Lights out at Walsh Park

 

The light from the laptop was the only source of brightness after the last blast of the whistle on Thursday night. In the pitch dark, the kids finished up their puck around and decided to head for home. I was the sole survivor in the stand bashing away at a keyboard that was barely visible. A five minute warning was issued to head for the exit. The fear of being locked in was the spark required to type furiously, hit send and wrap things up. I got to the gate in the nick of time. The joys of journalism.

On the field, Josh Keane certainly wasn’t afraid of the dark as he raised a few eyebrows with a contribution of 2-9. The towering full forward was a thorn in Waterford’s side all night. He dragged them back from the brink when the hosts led by 0-9 to 0-5. A bit of indiscipline crept into their play and Keane was on hand to punish it. The Waterford half back line controlled the early stages but a couple of sloppy clearances handed the initiative back. It was a lively first half with Keane and Patrick Curran playing starring roles. Waterford lost their way but Michael Kearney’s rocket gave them comfort as they departed at half time.

Although Tipp stretched the gap to three, Curran converted either side of a Conor Gleeson point and with teams level at 1-12 apiece extra time loomed large. Then came a talking point and a turning point. As Sam O’Neill tried to shepherd the sliotar over the line, Josh Keane got in a legitimate nudge in the eyes of the referee to seize possession and cash in from close range. Other referees would have blown for a free out but the Premier pushed on from there.

Although Keane was outstanding, he had back up. Colin O’Riordan was effective at centre forward after Austin Gleeson dominated the early exchanges. Willie Connors advanced from midfield to strike three points and corner forward Conor Lanigan emerged late on with a double to close it out. At the opposite end, Curran ploughed a lone furrow. The other forwards only showed flashes. Eight other attackers saw action but they could only muster 1-2 between them. The players were getting increasingly harder to differentiate in an increasingly farcical situation as the full time whistle sounded.

The Fraher Field floodlights will illuminate an intriguing battle on Wednesday night. Both teams can take positives from their performances last week. In a similar fashion to Waterford, Clare put up stern resistance before going under to Cork. Bobby Duggan scored 2-8 and will make hay from frees if presented with the opportunities. Sean Power has reshuffled the deck and placed players in more natural positions. Stephen Bennett is only just back in the fold after hip surgery so he remains in reserve. The two teams served up an extra time cliff hanger in Cusack Park twelve months ago and although this is a knock out game, it could well turn into a high scoring affair. If the supply to Curran is plentiful and the full back line tightens up, Waterford can go a step further.