A rare glimpse of glory – Waterford 1-21 Galway 0-16

As inter county set-ups increasingly choose shut down mode in their dealings with the outside world, the Waterford minors opened the dressing room door to the local media only minutes reaching the summit.

There has been a candid nature about this group from the throw in of this championship back in April when the light faded rapidly. Through five victories, a draw and two defeats, they faced the music on each occasion. Players and management learned from each of the eight steps. On Sunday, they cut loose in the home straight and released the pressure valve in a splash of celebration, song and silliness afterwards. They were understandably over the moon but content more than anything else. They had truly earned this moment.

To keep them grounded, Mattie Murphy spoke softly about how the achievement shouldn’t quench their desire for further silverware. He pointed out that they may go off the rails in the coming years but not to lose their focus. Gracious words from a manager who knows how a bunch of minor can come off the tracks.

Such scenes seemed distant on a Tuesday night in Thurles. On a chaotic occasion, Seán Power and the rest of the group hit their lowest ebb. “We’re very disappointed. We started slow. We haven’t hurled for an hour yet in the whole competition and to win competitions you have to hurl for the whole sixty minutes and we haven’t done that yet.” They eventually produced an hour long effort last Sunday to bury those demons.

The main characters (Patrick Curran, Stephen Bennett and Austin Gleeson) all turned up to play starring roles and scored 1-12 between them. The strength of the cast behind them however made the difference.  Michéal Harney fetched a series of balls in the first half to put Waterford on the attack and Shane Bennett darted forward with relish in the second and teed up two points for brother Stephen. Up front, Michael Kearney and Colm Roche reserved their personal best for the final.

At fifteen points each, the benefits of a lengthy campaign became apparent. Waterford didn’t become impatient when they hit turbulence. A five point gap materialised on three separate occasions but with thirteen minutes remaining that was whittled down. Little breaks started to sway towards the Tribesmen. Galway goalkeeper Cathal Tuohy denied Stephen Bennett twice and Michael Kearney, the equaliser also arrived from a self inflicted wound in the form of a short puck out and Patrick Curran missed two frees on the trot. This bunch didn’t want to be beaten for a third time however.

Captain Kevin Daly expressed that strong sentiment afterwards. "We were not losing today. This was our day. We have been together too long and lost too many finals. The feeling after the Munster final was heartbreaking. You honestly couldn’t go through that again. That defeat nearly brought us to where we are today. We knew what it was like to lose and no way were we going to let that happen again.” They calmly dodged out of danger and outscored their opponents by 1-6 to 0-1 in the final ten minutes. Conor Gleeson injected fresh life into the forwards and he laid the ball back for Tom Devine to post the lead point. Austin Gleeson then stepped forward to split the posts with a booming free and caught the following puck out. The next point then came from a patient piece of interplay that eventually allowed an opening for Colm Roche. Then came Curran’s opportunism to open the floodgates in glorious fashion.

The entire forward unit showed their adaptability. They started in an alternative formation to what they were used to all along. Despite this, Stephen Bennett raided effectively from the wing and on the opposite side, Michael Kearney bolted forward. In defence, Kevin Daly settled and he extinguished the considerable threat from Ronan O’Meara. Their concession rate from frees also dropped from ten to five.

Patrick Curran glowed all through. He shifted up a gear from the semi final and kept the Galway backs engaged from the beginning. Beforehand, his practice shots suggested that his eye was in as he obliged from various angles and distances. The goal underlined the work rate which underpins all of his gifts. Selector Kieran O’Gorman was blown away by his man of the match offering. “He was unbelievable. We knew that it was in him because he was playing brilliant all the year. He was just head and shoulders above anything out on that field.”

The double homecoming on Monday night raised the spirits of the whole county. They played with a style and openness that everyone embraced. The management projected a positivity and energy all year that was infectious. Clearly that attitude transmitted to the players on the field. The 34 squad members were spread across 22 different clubs so this was a truly a that all ends of the county were invested in. In the absence of a Cork or Clare equivalent, the welcome received increased TV coverage. Management and players simply soaked it up. A long and winding road with a fitting climax.  150 days, eight games, seven venues, fives wins, two defeats and one draw. It all ended with a mad pile-up on the turf with “Dungarvan My Home Town” ringing around Jones’ Road. Glory days.