Waterford GAA Discussion Thread - **MOD NOTE POST #1**

DiscoStew

hurlinbanter wrote: »

There is an intermediate game on before the waterford wexford game between killkenny and cork as far as I know and a percentage of the tickets had to go that way aswell which reduced tickest for Waterford and wexford

I thought the intermediate was discontinued? Didn't the U25 replace it? And the Munster final took place for that before Waterford Cork game.
Hardly running both competitions?

Fred C Dobbs

I predict throw in will be delayed, unless there is a traffic management plan in place for next Sunday !

PTH2009

Fred C Dobbs wrote: »

I predict throw in will be delayed, unless there is a traffic management plan in place for next Sunday !

RTE wont let them do that

gizmo23

DiscoStew wrote: »

I thought the intermediate was discontinued? Didn't the U25 replace it? And the Munster final took place for that before Waterford Cork game.
Hardly running both competitions?

I don't think Leinster has an u25 grade. It's a bit of a joke when one finalist hasnt played a game and the other bet a wexford team which no word of a lie was put to together 5 days before hand.

Deise189

DiscoStew wrote: »

I thought the intermediate was discontinued? Didn't the U25 replace it? And the Munster final took place for that before Waterford Cork game.
Hardly running both competitions?

U 25 is only in Munster. Cork didn't enter this and they were the only county to enter an intermediate team so they automatically won Munster. Bit of a joke TBH

reni10

So where to park then on Sunday which is no more than a 20 minute walk to the North Stand and you can get into and out of without massive bottlenecks?

Don't mind paying a few bob to park either to make it easier, so any ideas?

big_drive

Any chance of some stand tickets going online this week?

Gavlor

big_drive wrote: »

Any chance of some stand tickets going online this week?

Nope. 18000 seats only between all clubs, other county boards plus whatever has been sold in centra.

danganabu

Gavlor wrote: »

Nope. 18000 seats only between all clubs, other county boards plus whatever has been sold in centra.

Thought there was 21,000 seats?

And don't think other county boards are entitled to tickets to quarter finals?

tomwaterford

PTH2009 wrote: »

RTE wont let them do that

Delayed throw in would surely be health and safety issue

Can't see rte getting a say in it then??



Looking forward to being on the black rock end Sunday,hope they've kept that terrace the same elevation

KevIRL

tomwaterford wrote: »

Delayed throw in would surely be health and safety issue

Can't see rte getting a say in it then??

Absolutely. RTE would have zero say in it and it's madness to suggest otherwise

Gavlor

danganabu wrote: »

Thought there was 21,000 seats?

And don't think other county boards are entitled to tickets to quarter finals?

Only 18,000 available for Sunday. I'm pretty sure that any other counties can apply for a certain number

danganabu

Gavlor wrote: »

Only 18,000 available for Sunday. I'm pretty sure that any other counties can apply for a certain number

But the 18,000 is excluding the season ticket holders who have already gotten stand tickets? Or is the 3,000 the premium section which are for 10 year tickets??

Other counties are entitled for finals and for games under the auspices of provincial boards only as far as I know, at least that was the way it used to be, maybe it changed when the qualifiers etc were introduced?

PTH2009

That WLR 'hurl In a deise way' song is as cringy as ****

Why do people think there's a need for all this???

I'm all for passionate support but this

http://www.wlrfm.com/2017/07/17/h-u-r-l-in-a-deise-way-wlr-hurling-song-2017/

SW1985

The blue blaa wrote: »

Lads where do ye all be gettin your stories from at all.

1) Pauric Mahony is not injured he was in Pairc ui Caoimh yesterday hitting free's.

2) Colm Roche was injured and missed training and the league campaign for Waterford hence the reason he was not with Senior panel.

3) Kevin Moran will not be retiring this year at the age of 30.

Mahony's injury was a direct quote from Derek Mcgrath

KevIRL

PTH2009 wrote: »

That WLR 'hurl In a deise way' song is as cringy as ****

Why do people think there's a need for all this???

I'm all for passionate support but this

http://www.wlrfm.com/2017/07/17/h-u-r-l-in-a-deise-way-wlr-hurling-song-2017/

Up there with the classics like three ships on a shirt and dig deep aim high.

DeiseDawg

danganabu wrote: »

But the 18,000 is excluding the season ticket holders who have already gotten stand tickets? Or is the 3,000 the premium section which are for 10 year tickets??

Other counties are entitled for finals and for games under the auspices of provincial boards only as far as I know, at least that was the way it used to be, maybe it changed when the qualifiers etc were introduced?

