Waterford GAA Thread - Mod note post #1

Alf Tupper

PTH2009

Love to see a Documentary on the Ballygunner win and plenty of local producers could do a good job on it

I'd be afraid to be know now much drinking has been going on the last few days. Well deserved and by god it could be tame compared to when/if Waterford win Liam

davidx40

Great win for Ballygunner at the wkd a great team to watch ....I really believe the bounce from this will see Liam McCarthy finally cross the bridge in 2022 ....to me they now have the best panel in the country ....and are streets ahead of ourselves in KK ....expect the league game to be a walkover

deisedude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118637813#Comment_118637813

Ye Kilkenny lads are gas trying to do a bit of Kerry style "yerrrah we won't keep the ball pucked out to ye"

Billy Ocean

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118636598#Comment_118636598

I'd say Harry Ruddle will be struggling to function by the end of week and probably hasn't needed to open his wallet since about 4.30 on Saturday!

davidx40

Unfortunately I don't think we will keep it pucked out ......

deiseach

Another classy Ballyhale post, this time from TJ Reid. Come on lads, I want something we can put on the dressing room wall!

https://twitter.com/_tjreid/status/149371488334238925

emergingstar

When are they making the draw for the county leagues, does anyone know

decies

Why isn’t there a Waterford hurling equivalent of this ? Surely somebody could start one 😄

JeffKenna

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118637839#Comment_118637839

Reminds me of an interview Paul Flynn did regarding his career. He said after the 2007 league final win Brian Cody came into the dressing room after to congratulate them and said "ye must be favourites for the All Ireland now".

Mastermcgrath

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118640125#Comment_118640125

TJ is a class act on and off the pitch. Nothing but respect for the guy, despite him showing us no mercy in 2008, came on as a late sub and rifled over 4 points from play!

Eddie Brennan on the other hand went completely down in my estimation with his childish post. He obviously had a grudge against Coughlan and Ballygunner, maybe because of previous encounter on the field or because he didn’t like some of the antics earlier in the championship, I don’t know. Don’t think he’ll ever be in line for the Waterford job when it comes up again. Happily Let someone else have him.

agsin,

decies

Anybody else join Club Deise last few days looks like the old car sticker is gone just entered into draws and discounts off business .

callaway92

Bad injury for Carthach Daly picked up last weekend - Hammy I think

TheScoringGoal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118649047#Comment_118649047

Pity for him. There's definitely a jersey up for grabs there even when Jamie Barron gets back and he had done his chances no harm.

Mikey Kiely scored a goal from a free in the last puck of the game to put UL into the Fitz final on Saturday. Billy Power also on the UL team.

JD. 60

Amazing goal by Kiely. I don’t have a link but it’s on Twitter. Another sign that it could be Waterford’s year !

lim4ev

I watched the full match and kiely imo one if not the best on show since I first saw him I rated him highly he's going to be a huge player for Waterford

Giveitfong

Ballygunner 2-17 Ballyhale 1-19

It was a marvellous experience to be in Croke Park last Saturday and to witness a Waterford team winning a senior All-Ireland title for the first time since 1959. So fair dues to Ballygunner for delivering on the day, and in the most dramatic manner possible.

Ballyhale may feel that they were robbed of victory, but I think that Ballygunner would have been very annoyed with themselves had they lost. Not only had they six more wides than Ballyhale (14 to 8), but some of their wides were really bad. This reflects the fact that, as a team, Ballygunner did not play particularly well on the day. This was further reflected in the fact that they were caught in possession or otherwise gave away the ball 27 times during the game, which is very unlike them.

However, what I found particularly peculiar was that Ballygunner largely abandoned the game plan which has served them so well, not just in this year’s championship, but in previous years. This involves patient build-up via passing movements until a player is put in the clear either to play a good ball into space for the inside line (usually Dessie Hutchinson) to run on to or have a shot at goal themselves.

Last Saturday, right from the beginning, Ballygunner instead played a long-ball game, hitting early ball from out the pitch into the full-forward line. While there were some directed puckouts to players in the midfield area, Stephen O’Keeffe generally went long with his puckouts, with very little of the playing the ball out from the back which would normally be considered Ballygunner’s stock in trade. In fact, Ballyhale played a lot more short puckouts than Ballygunner, contrary to what one might expect.

