbarry wrote: »

Is De Burca back and will he be available for county?
I hear Mikey Kiely hurled well the first day for Abbeyside. How'd he do last weekend? Wonder will Cahill call him up now? We could do with some young talent breaking through under the radar.

De burca gave a MOTM performance at centre back at the weekend for Clashmore v Modeligo. A dirty enough game he took a bit of punishment himself. Definetly looks ready to step back into the county setup, probably been advantaged by COVID to have him back as it would have been too late had the normal intercounty season gone ahead

Mastermcgrath wrote: »

De burca gave a MOTM performance at centre back at the weekend for Clashmore v Modeligo. A dirty enough game he took a bit of punishment himself. Definetly looks ready to step back into the county setup, probably been advantaged by COVID to have him back as it would have been too late had the normal intercounty season gone ahead

I presume Tom Devine didn't line out with Modeligo?

How are people enjoying the hurling and football championships been spilt is it something that should be kept

TheScoringGoal wrote: »

I presume Tom Devine didn't line out with Modeligo?

No he’s gone back to NZ I beleive

PTH2009 wrote: »

Western Intermediate Hurling Semi Finals
Clashmore vs An Rinn- Sat 15th Aug 1.30pm Fraher Field
Ballyduff Upper vs Shamrocks- Sun 16th Aug 2pm Fraher Field

Eastern Intermediate Hurling Semi Finals
Ballyduff Lower vs Erins Own- Sat 15th Aug 6pm Dunhill
Dunhill vs Portlaw- Sun 16th Aug 6pm Kill

4 tasty games

i'd go with
An Rinn
Shamrocks
Erins Own
Dunhill

Granted, I haven't seen any if em, but on form I'd probably pick the two Ballyduffs, An Rinn and Dunhill.

Predictably, the big game in the Waterford Senior Hurling Championship last weekend was that between Lismore and Dungarvan, the only game in which places in the quarter finals were still up for grabs.

Dungarvan are probably still wondering how they managed to score 4-19 in a 60-minute game at this level and still lose by five points. They put a big effort into this game. Unfortunately for them, Lismore put in a big effort too, and they had better hurlers.

A big problem for Dungarvan here was the porosity of their defence. Three of the Lismore goals came from Dungarvan’s inability to protect possession which should have been theirs. However, fair dues to Lismore for having the tenacity to win possession in these situations and then turn that possession into pure gold.

With Jack Prendergast running riot, Lismore built up an early seven-point lead, but Dungarvan fought back to reduce that to just one point at half-time. Lismore again went seven points up in the third quarter, but by the 54th minute Dungarvan had brought this back to just two. However, by then Dungarvan had been reduced to 14 men, and a couple of bad wides put paid to their brave fightback. Lismore swooped for several further scores, and Johnny Burke’s late goal only had the effect of making the losing margin respectable.

Once again, Maurice Shanahan was Lismore’s outstanding performer. He did not repeat the previous week’s scoring exploits, while still ending up with a handy nine points (eight frees). However, he played a key role in setting up three of his team’s goals and generally terrorised the Dungarvan defence from start to finish.

Lismore’s corner forwards Ray Barry (3-2) and Oisín O’Gorman (2-0) had a field day, with Barry in particular producing his best performance in the black and amber shirt for quite a while. Up front Jack Prendergast was in irresistable form, although strangely he spent much of the second half in a sweeping role behind his own half backs.

The other player to really catch the eye for them was Cárthach Daly (just out of minor) at right half back. He plays with great drive and pace and fantastic skill. A real prospect. His brother Iarlaith and David Prendergast also showed up well in defence.

Despite their loss, Dungarvan will take some heart from the performance of wing forward Johnny Burke, also just out of minor. A big lad and good in the air, he provided a very fruitful outlet for Dungarvan puckouts. He did very well when taking over the free-taking duties after Patrick Curran missed a couple of handy early frees, and also notched 1-2 from play. He was anonymous in Dungarvan’s first game against Fourmilewater, but on this showing he is an excellent prospect.

Despite his free-taking problems, Patrick Curran made a huge contribution to the Dungarvan cause with two super goals and four points from play. Dungarvan also had good performances from Michael Kiely, Darragh Lyons and Jamie Nagle. Tristan Loftus, another member of last year’s Waterford minor team, who did well in Dungarvan’s game against Fourmilewater at left half back, again made an impression here in the half forward line.

On this kind of form, Lismore could be genuine championship contenders. However, inconsistency had repeatedly been their bugbear. Last year they again impressed in the round robin games but completely failed to show up for their quarter final game against Mount Sion.

