At a freezing and windswept Mallow on Tuesday night, a barely recognisable Waterford adjusted to the conditions and kicked on in the second half to win comfortably against Brian Lohan’s UL.
It took a little time and a little help to identify the fifteen in white and blue. The selection included a mere six players with previous championship experience but they bedded down straight away. Despite facing a furious breeze, they made a good fist of the first half. John Morrissey, Mark O’Brien, Cormac Curran, DJ Foran and Tommy Waring did their chances no harm here. Donie Breathnach provided energy from midfield during the first half in particular.
Derek McGrath looked at 26 players across the sixty minutes and fourteen of them scored. He brought on the big names for the second half. The contributions of Austin Gleeson, Brian O’Halloran, Kevin Moran and Jake Dillon allowed Waterford move well clear by the finish. Michael Kearney and Pauric Mahony tucked away their goals but it could have been more as Foran and Dillon were denied at point blank range by UL goalkeeper Paul Maher. The number one had a fine game for the students with Jason Forde, John McGrath and Tommy Heffernan also keeping the inter county team occupied.
Waterford fizzed the ball around in the warm-up which was steered by Fintan O’Connor and Fergal O’Brien. The students arrived in dribs and drabs and were just about able to cobble together a starting fifteen. A dozen or so spectators dotted across the top of the stand were well wrapped up. Some even brought a cup of coffee with them for warmth. The mood seemed relaxed. Two umpires were persuaded to provide signals at either end. A heavy shower swept in prior to throw in but the rain eased as the game started. The Waterford subs jogged away to do some work on another pitch behind one of the goals.
Donie Breathnach was very prominent during the first half and he could have made more of an impact on the scoreboard. Shooting proved tricky into the wind however and Maher was kept busy collecting sliotars underneath his crossbar. They hit an infuriating six shots short into the netminder. Add in four wides and a Cormac Curran close in free which was blocked. Against the elements, Darragh Fives was used as an extra defender in front of the full back line leaving Waring and Foran to forage up front. UL opened up a 0-5 to 0-1 lead after 12 minutes. Tipperary’s John McGrath shot accurately given any slither of space and he managed three first half points. Waterford settled down and a positive move involving Breathnach and Eoin Madigan from Roanmore was finished off by Waring for his second point. Two singles by lively corner forward Tommy Heffernan restored UL’s four point advantage (0-9 to 0-5) but Waterford finished the opening half hour on top. After a frustrating start, DJ Foran made the ball stick and he hit a late double into the wind to leave them trailing by 0-11 to 0-8.
Waterford chose to turn towards the dressing rooms at the break while UL stayed out in the cold. The Déise were quickly on level terms through two Breathnach frees and one each from Cormac Curran and Shane O’Sullivan. The impact subs arrived on the field. Tommy Heffernan and Gavin O’Brien (65) swapped points (13 points all). Cormac Curran’s free nudged Waterford ahead for the first time and it was followed by a Michael Kearney goal on 43 minutes as he pierced the defence with his pace and finished low to the net past Maher. Kevin Moran appeared determined to inflict damage on his introduction and cut through on goal with regularity. He teed up DJ Foran but Maher denied the Portlaw full forward. Jason Forde and Mark Carmody kept UL interested (1-14 to 0-15). As the game entered the last quarter, Brian O’Halloran turned sharply and split the posts. Austin Gleeson announced his arrival with a spectacular point from inside his own half.
UL midfielder PJ Scully rounded off a well worked move on 51 minutes that pulled the defence out of shape (1-18 to 1-15). O’Halloran reacted with his second single as Waterford continued to create goal chances. Moran, Michael Walsh and Pauric Mahony all sprayed the ball around to allow Jake Dillon a one on one against Maher but again the goalkeeper sprawled across and saved. That move merited a green flag. Dillon instead assisted the clincher for Mahony with seven minutes left. The game concluded with two Dillon frees and Gleeson continued to look busy. He scored one and laid on another for Thomas Connors. Stephen Bennett, Maurice Shanahan, Ryan Donnelly, Colin Dunford and Shane McNulty were also present but didn’t take any part in the action. There will be more opportunities to stand out from the crowd in the Waterford Crystal Cup versus LIT on Sunday and challenge matches against WIT, Tipperary, Kilkenny and Clare are also planned over a packed pre-season.
Scorers for Waterford: M Kearney, P Mahony 1-0 each; DJ Foran, C Curran (1f), D Breathnach (2fs), J Dillon (3fs) 0-3 each; T Waring, A Gleeson, B O’Halloran 0-2 each; E Power, T Connors, S O’Sullivan, M O’Brien, M O’Neill 0-1 each.
Scorers for UL: C Martin (3fs), T Heffernan 0-4 each; PJ Scully 1-0; J McGrath, J Forde (1f) 0-3 each; D Quinn, K O’Brien, M Carmody 0-1 each.
Waterford: I O’Regan; M Flynn, J Morrissey, P Walsh; P Prendergast, N Connors, M O’Brien; S O’Sullivan, D Breathnach; E Power, C Curran, E Madigan; D Fives, DJ Foran, T Waring.
Subs used: J Dillon, K Moran, M Walsh, G O’Brien, B O’Halloran, T Connors, A Gleeson, S Fives, P Mahony, M Kearney, M O’Neill.
UL: P Maher; G Ryan, K Walsh, E Moriarty; D Quinn, B Troy, B Stapleton; J Forde, PJ Scully; J McGrath, C Martin, M Carmody; K O’Brien, T Cleary, T Heffernan.
Referee: C McAllister
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