Maybe it was thought that Croke Park’s wide open spaces might work to the benefit of the Ballygunner inside line (especially Hutchinson) and, to an extent, you could say it did work, seeing as Ballygunner did get a good return from the line and did win the game in the end (even if it was a close-run thing). However, the irony here is that the winning goal came from one of the few passages of more conventional Ballygunner play, with several short passes in midfield releasing Harry Ruddle to run in for the winning goal.

The question then is: would Ballygunner have won (or won more comfortably) if they had played their traditional game? Surely Croke Park’s wide open spaces would have suited their normal game plan better, especially against opposition who were physically bigger and stronger, very good in the air and, crucially, quite a bit older. As I saw it, the way they did play removed Peter Hogan as a scoring threat (I think he had one shot at goal in the whole game). It also rendered Conor Sheahan (normally a key player for them, and usually good for two or three points) redundant. It also greatly reduced Pauric Mahony’s effectiveness, as he normally plays a key role as a distributor in the midfield area and shooter when put in the clear. Last Saturday, he had three shots at goal from play, all of them wides and two of them snap shots under pressure.

In the circumstances, it was a huge boost for Ballygunner that Michael and Kevin Mahony both rose to the occasion on the day, raising their performance to a new level in the process. This could be a key moment in the evolution of this team. The star turns put in by Dessie Hutchinson and Ian Kenny have already been widely recognised, but I have seen no mention of the contribution of Shane O’Sullivan, who put in a mighty shift at left half back from start to finish. He certainly has given unbelievable service to both club and county over a long period of years.

However, on the day I thought that Paddy Leavy was Ballygunner’s top performer, and review of the playback has confirmed this view. He had 21 possessions in all and, while he rarely does anything spectacular, his use of the ball was generally very effective. It was fitting that he was involved in the passing movement which led up to the winning goal. Finally, I also thought that Billy O’Keeffe put in a good shift, and his substitution in the 47th minute certainly did not strengthen the team.

decies

Is Antrim v Waterford on tv anywhere I wonder ?

PTH2009

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118654746#Comment_118654746

Possibly on the BBC NI website but if I remember correctly they only hurling game they listed was last weekends Antrim vs Dublin. Football also on next weekend too. Can't see BBC not wanting 'Mayo vs Armagh' or 'Monaghan vs Kerry'

Giveitfong

It might be on GAA Go - they did the Antrim/Dublin game last weekend.

Giveitfong

Waterford 7-31 Laois 0-19

When one sees a score like this, the immediate question is: Were Waterford that good or where Laois that bad? Just a week previously, Tipperary had it all to do to get the better of Laois, who might conceivably have won that game had they not shot 15 wides. And last year, Waterford were put to the pin of their collar to get past the same opposition in the championship.

Whether or which, despite playing against a stiff wind, Waterford set about putting this game to bed from the off, moving into a nine-point lead after 15 minutes. However, Waterford then proceeded to go to sleep in the bed, allowing Laois to reduce the deficit to two points. They then awoke from their slumber, shooting four goals on the trot to render the second half a formality. It could have been a lot more, with Austin Gleeson firing a first-time shot on the volley off the crossbar, Billy Power shooting to the wrong side of the post from point-blank range, and Ciarán Kirwan having a shot stopped on the line.

It may be that the Waterford resurgence was prompted by Michael Kiely being pulled ashore by Liam Cahill after just 22 minutes. Kiely, who started instead of Colin Dunford, seemed to be disengaged from the game, having failed to control any of a number of balls which came his way. Perhaps his mind was more focused on Thursday’s Fitzgibbon Cup semi-final, and a possible final appearance a couple of days later.

Speaking of which, what were the chances of two Waterford men scoring goals with the last puck of the game within days of each other to secure victory for their teams? And while Kiely has stated publicly that he just hit the ball as hard as he could, it didn’t look like that to me. Instead, he appeared to apply top spin to arc the ball in over the crowd of players in front of the IT Carlow goal with a type of shot patented by Paul Flynn.

Moving back to last Sunday, the second half was largely a procession, as Waterford scored points at will with wind assistance, topped off by two penalties converted with aplomb by Stephen Bennett. There could have been a spectacular eighth goal when Billy Nolan’s long-distance bomb flew in over Enda Rowland’s head only to come back off the crossbar.