Inconsistency has also been a recurring problem for Abbeyside, further aggravated by poor discipline. Both of these were again in evidence in their game against De La Salle. They had a player sent off after just five minutes, and instead of the authoritative fluency of their performance against Ballysaggart we were treated to a display of fumbling, misplaced and overhit passes and missed frees (including a penalty). However, they kept plugging away, and while De La Salle were always clearly the better team, they never managed to put Abbeyside away.

Neil Montgomery appeared to give a struggling Village side a lifeline with a superb individual goal just before half-time, but this was negatived by Kevin Moran’s goal shortly after the restart. Abbeyside were strengthened by a number of second half substitutions, with a resultant improved supply to their dangermen in the full forward line, Michael Kiely and Mark Ferncombe. They did cause some problems for the DLS defence, but although several half-chances were created, they failed to get the goals they needed to get them back in the game.

Shane McNulty had another excellent game for DLS, while another member of their team to impress me was corner forward Reuben Halloran (yes, another minor from last year) who showed an impressive turn of pace.
I suppose the highlight of the Roanmore/Mount Sion game was the second minute red-carding of Austin Gleeson. While the manner of his hit on Brian Nolan was presumably not deliberate, it was careless and dangerous, and I thought myself it merited sending off. It set the scene for a feisty game between these close rivals, with lots of further cards being issued.

Roanmore added to the impression given by their first game against Clonea of a well-balanced and well-organised team with a good skill level. They started off very positively, and with Mount Sion rocked by the Gleeson sending-off, Roanmore built up a good early lead. However, after the water break, Sion came back strongly and were just one point down at the end of a first half replete with excellent scores from both sides.

In the second half, there was only one team in it, with Gavin O’Brien driving Roanmore on from midfield and wing forward Paul O’Sullivan notching six points from play in a tour-de-force performance. Billy Nolan was not as prominent as in the previous game, but still fired home the goal which put the game definitively beyond Sion’s reach. Mount Sion’s outstanding player was full back Luke O’Brien who, I believe, is underage for under-20 this year.

In the final game of the weekend, Ballygunner won as they pleased against a Passage side which was at sixes and sevens from the throw-in, and whose lack of self-belief was reflected in a series of first-half shots which fell short and into the hand of Ballygunner goalkeeper Stephen O’Keeffe. By contrast, Ballygunner’s well-honed silky skills were always in evidence.

One should admire Ballygunner’s work rate here, despite the fact that the result was inevitable from an early stage. While their coaches deserve commendation for this, presumably another factor is the level of competition for some places on the team. This was reflected in the quality of the substitutes they were able to bring on, including Conor Power, Barry O’Sullivan, Eddie Hayden and JJ Hutchinson.

I have always been an admirer of Ballygunner’s corner back Ian Kenny, and again his effortless class was readily apparent here. He, Barry Coughlan and Billy O’Keeffe make up a formidable full back line. I was also impressed by the work rate and quiet efficiency of Paddy Leavy at midfield. He reads the game well, gets a lot of possession and then moves it on with no great fuss, using his strength and size to hold the ball up when placed under pressure.

For the second week in a row, Noel Connors was almost completely anonymous. While Maurice Shanahan has been busting a gut for Lismore, I think we can take it that Connors has no interest in regaining his place on the county team.

For what wasn't seen as a particularly noteworthy minor team last year, it is encouraging how many are making an impact with their clubs this year. Particularly as they would only be turning 18 this year. Off the top of my head Aaron Ryan, Rory Furlong, Michael Cummins, Tristan Loftus, Cathrach Daly, Sean Burke, Johnny Burke, Jamie Gleeson and Reuben Halloran have all been involved and many quite impressively.

TheScoringGoal wrote: »

For what wasn't seen as a particularly noteworthy minor team last year, it is encouraging how many are making an impact with their clubs this year. Particularly as they would only be turning 18 this year. Off the top of my head Aaron Ryan, Rory Furlong, Michael Cummins, Tristan Loftus, Cathrach Daly, Sean Burke, Johnny Burke, Jamie Gleeson and Reuben Halloran have all been involved and many quite impressively.

You could add Jack Ó Floinn and Caolán Mac Craith of An Rinn to that list.


Waterford had a very competitive minor team last year. They lost their first game to Clare by two points (0-17 to 0-15). They then lost to Tipperary in Thurles by a goal (3-15 to 2-15) and I reckon they would have won it if Rory Furlong hadn't been sent off. Even then they should have got something out of the game. They should have beaten Limerick, who earned a draw (0-11 each) from a very dubious last-minute free. In the last game in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, when there was nothing to play for, they lost by a goal to Cork (0-19 to 1-13). Limerick beat Clare in the Munster final, and there was nothing between these teams and Waterford. Waterford also had a lot of big players who were good in the air, which I thought offered great promise for the future.