As thirteen man efforts go Waterford fought the good fight on Saturday night but Davy Fitzgerald’s team predictably suffered their first defeat of 2011. The spirit shown in adversity must be encouraging as Tipperary stuttered with two extra men to put them away.
Noel McGrath once again reigned supreme against Michael Walsh in an almost carbon copy of the performance he produced in last year’s All Ireland semi final. Then again not many centre backs in Ireland would have handled the Loughmore Castleiney man on this night. He shot seven points from play, four in the first half and three in the second half, each point better than the one that preceded it. Padraic Maher and Pa Bourke also raised their game to give the All Ireland champions their first league points of the campaign.
Waterford started off brightly with Maurice Shanahan a lively presence in the full forward line. The goal from Paul Kelly, which was of the soft variety, settled the home side and put them into a lead they would never relinquish. Waterford stuck in there through Richie Foley’s free taking and a marvellous effort from play under the Old Stand as Shanahan along with others in the forward line languished. The two dismissals however quickly turned the assignment into a damage limitation exercise.
Uncharacteristic moments from both Shane O’Sullivan and Clinton Hennessy but no complaints could be made about either decision. According to Waterford management the Ballygunner midfielder lost the ball in the lights from Brendan Cummins’ puck out but it was a wild stroke and a late one. After sending Hennessy off for a crazy high tackle referee James Owens didn’t deem it necessary to inflict similar punishment on Paddy Stapleton. His challenge on Thomas Ryan, while not as dangerous as the previous incident, still warranted a red for being head high. The remarkable thing is Tipp’ wilted under the pressure of having two extra men. In fact Waterford with thirteen men won the remainder of the game by seven points to six.
Richie Foley again stood above everyone else in a blue and white jersey. After a shaky display against Wexford, he resumed the free taking duties and struck over nine out of ten. He also added three fine points from play. Foley’s move to midfield for the second period reaped dividends and he looks far more comfortable in that area of the field. Seamus Prendergast also continued his upward curve with a hard working display capped off with two points from play. The Ardmore man looks to have regained the form he seemed to have lost for the past couple of seasons. Apart from Foley and Prendergast however none of the other forwards have stepped up during the league. Pauric Mahony is developing well but this year could be too soon for him and the same applies to Eamonn Murphy. Maurice Shanahan, Shane Casey and Thomas Ryan however are in their third season on the panel and none of this trio have nailed down a place based on league form thus far. The full back line of Darragh Fives, Shane Fives and Jerome Maher proved a solid unit despite their inexperience. Indeed the majority of Tipp’s scores came against the half back line where Michael Walsh had a game to forget.
Another note on a strange night’s work at Semple Stadium was the small attendance of 4,947. With Setanta Ireland not exactly available to the majority of households staying at home in front of the television could not be used as a reasonable excuse. People are clearly voting with their feet on the idea of night time hurling and indeed the league in general. It’s Waterford v Cork next Sunday and if that doesn’t bring out a bumper crowd in Dungarvan the GAA will seriously need to reflect on the structure, marketing and maybe even the ticket pricing for its secondary competition.
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