The toss of the euro on Monday afternoon turned up the first piece of positive news in a forgettable fortnight for the Waterford camp. Two confidence crushers compounded by injuries to Maurice Shanahan (back) and Jake Dillon (knee) hit the team clean on the chin. The additions to the casualty list diminished the goal threat of a forward line leaning heavily on dead ball reliability and long range accuracy. And only one week to soothe body and mind for a probable bone rattler with Dublin. These sudden setbacks required some manner of boost to soften the blow of a relegation play-off that appeared unlikely a short time ago. Walsh Park offers a warm blanket of certainty compared to Croke Park.
Much has changed in the space of three weeks since the sides last met. A seventy minute inquest showed the seriousness of Waterford’s situation even this early in the campaign. This punishing league of five rounds allows precious little time to pause. Two damaging halves of hurling away to the top two in the All Ireland race flattened the tyres in the depressing end game last weekend. No noise escaped into the corridors. Seven reporters paced the floor and some sank to the floor and type on their laptops. The ground staff anxiously waited to lock up. Just before five, Waterford eventually reappeared out of the dressing room door led by chairman Tom Cunningham and trailed by the players. An apologetic Derek McGrath swiftly followed along with the rest of the management structure. He deflected the importance of the hold up. “Basically, we were just planning for the match next week and the implications of playing in a relegation play-off. It was basically just to plan for next week, what way we train for the week and the implications of where the match will be on. We were just summing up what way we will approach it etc.”
He was insistent that spirits remain high. “The mood is very positive. We have a young group there. We have a fusion of more experienced members of the panel with young guys. That process itself takes some time. Morale is not an issue with this particular group, they are a very spirited group. We feel that we are very unified. I’m not just preaching pragmatism. We targeted our two home games and if we could pick up something along the way. We were very close to picking up something in the Tipperary game. I think we have the same number of points as three other teams and yet we are in a relegation match.”
Dublin lifted their heads after round three. The Sky Blues defeated Kilkenny by 1-22 to 3-13 on the following Saturday night in Parnell Park as All Star Danny Sutcliffe shot 1-5 against Kilkenny. They sped 0-9 to 0-3 ahead by the 20 minute mark in Semple Stadium. Anthony Daly lingered on the fact that they only departed with one to spare at half time. “I felt we over elaborated in our play before half-time and it cost us. We just took too much out of the ball when we should have kept it simple. We were doing things very well and we should have just stuck to that to the break and we would have had that cushion, whereas we had only the point then.” Tipperary reeled them in on 47 minutes through Patrick Maher’s goal as they got the job done just about. Top scorer Alan McCrabbe is striking superbly since taking over the free taking duties from Paul Ryan. The contrasting mood music means that Dublin roll into town as slender 5/6 favourites.
Most of the conservation and action in Déise circles will surround the attacking template despite the recent leakage of 9-40. Derek McGrath mentioned keeping things as tight as possible when speaking with TG4 in a pre-match interview. The strategy worked a treat for the opening half. They clipped the first three points. An attack down the right wing after just four minutes showed what can happen when backs get caught on their heels by a forward that turns for goal. Maurice Shanahan broke through two tackles down the sideline. A rare sight. He sprinted away. The force of four Kilkenny defenders and a JJ Delaney made the ball spill back for Jamie Barron to score.
Although Maurice Shanahan and Austin Gleeson started in the corners, they drifted out the space vacated by wing forwards Jamie Barron and Stephen Molumphy. Barron tracked Colin Fennelly which allowed Michael Walsh perform the sweeper role. Brian O Sullivan was cast in the lone striker role to hold up and score. Under scrutiny from JJ Delaney, he hurried two shots wide of the uprights. Tensed up shooting from Kilkenny, five magnificent Mahony frees and a Shane O’Sullivan belter kept them clinging on.
Fergal Hartley agreed with the stance at half time in the commentary box on WLR FM. The plan lacked the flexibility however to attack the win. They just needed to, at the very least, tie up the Kilkenny backs and switch to a more orthodox set up. Early in the second half, 14 Waterford shirts got sucked into their own half. This left Brian O’Sullivan all alone inside the 65 at the opposite end of the field. The backs could no longer cope as the black and amber pushed up.
