All the small things deny Déise – Tipperary 2-13 Waterford 0-16

The two Tipp goals to nil only partly explains this edgy opener. Waterford could have won this game with points. Eight wides in the first half followed by five in the second half. Two more balls landed in the lap of Darren Gleeson. That amounts to 31 scoring chances. The visitors only managed seven singles in general business. Philip Mahony finished as the leading scorer from play with two successful strikes.

1-2 was also conceded unnecessarily. Darren Gleeson’s freak goal aside, an untidy clearance was collected by Noel McGrath in the first half and late on, a short puck out was punished by Denis Maher. The fury of their labour just required a dab of an artist’s paint brush.

All these small things considered, Waterford’s base level measures up favourably to the other five participants on day one. Derek McGrath answered the questions in measured manner down the end of the tunnel. “We are happy to sustain the level of performance there and if we can tidy up the wides. If we are able to compete in games and see progress along the way, we will be happy enough.”

McGrath felt that they couldn't keep up the tempo set in the first half. “I think sustaining the level of work rate in the first half was difficult. That’s not a question of fitness, we lost our shape early in the second half.” They could have looked towards the bench sooner for fresh legs. Only two subs (Stephen Molumphy and Seamus Prendergast) had enough time to make an impact.

Despite the lack of competitive action since January 12, they devoured their shell shocked hosts for the first 35 minutes. The high tackle rate suffocated Eamon O’Shea’s side. One passage of play featured two blocks and swarms containing half a dozen white and blue shirts buzzing. Pauric Mahony was spotted well inside his own half. In the midfield warzone , the new Waterford jerseys enjoyed the better of the battles. Figures five to nine clogged up the channels and prompted forward forays. Kevin Moran contributed 11 times to the action with Jamie Nagle (10) and Michael Walsh (8) not far behind. Philip Mahony could barely believe the time he was afforded to shoot over. In the full back line, Barry Coughlan attached himself to Jason Forde and Noel Connors followed John O’Dwyer. Three points in front (0-8 to 0-5) undervalued the first half gains.

A healthy five point lead developed for the third time on 40 minutes. Eamon O’Shea flicked through the combinations frantically up front with all three members of the full forward line seeing their number go up. Tipp eventually managed to negate the influence of Michael Walsh in the second half through Seamus Callanan and Noel McGrath.

Callanan pocketed 1-4 in the space of fourteen minutes. McGrath picked off a point and laid on a green signal for Callanan and a white flag for Kieran Bergin. The easy single was on offer but the playmaker weighed up his options for a second or two and that delay enabled him to float the pass to perfection. Shane O’Sullivan and Philip Mahony stirred up a comeback charge that deserved a draw. Pauric Mahony recovered from a hit and miss first half to finish in double digits. Then that uncharacteristic error from Stephen O’Keeffe as he lost the sliotar in the lights and overshot the runway.

Apart from Maurice Shanahan’s near range miscue, Darren Gleeson wasn’t troubled. The formation, a lack of line breaks and fractionally slow passes prevented these goal glimmers appearing. The majority of the thirteen wides came from out on the wings or from long range. In other words, the option to give an inside ball didn’t develop. Flooding the middle gave Waterford a foothold in the game but with the full forwards under pressure, the long distance accuracy needs to be high in order to achieve a result. The creation of those one point chances does show that the plan is not a million miles away from the right outcome.

Dan Shanahan focussed on the application of the forwards instead of the baker's dozen of wides. “It’s maybe something to work on but the work rate of the forwards was unbelievable. That’s what we said this time of the year is all about. You have to credit the forwards for their work rate. A couple of the forwards had poor enough wides but apart from that, you cannot fault any of the players.”

McGrath also deflected the attention off that statistic. “It’s a lot of play in terms of possession and we played well at times. It’s a lot of wides and it’s something that we have to work on. On any given day you get those things, they go for you or they don’t go for you. We are in danger of overanalysing it, you kind of focus on it too much. We will just move on from it now. It’s done and it’s gone.”

The build-up play showed off the work from the training ground however. “We are just happy with the way they held up the ball in the first half and getting runners on the shoulder. It’s all terminology for breaking the line and all of that. The end product is something we are looking to work on.”

Like his opposite number, the away manager looked a couple of months down the road instead of demanding an immediate return. Eamon O'Shea stated his priority as the Munster rematch with Limerick while McGrath mentioned May 25. Add in Davy Fitzgerald's surprise at their first win and it makes you wonder who wants to win this league?

The news of Maurice Shanahan comes as a blow at the wrong part of the field. The absence of Waterford’s top championship scorer in 2013 could make the different between a quarter final or a relegation play-off. As shown on Saturday night, it’s a league of inches.