The main talking point here was the return of Tadhg de Búrca. With his first possession he sent a beautiful long delivery into the left corner where it was deftly collected by Ciarán Kirwan who then beat his man to score his first point in a Waterford shirt (at senior level – he scored a point for the Waterford minors six years ago in a game which also featured a certain Harry Ruddle Redmond, as he was named in the match programme at the time). No doubt helped by the fact that Laois played an extra defender and had nobody marking him, de Búrca went on to produce the usual commanding display of skill, anticipation and vision until withdrawn to a huge ovation in the 49th minute.

On a day when most of the team played well, others to stand out were Cárthach Daly and Jack Prendergast at midfield; Patrick Curran, who appears to have been assigned a loose role in the middle third this year and who certainly availed of the opportunity last Sunday to shoot 1-7 from play; and Austin Gleeson, who appeared to be enjoying himself immensely, especially in the first half. Special mention may be made of Ciarán Kirwan who did his future prospects no harm at all with an eye-catching display in the full-forward line. His final tally would have been 2-3 rather than 1-4 had he gone for a goal late in the game following a searing run through the middle of the Laois defence by Cárthach Daly but opted instead for a tap-over point.

Three newcomers were introduced in the second half (Darragh Lynch, Mark Fitzgerald and Ian Beecher) and all did well against weak opposition. Fitzgerald in particular looked the part at wing-back.

As regards other games played last weekend, while I normally have little time for Fergal Horgan as a referee, I was delighted to see him having the gumption to red card Gearóid Hegarty, a player who, in my view, should have been sent off in at least three championship games in 2020 for persistent fouling. Like Brian Cody’s great team, Limerick are not only physically powerful, well-coached and skillful but also play on the edge and seek to intimidate referees. Hopefully Horgan will have set a precedent for the coming season.

While it is still only February, there were indications last Saturday that Galway’s big players have been revitalised, which just might have something to do with the arrival of King Henry as manager. They could be serious contenders.

Meanwhile, up in Corrigan Park we saw a repeat of the malaise which affected Waterford and Wexford the previous week. Playing against a strong wind, Antrim worked the ball intelligently through the lines, got some great scores and were unlucky to be just on level terms at half-time. Then, with wind assistance in the second half, they resorted to long balls down on the powerful Dublin full back line and continued doing it, even though they were getting nowhere. What did Albert Einstein say about insanity?

decies

https://teamwear.azzurri.ie/ballygunner-gaa-2022-celebration-jersey/?fbclid=IwAR0dEu631VrAGPfC2l68d5r3WxJXYT2NH2P4TJnohVtFqPAE03pSXOV6aC8

decies

Yeah not up yet might be by weekend end . Only cork limerick on GAAGO so far next weekend .

JD. 60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118654966#Comment_118654966

I also have little time for Feargal Horgan and similarly Donal Og but I was happy to see the latter stating that Hegarty had it coming to him. This isn't simply sour grapes ; Hegarty has been getting away with it for far too long.

TheScoringGoal

How did Mark Gorman formerly a forward with Abbeyside end up as the sub goalkeeper for Ballyhale?

Asdfgh2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118655698#Comment_118655698

Emigration possibly or medal/ glory chasing.

Would also be curious how James o’Conooe ended up with ballyhale, you would think there would be kk/ballyhale ex players queuing up to manage them yet they opted for a former Waterford hurler..?

Deskjockey

There was a unusual number of Waterford coaches involved with KK clubs last year, with James O'Connor, Dan Shanahan, Pauric Fanning, Kevin Ryan and Jimmy Meaney, and others I am probably forgetting.

I suppose the close proximity helps... but a strange one in some ways with the number of clubs with all Ireland winners within the clubs around Kilkenny. I suppose if you're a good coach then your name gets out there, where ever you are from

JD. 60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118650142#Comment_118650142

Liam Cahill has an abundance of talent at his disposal which vindicates his decision to turn down the Tipperary job. Waterford need to strike while the iron is hot. Limerick may have peaked last year ; Cork have some exceptional young hurlers but might take a few years for them to mature. I don’t see any other county winning the AI this year, outside of the aforementioned sides. Ideally, Waterford should avoid the qualifier route this time around ; Limerick might well have beaten them anyway but 3 high intensity games in as many weeks was a bridge to far in 2021.

seananigans

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118657614#Comment_118657614

great thing about outside managers is it stops a lot of infighting and perceived biases ,people used to complain something fierce if a manager picked someone from his club or didnt pick a rival club at IC level,outside managers have a better chance of picking a better team

seananigans

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118657623#Comment_118657623

this year they changed munster so no one gets screwed with 3 games in a row,is a great leveller for sure