A booming Eoin Murphy puckout landed in Richie Power’s paw. He plated it for Eoin Larkin. At 2-8 to 0-9, the defensive formation was deemed redundant. Changing mid- stream to suddenly chase a game proved extremely difficult given the momentum shift. Stephen Molumphy and Ray Barry eventually joined O’Sullivan with the Lismore sub sharply striking four points from play to somehow enhance his standing in the middle of a downturn. The aggression in the tackle shown in the first half (in particular by a Tadhg De Burca hit on Richie Power) dissipated as Kilkenny totalled 3-15 with embarrassing ease.
“I think that we got overrun,” McGrath detailed afterwards. “A couple of goals went in and we lost our shape for a while and Kilkenny did what they do. When they get a scent of blood, they go for the jugular and that’s what happened to us, we are no different from any other team that have come up here over the years. We just have to pick ourselves up and that’s what we intend to do. We were very happy at half time in terms of the level of application and work rate of the guys. We felt confident with the breeze at our backs in the second half. We probably didn’t turn up for the second half and Kilkenny probably upped it. We were overrun as I say.”
The number of chances diminished even from the Clare encounter. Waterford still managed to win a considerable amount of puckout possession. They claimed 27 compared to 34 for the Cats. 24 scoring chances produced and a return eight points from play is a disappointing level of forward output.
Dublin harbour similar doubts. It comes as no coincidence that the two lowest scorers in Division 1A end up in this battle for survival. Waterford average 17 points per game with Dublin slightly higher on 19 points. 16 different Déise players have auditioned up front at some stage over the five rounds with 13 of the Dubs undertaking the same process.
187 league minutes have passed since Pauric Mahony shook the cobwebs at the Keane’s road goal. Only a sprinkling of clear cut chances have materialised since with Stephen Molumphy’s second half burst the standout opportunity last Sunday. Dublin fired five net rustlers but two of those come under the category of defensive presents generously gift wrapped.
Pauric Mahony (1-42) and Alan McCrabbe (0-32) are far out in front as the leading marksmen for their respective sides. Their free taking must hold up once more. Brian O’Sullivan and Ray Barry rank as next best on the Waterford list with eight points apiece. Conal Keaney (2-7) and Danny Sutcliffe (1-8) are chipping in from play for the Sky Blues.
Two glaring concessions in the first half last Sunday cost Jamie Nagle his place. That 32 minute appearance was a rare off day as his distribution is mostly on the money. His deliveries into the forward line may be missed here. While Shane O’Sullivan slots into the team listed, don’t be surprised to see Kevin Moran take up a position in the half back line. Seamus Prendergast makes a welcome return to offer a direct route to goal and the bulk badly missing last weekend. Pauric Mahony must orchestrate and get the best out of the most potent full forward currently available. He avoided the anticipated direct duel with Liam Rushe last time around but he needs to show for possession and supply Brian O’Sullivan and Ray Barry. Waterford may tweak by starting with a front three that remain pinned down but still allowing Jamie Barron and Austin Gleeson float around to ensure that there will be a real scrap around the middle.
Despite bedding into the league after crumbling to Galway, the 2014 edition of Dublin remain a team that blow hot and cold from match to match or within the 70 minutes itself. The result hinges on whether Daly’s men can prove that they have enhanced their attacking options since hitting their heads off a brick wall against 14 men three weeks previous. The same challenge applies to Derek McGrath and his management team as they move away from the structure that reduced their scoring potential.
In this league of home rule, that coin toss may be enough to break the cycle of bad breaks. Waterford are unbeaten in their last six league ties with Dublin on home turf. Their opponents are now well versed in taking a spin in this direction. It’s 2009 since they hosted the Déise in Parnell Park. If Waterford figure out an alternative attacking strategy in the nick of time, they can capitalise and extend their three season stay in a six team top flight. Around twenty points could do the trick.
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