Waterford GAA Thread - Mod note post #1

PTH2009

"The venue for the Munster Senior Hurling Final between Waterford and Limerick scheduled for Sunday November 15th will be decided by the Munster CCC at a meeting on Thursday November 5th at 9pm"

Between Cork or Thurles

awaywithyou

Deisegodeo wrote: »

is it safe to assume that Gleeson won't be in danger of missing the Munster final now? I haven't seen any mention so far of the powers that be taking a look at it

Austin has an awful dirty streak in him.. shame really.. but this is a nothing incident... Harnedy made an absolute meal of it... If someone was to be suspended for that hurling might as well be called a non-contact sport

IrelandonPaper

I agree, no harm in that 'contact'

PTH2009

Always incidents in Waterford vs Cork games

We all know the 2004 Munster final incident

Maurice sent off twice against them in past league games

Stephen Bennett got caught for a helmet pull in the munster semi final in 2017 and got suspended

We had a player lose out on an All Ireland final appearance cause of someone making a big deal of a minor strike. Cork also getting a player sent off earlier in the game. Aussie lucky he was not caught after doing something stupid

TheScoringGoal

PTH2009 wrote: »

We had a player lose out on an All Ireland final appearance cause of someone making a big deal of a minor strike.

Horgan made nothing out of that. Ridiculous that he was sent off as he did nothing wrong.

Giveitfong

When the Cork team was named to play Waterford in last Saturday’s Munster semi-final, my hopes of a Waterford win shot up. This was essentially the same Cork team that has repeatedly failed to deliver when it matters most over the last few years. So I reckoned that if Waterford put it up to them, as I expected they would under Liam Cahill’s management, they would have a great chance of winning.

Although Cork were forced to bring in two relatively new names on the day of the game, you could see as the game progressed why they were not in the team in the first place. And the subs they brought on in the second half led to no improvement. Some misgivings were voiced on this thread about the apparent weakness of the Waterford subs, but every one of the four introduced made a significant contribution.

As Tony Considine wrote in the Examiner: "Cork have some very good hurlers when things are going well, but when it is going the other way, some of them seem to go into hiding. The Munster Championship is no place for hiding, in fact inter-county hurling doesn't have room for passengers.”
This was never more evident than in Cork’s previous championship game – last year’s All-Ireland quarter final against Kilkenny. Faced with the ferocity of the Cats’ challenge, virtually the entire Cork team (with the spectacular exception of Patrick Horgan) went missing. Things were little different last Saturday.

Since he first became Cork manager, Kieran Kingston has stuck to a short-passing game which has repeatedly failed to deliver when it matters most. They use short puckouts to work the ball into the midfield area from where they hope to get players into space either to shoot for a point or play diagonal balls into the full forward line where Patrick Horgan in particular is very good at either winning primary possession or picking up breaking ball to shoot for a score. This strategy does usually generate a good number of scores (mainly points) but rarely enough when it matters most.

To a large extent, this game plan is dictated by a panel of players which disdains physical contact. It can also be disrupted by a hard-working opposition which crowds the middle third and puts pressure on those in possession. Not only did Waterford produce the required work rate and physicality, but they employed a tactic of running at Cork at every available opportunity, and from all over the field, with the aim of drawing fouls, gaining overlaps, or laying off to support runners. As commentator Nicky English observed, Waterford were always willing to go where it hurts.

Due to a non-functioning red button, I only got to see 67 of the 75 minutes that were played. In that period, I counted 25 instances of Waterford players running at the opposition. The Cork count was just five, three of which came in the closing minutes when Cork were desperately looking for a goal, while the other two were cases of Shane Kingston using his pace to run around his marker rather than running at him.

Another important factor in Waterford’s win was the discipline of their defence. They only conceded four frees in their half of the field, and only two of these were for fouls on Cork forwards (the other two were throw-balls). By contrast, Cork conceded nine frees in their half, many of them due to the aggressive running of the Waterford forwards.

Under Derek McGrath, Waterford also had a great work ethic, but the game plan seemed to start and end with that. The result was a stream of long balls to non-existent inside forwards. We saw very little of that last Saturday. Apart from running at the Cork defence, Waterford also put a lot of good, low, ball to the inside line. Dessie Hutchinson got nine possessions during the game, leading to three points, a converted foul and the crucial late pass to Patrick Curran which yielded the insurance point. You have to go back to John Mullane for a corner forward to make such a contribution.