I reckon-
south stand 13,000 - 3,000 for premium, 10,000 sold
North stand 8,000 sold.
So 18,000 stand tickets were available to clubs, a small number of tickets to centra and online @ tickets.ie
Terraces - 12,000 (x2)
That's the 45,000 capacity

redlead

Annoying getting stuck with terrace tickets. You'd wonder what the GAA has against putting hurling games on in Croke Park. The quarter finals would have made a great double header. Music concerts are always conveniently booked the same weekend as hurling.

It's a pity they didn't build a proper ground down in Cork rather than just have half the capacity in standing terraces. I know the old ground was a sh!thole but what's the point of it really?

There's a seriously quite build up to this game. Waterford should win handy enough, hopefully we don't get ambushed. Presuming he'll stick with the same team ...

ovalu

The blue blaa wrote: »

Lads where do ye all be gettin your stories from at all.



2) Colm Roche was injured and missed training and the league campaign for Waterford hence the reason he was not with the Senior panel.

You just made that up . He was fit when he was dropped off it, it was discussed on here at the time, according to the authorities on here he wasnt quite good enough

914

redlead wrote: »

Annoying getting stuck with terrace tickets. You'd wonder what the GAA has against putting hurling games on in Croke Park. The quarter finals would have made a great double header. Music concerts are always conveniently booked the same weekend as hurling.

It's a pity they didn't build a proper ground down in Cork rather than just have half the capacity in standing terraces. I know the old ground was a sh!thole but what's the point of it really?

There's a seriously quite build up to this game. Waterford should win handy enough, hopefully we don't get ambushed. Presuming he'll stick with the same team ...

Croke Park not required, Wat v wex should be thurles and clare v tipp should be in limerick.

Cork missing out on both munster finals and a new stadium, was always going to be Cork once it was ready.

Giveitfong

ovalu wrote: »

You just made that up . He was fit when he was dropped off it, it was discussed on here at the time, according to the authorities on here he wasnt quite good enough

Are you mixing Colm Roche up with his brother Shane - to my mind our best cover for corner back but who apparently walked off the panel earlier in the year due to lack of game time?

KevIRL

Giveitfong wrote: »

Are you mixing Colm Roche up with his brother Shane - to my mind our best cover for corner back but who apparently walked off the panel earlier in the year due to lack of game time?

Did you put up a match report for the KK game ? Not sure if I missed it

deiselad17

The game Sunday will be down to who utilizes their sweeper the best and is more efficient. Tadgh has much better distribution than the Wexford guy as he had a lot of misplaced passes in the Leinster final. We are a good bit ahead of wexford in terms of development and would expect us to shade it on Sunday. It wont be a classic i feel with both teams having negative tactics but hopefully we see one or two goals hit the net..

Daz_

debok wrote: »

Serious shortage on stand tickets. Most clubs won't even get half of what they need. It makes the decision to bring it to cork look crazy. Wexford band wagon is going strong and they are bringing massive crowds with them to every game so games could have been played in croke park. They had biggest leinster final attendance in years and Waterford supporters will travel in numbers could have got 60000 in croker. But now alot of people won't travel if all they can get are terrace tickets

Hurling has always been popular in Wexford . We just needed an improved team to support and get behind which is was people are doing . A good league performance and beating Kilkenny never comes easy ( which Waterford well know ) So sorry about that if you think it's a bandwagon - in case you didn't notice we lost quite heavily in the Leinster final against an excellent Galway Team- however we are still happy to support the team in cork in big numbers and believe we have a realistic chance against a really strong Waterford team .

redlead

Daz_ wrote: »

Hurling has always been popular in Wexford . We just needed an improved team to support and get behind which is was people are doing . A good league performance and beating Kilkenny never comes easy ( which Waterford well know ) So sorry about that if you think it's a bandwagon - in case you didn't notice we lost quite heavily in the Leinster final against an excellent Galway Team- however we are still happy to support the team in cork in big numbers and believe we have a realistic chance against a really strong Waterford team .

To be fair every county has a bandwagon element, Wexford is no different. There is always a core element that go to all games regardless of results and those are the lads that were making up the much smaller attendances you would have seen at Wexford games over the last ten years or so. So in a way the huge surge in support is a bandwagon but there is nothing wrong with that. It's the exact same as every other county.

