The Munster minor hurling championship moves in mysterious ways. The break for the Leaving Certificate means that by the time the semis swing around it’s nearly a case of starting from scratch.
The 2012 All Ireland winners Tipperary fell at this fence last year. At Páirc Uí Rinn, Austin Gleeson pushed back the Cork advances to sneak through in extra time. The season hinges on the next sixty minutes.
Waterford management have clearly revised their thoughts during the lengthy fallow period. Take a look at the fifteen for Wednesday night which shows five changes in personnel and a dozen positional switches from the side that defeated Clare in April. All Ireland medallists MJ Sutton and Colm Roche return from injury to operate the central defensive positions. Michael Cronin and Jack Mullaney (introduced as subs in Ennis) also join the defence. Aaron O’Sullivan starts at number fourteen in a reshuffled forward line. David Prendergast, Shane Murray, Edmond O’Halloran, Joe Allen and captain Shane Ryan all miss out. Among the many positional alterations, Darragh Lyons and Andy Molumby form a new midfield pairing and Shane Bennett moves from centre back to wing forward.
The scoreline of 1-13 to 1-11 flattered the visitors at Cusack Park eleven weeks ago. Waterford performed well below par but summoned their substitutes and produced 1-5 without reply in the final quarter. Derek Lyons owned up to his concern about the situation. “John Tracey said to me on the sideline with about fifteen minutes gone in the second half that if they could score, they would be out the gap.” Eddie Meaney’s cameo of 1-1 helped rescue the situation.
Clare wasted 13 chances. After leading by three (0-11 to 0-8), they somehow managed to lose by five. In his post-match comments, Lyons suspected that the Banner wouldn’t lie down. “It could well be Clare again. I suspect that they won’t be any pushover in the backdoor system.” After posting huge totals of 6-25 and 1-23 against Kerry and Tipperary respectively, these two line up again on Wednesday night.
The second chance system can work both ways. Waterford’s early success cleared the decks for exams and allowed the dual players to dabble in a gripping minor football adventure. The losers received two further games to sharpen their touch for a rematch and sort out selection issues. Derek Lyons doesn’t have the same luxury. Eamon Fennessy has integrated three players during their backdoor run (Ciaran Cooney, Ben O'Gorman, and Colin Corbett). They have a more settled feel to their selection. The play-offs worked in favour of Sean Power’s side last summer but on the other hand, the last three Munster champions have come through the front door.
Aaron Shanagher proved an absolute nuisance first time around. The tall 17 year old from Wolfe Tones has struck 4-26 so far. He hurls in the senior grade with his club and Waterford have kept tabs on his progress. Ten different scorers have raked in the chips. Ian Galvin (ten points), Michael O’Shea (1-6) and Colin Corbett (1-6) lend Shanagher a hand.
Six of Waterford’s starters were part of the All Ireland set-up in 2013. The pressure is on their shoulders to produce. While they have played some useful challenges recently, they are trying out a host of different combinations for the first time in a competitive environment.
Lyons has emphasised the importance of a sixty minute effort and raising the intensity of their play. “We focussed on certain aspects of the game and elements of our performance that we needed to address. The biggest element of that would have been the tempo of the game. I wouldn’t say it was the desire or the hunger, I’m sure the lads had that but it just didn’t reflect on the night. They were a little bit flat on the night and we said that can’t happen again.” Management are also hopeful that the Fraher Field factor will work in their favour.
This pair are becoming very familiar with each other at this grade. This semi final will be the ninth provincial clash over six seasons (currently five wins to three in Waterford’s favour). A fourth win in a row would open up the summer and guarantee an All Ireland quarter final at the very minimum.
Odds: Waterford 1/3 Draw 10/1 Clare 5/2