I can see why some pundits portrayed Waterford’s win as a shock, given their poor performances over the last two years. At the same time, the team is relatively young and contains a number of proven outstanding performers and no passengers. They clearly have been refreshed and refocused by the advent of Liam Cahill and Mikey Bevans and will, I am certain, become even more competitive when the latter get the opportunity to bring in some of the new young talent which came to light in this year’s county championships.

Not that I am writing them off for this year either. However, their running game will get the ultimate test against a physically-powerful Limerick team which specialises in swarm-tackling players in possession. It will be a hell of a test.

There were two aspects of last Saturday’s game which were causes of concern. One was Waterford’s inability to gain possession from their own puckouts. During the course of the game Stephen O’Keeffe hit twenty contested puckouts (i.e. not counting short and directed puckouts) and Waterford only won five of them. Things will be even tougher against Limerick’s powerful half back line. We need to work on raising this win rate, perhaps by going shorter and working the ball to the runners.

The other thing that bothered me was the way Stephen O’Keeffe ducked and allowed Patrick Horgan’s late free to go over his head and into the net. It was always a basic hurling tenet that those standing on the line for a close-in free had to stand tall and take the hit, regardless of how much it hurt. I am reminded of Tony Browne throwing himself in front of a shot in the 2010 Munster final replay and taking the blow straight in the face, an act of bravery which won Waterford that game. There is now a possibility that opposition coaches who were watching Saturday’s game will instruct their shooters to hit the ball straight at O’Keeffe in future situations such as this.

Jerry Atrick

Giveitfong wrote: »

The other thing that bothered me was the way Stephen O’Keeffe ducked and allowed Patrick Horgan’s late free to go over his head and into the net. It was always a basic hurling tenet that those standing on the line for a close-in free had to stand tall and take the hit, regardless of how much it hurt. I am reminded of Tony Browne throwing himself in front of a shot in the 2010 Munster final replay and taking the blow straight in the face, an act of bravery which won Waterford that game. There is now a possibility that opposition coaches who were watching Saturday’s game will instruct their shooters to hit the ball straight at O’Keeffe in future situations such as this.

Have a word with yourself...is this not the same SOK who ran out and charged down Anthony Nash's penalty a few years ago??

whiteandblue

Is there any way of watching the match back? My Sky Plus was messed up by the football going to extra-time and I've tried GAAGO but it's unavailable in Ireland as it was on TV in Ireland.

carq

Jerry Atrick wrote: »

Have a word with yourself...is this not the same SOK who ran out and charged down Anthony Nash's penalty a few years ago??

Pretty sure his arse took that hit, think he had his back turned for that one.

Mysterypunter

carq wrote: »

Pretty sure his arse took that hit, think he had his back turned for that one.

Didn't last Saturdays free hit his hurley and deflect past the defence into the bottom corner, he got his stick to it but edged it into the ground, pretty sure he didn't jib it

carq

Mysterypunter wrote: »

Didn't last Saturdays free hit his hurley and deflect past the defence into the bottom corner, he got his stick to it but edged it into the ground, pretty sure he didn't jib it

Looked at the slo mo - he went with the hurley but definately ducked under the ball.

Gardner

PTH2009 wrote: »

"The venue for the Munster Senior Hurling Final between Waterford and Limerick scheduled for Sunday November 15th will be decided by the Munster CCC at a meeting on Thursday November 5th at 9pm"

Between Cork or Thurles

More than likely the game will go to Cork. The new pitch is in immaculate condition and holds the water better than Thurles.

Parishman

I have to say the goal Cork scored the first thing that came to mind is Socky was either caught flat footed or he turned away slightly. The trajectory of the sliothar when it hit the hurley clearly shows he had moved to the right. I thought it was a poor goal to concede. On a brighter note this team keeps going to the end and more importantly keeps scoring. All through the league and including the Limerick game they kept scoring for or at least had the chances to score at the end of games. Limerick are a powerful team but you never know we may well pull of a surprise

Mastermcgrath

carq wrote: »

Pretty sure his arse took that hit, think he had his back turned for that one.