Deise189

Daz_ wrote: »

Hurling has always been popular in Wexford . We just needed an improved team to support and get behind which is was people are doing . A good league performance and beating Kilkenny never comes easy ( which Waterford well know ) So sorry about that if you think it's a bandwagon - in case you didn't notice we lost quite heavily in the Leinster final against an excellent Galway Team- however we are still happy to support the team in cork in big numbers and believe we have a realistic chance against a really strong Waterford team .

So only supporting the team when it has improved is not jumping on the bandwagon?

Daz_

Deise189 wrote: »

So only supporting the team when it has improved is not jumping on the bandwagon?

I can see you have a chip on your shoulder about it .i presume you will have the same view of Waterford progress

Deise189

Daz_ wrote: »

I can see you have a chip on your shoulder about it .i presume you will have the same view of Waterford progress

I have as much an issue with the many waterford and other counties band wagoners as I do wexfords.. Just pointing out the contradiction in your post.

JeffKenna

redlead wrote: »

To be fair every county has a bandwagon element, Wexford is no different. There is always a core element that go to all games regardless of results and those are the lads that were making up the much smaller attendances you would have seen at Wexford games over the last ten years or so. So in a way the huge surge in support is a bandwagon but there is nothing wrong with that. It's the exact same as every other county.

Indeed, believe it or not even Waterford has a bandwagon element. Couldn't have been much more than 5k or 6k at the Cork and Kilkenny matches so not sure where all the tickets have vanished for this one.

tomwaterford

JeffKenna wrote: »

Indeed, believe it or not even Waterford has a bandwagon element. Couldn't have been much more than 5k or 6k at the Cork and Kilkenny matches so not sure where all the tickets have vanished for this one.

Waterford has a hard core of 5-6K fans

You see the same people at all the league matches,Munster club games etc

tipperaryman

What terrace are Waterford in on Sunday?

Daz_

redlead wrote: »

To be fair every county has a bandwagon element, Wexford is no different. There is always a core element that go to all games regardless of results and those are the lads that were making up the much smaller attendances you would have seen at Wexford games over the last ten years or so. So in a way the huge surge in support is a bandwagon but there is nothing wrong with that. It's the exact same as every other county.

It was almost 10 years since we were in a Leinster final and I'd say the numbers from Wexford at that game were similar to this years final . We haven't had that many opportunitys to actually support the team. Any quarter finals we got to in the last 5 or 6 years have also been well attended so I don't view it as a massive surge tbh.

Daz_

Deise189 wrote: »

I have as much an issue with the many waterford and other counties band wagoners as I do wexfords.. Just pointing out the contradiction in your post.

At least you are consistently bitter about it then .

redlead

JeffKenna wrote: »

Indeed, believe it or not even Waterford has a bandwagon element. Couldn't have been much more than 5k or 6k at the Cork and Kilkenny matches so not sure where all the tickets have vanished for this one.

I was shocked how few Waterford fans were at the Cork game. I actually thought we had a very good support at the Kilkenny game though? Maybe it's just where I was sitting. Poor Dublin had 100 fans Max I'd say.

I don't mind Bandwagon fans though as they add to the atmosphere. It only annoys me if they get tickets at my expense.

redlead

Daz_ wrote: »

It was almost 10 years since we were in a Leinster final and I'd say the numbers from Wexford at that game were similar to this years final . We haven't had that many opportunitys to actually support the team. Any quarter finals we got to in the last 5 or 6 years have also been well attended so I don't view it as a massive surge tbh.

If you only go to finals then you are a bandwagon supporter in my view. I don't think anyone here is trying to criticize Wexford by the way. We just seem to have a different definition of what a bandwagon supporter is.

Daz_

redlead wrote: »

If you only go to finals then you are a bandwagon supporter in my view. I don't think anyone here is trying to criticize Wexford by the way. We just seem to have a different definition of what a bandwagon supporter is.

Next Sunday isn't a final . Anyway fair enough just felt it was begrudgery from original poster .

blueflame

Personally I think support against Cork was not as bad as made out by many - looking around the town of Thurles on the day there was plenty of Blue and White but for some reasons and it is almost always the case the Red and White of Cork tends to stand out and take over a stadium, (setting aside the obvious fact that the population of Cork is so greater than most other counties) In addition to this they are such a far spread population , no matter where you go on this Island there is a Cork man there and his accent as thick as ever. They are a fiercely proud county and fair dues to them, almost impossible to outnumber them with the exception of Dublin . Looking at the reactions on the day, lets be honest we had very little to shout about.

