With the glorious sunshine, a dry sod and a good attendance of 7,646 a spicy encounter close to championship fare was anticipated at Nowlan Park yesterday. What transpired came nowhere near that standard.
In a game of many wides, many mistakes and many throw balls, Kilkenny’s superior forward division and no nonsense defence was sufficient to win the day. Waterford briefly threatened to derail Brian Cody’s league ambitions but even a below par Kilkenny raised their game sufficiently in the crucial stages of the second half.
From Davy Fitzgerald’s lofty perch in the stand the areas of improvement must now be clear to pinpoint. For a start his side are short probably two forwards of where they want to be come championship time. It is not just the personnel but the style of play that raises concern. This current crop will compete and hold their own against the best sides in the country as they showed on Sunday. For long periods they suffocated Kilkenny and the defence held up well as both sides cancelled each other out. The problem is Kilkenny are better at this type of pressure game and their movement and patterns amongst the forwards are also superior. At this moment in time Waterford’s scoring rate is being sacrificed by focussing too much energy on closing down space for the opposition. The statistics don’t lie in this regard. The majority of championship or league ties are won by scoring twenty points or more. In five league games Waterford have only broken that target once, the 3-16 racked up on opening day against Dublin. Only Wexford and Offaly have scored less in the league than the 5-76 Davy Fitzgerald’s side have on the board.
Back to the game on Sunday and for a period in the second half Kilkenny were on the ropes. Shane Walsh endured a torrid afternoon on Noel Hickey but came up with one of the goals of the league and set up Eoin McGrath for the subsequent point. Kilkenny appeared to be going through the motions up to that point but they came up with the scores when the pressure was on. The goals from TJ Reid and Colin Fennelly came in an untidy fashion but Reid’s green flag broke Waterford’s momentum. In defence the Cats were ruthless with Brian Hogan giving a true display of leadership and John Dalton another stand out performer. In attack they shot an uncharacteristic amount of wides but Aidan Fogarty, Reid and Fennelly contributed well from play when required. Kilkenny’s forward starters posted 2-9 from play compared to Waterford’s tally of 1-3. Richie Hogan didn’t sparkle but his free taking was consistent throughout.
Waterford’s best performances came in defence and midfield as none of the forward line offered a consistent threat. Eoin Kelly made little impact on his introduction with John Mullane also enduring a frustrating afternoon on John Dalton. Thomas Ryan gave a glimpse of his pace in the second half but still needs to bulk up physically. Stephen Molumphy’s involvement was curtailed at half time due to army duty in Poland but it seems rather bizarre that the Ballyduff Upper man wasn’t allowed an afternoon off by Davy Fitzgerald.
On a positive note Jamie Nagle put in a strong display at wing back making many fine catches and clearances to set Waterford on the attack. Wayne Hutchinson built on his performance against Cork at full back, limiting Richie Hogan to only one point from play. His Ballygunner colleague David O’Sullivan also put in a solid seventy minutes alongside Michael Walsh and Nagle in the half back line. Richie Foley showed his accuracy once again with seven placed balls and he worked tirelessly around the middle with Kevin Moran.
Both sides have a lot to work on but Kilkenny still have the carrot of a league final to keep them sharp. Offaly and Galway lie in wait for Fitzgerald’s men who will now look to settle on a championship 15. The experience of Tony Browne and Eoin Murphy and a number of injury victims are yet to return to the ranks. Places are still up for grabs especially in the forward line and the tactics will also be monitored closely in the final rounds with Limerick in mind. Despite their Division Two status with five wins from five outings Donal O’Grady is building momentum ahead of the joust in June.
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