Wrong

https://www.joe.ie/news/pic-just-look-at-the-bruise-on-stephen-okeefes-leg-after-he-stopped-an-anthony-nash-penalty-with-it-436692

Motivator

breezy1985 wrote: »

Really. I don't know much about golf but looking at photos there is nothing exceptionally fit about him. Certainly does not seem to have the muscles of some of the current Limerick team

Lads. Hitting a golf ball and hitting a sliothar is all about one thing - timing. I’ve played golf with normal sized 13 and 14 year olds who are hitting a golf ball farther than any adult man and the reason is timing. Strength does come in to it to some degree but timing is number one. Any golf coach will tell you this.

carq

Mastermcgrath wrote: »

Wrong

https://www.joe.ie/news/pic-just-look-at-the-bruise-on-stephen-okeefes-leg-after-he-stopped-an-anthony-nash-penalty-with-it-436692

Fair play!
Was in the terrace behind so memory is obviously going with time.

PTH2009

People saying Cahill looks like an eejet shouting on the line

Youd swear Brian Cody, Liam Sheedy among others were saints and quiet as mouses on the line

Billy Ocean

PTH2009 wrote: »

People saying Cahill looks like an eejet shouting on the line

Youd swear Brian Cody, Liam Sheedy among others were saints and quiet as mouses on the line

tipp sideline are the worst without doubt from what I've seen in the flesh, Tommy Dunne particularly

mountgomery burns

PTH2009 wrote: »

People saying Cahill looks like an eejet shouting on the line

Youd swear Brian Cody, Liam Sheedy among others were saints and quiet as mouses on the line

Who's saying this?

BloodyBill

Billy Ocean wrote: »

tipp sideline are the worst without doubt from what I've seen in the flesh, Tommy Dunne particularly

Tommy Dunne is embarrassing..nothing as bad as Davy though.

Billy Ocean

BloodyBill wrote: »

Tommy Dunne is embarrassing..nothing as bad as Davy though.

I'd disagree Dunne the worst of the lot in my view

PTH2009

mountgomery burns wrote: »

Who's saying this?

A user here said it early last week

mountgomery burns

PTH2009 wrote: »

A user here said it early last week

Theres plenty of idiots on boards, I wouldn't pay any heed

PTH2009

https://twitter.com/MunsterGAA/status/1324457516596662272?s=20

BloodyBill

Way better pitch in Cork for winter hurling. I presume Waterford pushed for Thurles. No slight on Thurles at all ,just if there's a deluge like last Sunday it won't hold up like Cork did.

mountgomery burns

BloodyBill wrote: »

Way better pitch in Cork for winter hurling. I presume Waterford pushed for Thurles. No slight on Thurles at all ,just if there's a deluge like last Sunday it won't hold up like Cork did.

I dunno if Waterford would have pushed for it or not, but I would doubt we'd have the clout to influence it if the consensus was to play it in Cork.

It's just closer for both.

PTH2009

BloodyBill wrote: »

Way better pitch in Cork for winter hurling. I presume Waterford pushed for Thurles. No slight on Thurles at all ,just if there's a deluge like last Sunday it won't hold up like Cork did.

debating the Venue for the final is a great problem to have, way better than playing in the qualifiers

Yeah the pitch held up well in Cork, hard to know could of been a coin toss between there and Thurles. Games on both places this weekend

Mastermcgrath

mountgomery burns wrote: »

I dunno if Waterford would have pushed for it or not, but I would doubt we'd have the clout to influence it if the consensus was to play it in Cork.

It's just closer for both.

The only issue with PUC in general is that it’s such a bottle neck for traffic/supporters. Obviously not such an issue these days

BloodyBill

Yes its great to be in a final. And it's a 60/40 game in Limericks favour but 40% isn't a bad odds. My only issue will be Derek McGrath. Hes a terrible pundit. He looks up a rarely used word in his pocket dictionary and throws it in to big himself up..Thats quiet funny. But he backs against Limerick 90% of the time...he loves Tipp..absolutely loves them. I dunno how he was let send out teams against Tipperary..

killbillvol2

BloodyBill wrote: »

Yes its great to be in a final. And it's a 60/40 game in Limericks favour but 40% isn't a bad odds. My only issue will be Derek McGrath. Hes a terrible pundit. He looks up a rarely used word in his pocket dictionary and throws it in to big himself up..Thats quiet funny. But he backs against Limerick 90% of the time...he loves Tipp..absolutely loves them. I dunno how he was let send out teams against Tipperary..

Wtf are you on about?