As regards the discussion on the "Wexford Band Wagon", good luck to them- have no problem here, they are entitled to their ticket allocation - we should have just as many Band Wagon Supporters, it is just will they make the trip. Waterford, as someone has already said have a very good core support who attend League and Championship games with regularity, but I think what irritates most genuine fans is that they can struggle to get decent tickets where as guys who come out of the wood work seem to be able to land top class tickets without breaking sweat.

I know of lads who would not walk across the road to see a match but when it come to Semi Finals or Finals they and their families and friends seem to be able to acquire tickets no bother and take great pleasure in letting genuine fans know - now there is where i have an issue.

KrustyUCC

May be some use to some

http://www.gaacork.ie/news/10026638/Bus_Service_from_Kent_Station_Cork_to_Pairc_Ui_Chaoimh

A bus service will operate from Kent Station, Cork from 13.30hrs – which will serve Parnell Place Bus Station en-route to Pairc Ui Chaoimh (Ballintemple) for the game on each day. The Return services will also operate from Ballintemple (Route # 202), with a connection at Parnell Place for Kent Station (Route # 205 and Route # 226).

The Return Fare will be €2.20 per adult with half fare for children under 16 years of age.

PTH2009

So Kevin Ryan has resigned in Offaly, I wonder will he get a job in Waterford ???

mountgomery burns

PTH2009 wrote: »

So Kevin Ryan has resigned in Offaly, I wonder will he get a job in Waterford ???

Not the Waterford job if you are insinuating that.

KevIRL

tomwaterford wrote: »

Waterford has a hard core of 5-6K fans

You see the same people at all the league matches,Munster club games etc

Not even that. About 3K Waterford fans at the offaly game.

I remember Waterford were known as the great supporters that travelled in numbers back in the early 2000's, similar to Wexford now. Turns out we just like everyone else love s good bandwagon to jump on.

Nothing wrong with it per se, it's human nature. But no point in kidding ourselves otherwise

KevIRL

blueflame wrote: »

but I think what irritates most genuine fans is that they can struggle to get decent tickets where as guys who come out of the wood work seem to be able to land top class tickets without breaking sweat.

I know of lads who would not walk across the road to see a match but when it come to Semi Finals or Finals they and their families and friends seem to be able to acquire tickets no bother and take great pleasure in letting genuine fans know - now there is where i have an issue.

The season ticket is a very good resource for the genuine fan here. Although the quality of seat location has dipped in recent years for season ticket holders. Still u are certain of your seat with one - for all games including AI final.

mountgomery burns

KevIRL wrote: »

Not even that. About 3K Waterford fans at the offaly game.

I remember Waterford were known as the great supporters that travelled in numbers back in the early 2000's, similar to Wexford now. Turns out we just like everyone else love s good bandwagon to jump on.

Nothing wrong with it per se, it's human nature. But no point in kidding ourselves otherwise

I don't think travelling 2 and a half hours to watch a dead rubber after an immensely disappointing defeat should be the barometer for any fanbase.

I actually thought 3K was a good turnout for that match.

KevIRL

mountgomery burns wrote: »

I don't think travelling 2 and a half hours to watch a dead rubber after an immensely disappointing defeat should be the barometer for any fanbase.

I actually thought 3K was a good turnout for that match.

Not a barometer of the fanbase, but a fair barometer of the 'hard core' fanbase which was referred to as 5-6K in the post I was replying to?

debok

Daz_ wrote: »

Hurling has always been popular in Wexford . We just needed an improved team to support and get behind which is was people are doing . A good league performance and beating Kilkenny never comes easy ( which Waterford well know ) So sorry about that if you think it's a bandwagon - in case you didn't notice we lost quite heavily in the Leinster final against an excellent Galway Team- however we are still happy to support the team in cork in big numbers and believe we have a realistic chance against a really strong Waterford team .

Sorry if you thought I was having a dig at you but in my next post I mentioned the Waterford band wagon. I just feel every county gets one after a bit of success or few wins and there's nothing wrong with it.without the casual supporter there would be no huge crowds at games.more the better at the games should be great atmosphere Sunday and could be a tight game

mountgomery burns

KevIRL wrote: »

Not a barometer of the fanbase, but a fair barometer of the 'hard core' fanbase which was referred to as 5-6K in the post I was replying to?

Is there a middle ground or beyond that 3K are the rest of us just jumping on the bandwagon?

KevIRL

mountgomery burns wrote: »

Is there a middle ground or beyond that 3K are the rest of us just jumping on the bandwagon?

Of course there is.

914

Tickets are definitely far a few between. Munster GAA are now expecting a sell out for both games.

If anyone is short I have two spare Blackrock terrace tickets available. Standard price €20 each, pm me if your looking.

Giveitfong

Waterford were able to beat Kilkenny in last week’s qualifier because they had better hurlers, in better form, and also, for the most part, matched (and at times surpassed) Kilkenny’s intensity. That they had to go to extra time to get the win can be put down largely to Waterford’s alarming deficit in game craft compared with the other top teams and a continuing failure to learn from the past.

The deficit in game craft refers to the absence of a system in the way the team is set up and plays which can mount effective attacks against the opposition defence. The old problem of mindless blind balls being sent out of defence to double-marked or non-existent forwards was again only too evident against Kilkenny. I counted 15 balls of this kind during the course of the game, only one of which was won by a Waterford player. This meant that, time and again, Kilkenny defenders had all the time in the world to set up counter-attacking moves.

Except late in the game, when their situation was increasingly hopeless, Kilkenny refused to play this kind of game, using short passes in defence and midfield to set players free and always looking for players to give the ball to. It was noticeable how, every time a Kilkenny corner back got the ball, a team mate appeared out on the sideline in the midfield area to receive a long pass.

In the Munster final the following day there were two teams which refused to hit blind balls, repeatedly looking to play the ball to team mates, a process facilitated by the fact that support players were nearly always available. There are only two players in the Waterford team who rarely give the ball away blindly – Brick Walsh and Jamie Barron. Darragh Fives used to be very good at finding team mates with deft passes, but against Kilkenny he was one of the main culprits in terms of hitting blind balls and giving away possession. Perhaps after his long layoff he is still finding his feet. Nevertheless his return, and especially his positioning and ability to win ball, have been a major boon to the team.

Against Kilkenny, Jamie Barron showed a glimpse of the kind of attacking strategy Waterford should employ by breaking forward at pace and running at the Kilkenny defence. This yielded 1-3 for Barron alone. However, we need Barron primarily as a ball-winner in the midfield engine room. We need to deploy an extra player with this go-forward capability to take short passes in the midfield area and break forward at pace. When Colin Dunford first came on the scene he was given this role to a certain extent, but his ability to get on the ball was frequently poor.

For me, the best player for performing this role is the greatly underused Brian O’Halloran. O’Halloran is one of a number of players on the Waterford panel whose abilities have never been appreciated by Derek McGrath. Apart from his pace, he is very skillful and able to take a score. Above all, he has the priceless ability to get possession by being in the right place at the right time. His six possessions in extra time against Kilkenny was bettered only by Tadhg de Búrca. He is also a clever player, as he showed with his late breakout in that game. Rather than belting the ball up the field – the default option for too many Waterford players – he ran with it and retained possession until he drew a free converted by Maurice Shanahan.

Apart from his failure to change the game plan, Derek McGrath’s inability to learn is apparent from the fact that, for the third time in four games against Kilkenny, Waterford built up a winning lead going into the closing stages and then reverted to a defensive mindset rather than driving on to victory. It cost us the semi-final in Croke Park last August, it should have cost us the league game in February (were it not for Kilkenny’s poor shooting) and it nearly cost us last week’s game.

The possession statistics show this quite clearly. Following Kilkenny’s initial spurt immediately after half-time, Waterford took over the game and were eight points clear (2-14 to 1-9) after 55 minutes. In that 20 minute period, Waterford had 61 possessions to Kilkenny’s 47, reflecting their territorial superiority. In the remaining 19 minutes of normal time, Waterford’s possession count dropped alarmingly to just 28, compared to 43 for Kilkenny.

This was inevitable with Waterford withdrawing into defence and gifting Kilkenny possession by lashing the ball down the field. In the first 20 minutes, Stephen O’Keeffe had mainly hit short puckouts which helped Waterford to retain possession. In the last 19 minutes, as part of the general panic, he reverted to hitting his puckouts as far as possible down the field, which transferred the advantage to Kilkenny.

At least when Waterford gained the upper hand in extra time they did drive on to victory, but at this stage Kilkenny were a spent force, having drained all their energy in their massive – and admirable – effort to save the game in the last quarter of normal time. In the extra time period, Waterford lifted their possession count back up to 57, while Kilkenny’s fell to 39.

In the first half, incidentally, the possession count for both teams was the same, at 64. However, almost one quarter of Kilkenny’s tally (15) was accounted for by Cillian Buckley alone, the Kilkenny sweeper being almost worn out picking up loose clearances from the Waterford defence. By contrast, some Kilkenny players were almost completely anonymous in the first half. Given his subsequent impact on the game, TJ Reid, believe it or not, did not get a single possession in the half, his first coming in the opening minute of the second half. This is a tribute to his principal marker, Phil Mahony, who himself had only two possessions in the first half.

Conor Gleeson also did a terrific marking job on Richie Hogan, to whom he stuck like glue throughout the game. Hogan only had four first half possessions and eight in all before being substituted in the 63rd minute. His replacement, Richie Leahy, did a fair bit of damage, managing nine possessions (and two points) in his 34 minutes on the pitch.

Derek McGrath again showed his inability to react to developments on the pitch by failing to do anything to counteract the enormous impact Lester Ryan had following his introduction at half time. Ryan had eleven second half possessions and seven in extra time for 18 in all. This made him easily the second most important Kilkenny player (after Buckley) in terms of possession, even though he missed the entire first half. If his shot for goal in the 55th minute had gone the other side of the post the game could have had a different ending.

Overall, Tadhg de Búrca was way ahead of this team mates with a possession count of no less than 32. To a large extent this was attributable to his sweeping role, but he really stood out under high Kilkenny balls into the goalmouth both late in the second half and especially in extra time as Kilkenny threw the kitchen sink at the Waterford defence. De Búrca got nine possessions in extra time alone.

Not surprisingly, Jamie Barron had the second highest number of possessions with 19, followed closely by Noel Connors (18) and Shane Fives, Darragh Fives and Austin Gleeson (17 apiece). It is remarkable for a single corner back to have such a number of possessions in a game, but to have both in such high figures in the same game is phenomenal. I have been arguing Shane Fives’s case here for years, and regard it as criminal that he has not yet been awarded an All-Star. I do not recall a single pundit or newspaper report noting his contribution in this game.

Of course, the quality of use of possession is every bit as important as the actual number of possessions a player has. Brick Walsh only had seven possessions during his 69 minutes on the pitch but he still made a major contribution, especially his key involvement in two of the goals.

For Kilkenny, Cillian Buckley actually exceeded de Búrca with 33 possessions, but Kilkenny still sorely missed his ball-winning and ability to drive forward in the middle third. After Lester Ryan (18), one has to go down to Conor Fogarty (14) for their next highest possession count.

Despite its offensive ineffectuality which makes it that much harder to win games, it is unlikely that Derek McGrath is going to change his game plan at this stage. At the same time, there was still a lot of looseness in the Waterford performance which needs to be tightened up. There were an awful lot of decision-making and execution errors, with Austin Gleeson, Tadhg de Búrca and Darragh Fives being the main culprits here. In particular, I noted a lot of attempted stick passes which were hit either to high or too hard. A very welcome development was the appearance of a much more constructive and creative Austin Gleeson than we have seen heretofore, and long may this continue.

Possession counts

Waterford: Stephen O’Keeffe (13); Shane Fives (17); Barry Coughlan (2); Noel Connors (18); Conor Gleeson (5); Tadhg de Búrca (32); Darragh Fives (17); Philip Mahony (7); Jamie Barron (19); Kevin Moran (13); Austin Gleeson (17); Pauric Mahony (7); Jake Dillon (6); Brick Walsh (7); Shane Bennett (5); Patrick Curran (6); Stephen Bennett (3); Maurice Shanahan (3); Brian O’Halloran (6); Tommy Ryan (3); Colin Dunford (1); Shane McNulty (1).

Kilkenny: E Murphy (10); P Murphy (10); P Walsh (8); R Lennon (12); C Fogarty (14); C Buckley (33); J Lyng (13); M Fennelly (7); P Deegan (7); K Kelly (4); W Walsh (8); TJ Reid (10); R Hogan (8); C Fennelly (10); Farrell JJ (3); Aylward G (3); L Ryan (18); C Bolger (1); R Leahy (9); L Blanchfield (2); M Bergin (1).

mountgomery burns

KevIRL wrote: »

Of course there is.

Sorry, just got a bit offended because I was not in Tullamore but am in no way a bandwagoner.

On the attendance thing, I also think people seriously underestimated the attendance at the Cork game. The other thing I would say is that there was 15K at the qualifier double header last year compared to 32K this year.

Cork and Wexford, bringing massive crowds this year, were two of the teams involved. We had by a distance the second biggest crowd in Thurles the last day of the 4 teams involved. Ultimately, we're not that big a County. Our support is probably standard relative to the population.