Waterford GAA Thread - Mod note post #1

Yeah hard luck to them

How was the 2020 final only played now ?

A good weekend for Kerry hurling, they bet Tipp yesterday in Tralee for the first time ever in senior hurling and now Kilmoyley (who beat Dunhill in semi) are the first Kerry hurling team to win the intermediate Munster club final today after extra time.

Kerry hurling rising it seems!

Congratulations to the gunners on a superb performance today - class throughout the park - not a gunners club man but a very proud Waterford man in the way they represented us today. Best of luck in the semi

With all due respect Ballygunner should be able to take care of Slaughtniel who I accept are no pushovers either. But given the profile of this Ballygunner team and their dominance in county and province, the All Ireland really needs to be the goal now

Mullane reckons Liam Cahill should pick up the phone and ask Soky to come out of intercounty retirement

its a fair point. It’s seems a waste when We don’t have a keeper of that quality as back up, as good as Billy Nolan and Seanie O’Brien are.

Cant see him coming back, Cahill dosent pander to anyone that it’s not too bothered about being there, and I beleive there’s still a bit of tension around the way Noel Connors ousted amongst some of the older players he would have been close to

Ballyduff and ballysaggart are not senior

An excellent performance by Ballygunner, but you would have to wonder about the quality of the opposition on the day. Kilmallock showed great spirit in outfighting favourites Patrickswell in the Limerick final and then had an easy Munster semi-final win over a Midleton side which didn’t lay a hand on them. 

Kilmallock actually dominated the early stages of last Sunday’s game, but once Ballygunner got in the groove, there was only one team in it. While the Gunners were sharp, Kilmallock’s play was littered with errors, with Ballygunner’s first two goals coming by poor defending which was punished ruthlessly.

On TG4, Donal O’Grady repeatedly identified Ballygunner’s pace as a key factor in their dominant performance, but there was a lot more to it than this. For a start, they have a strong core of eight players with lots of intercounty experience, either currently or in the recent past. Secondly, they combine high skill levels with a ferocious work rate, hunting in packs around the field. Being short on good ball winners, they concentrate on knocking high balls to the ground and then getting two or three players into the ensuing ruck. They are the best Waterford team I have ever seen for getting the ball in hand in these situations.

But above all, Ballygunner have developed a game plan suited to their skillset and physical characteristics. This is very similar to the Limerick game plan in the way they use flurries of short hand passes in tight situations to get players into space where they can look up and give good low ball into space for their small but pacy forwards to run on to. Otherwise, they try to avoid getting into a dogfight with physically stronger opponents, moving the ball around to keep possession until the killer ball can be delivered. Like Limerick, they have really worked hard to perfect this system, and great credit must go to their coach David Franks, who must surely be in the equation when a successor to Liam Cahill will have to be found.

On top of all this, up front Ballygunner have possibly the deadliest forward in the game in Dessie Hutchinson, while Pauric Mahony is showing signs of getting back to his best, and whose free-taking was flawless with it was most needed. Hats off also to Billy O’Keeffe. I recently expressed surprise that he had been shifted into the forward line to make way for Ronan Power, although you could see last Sunday glimpses of why Power is favoured for the left half back position by the selectors. That said, if Ballygunner do end up playing Ballyhale, expect the latter to target the inexperienced left side of the Gunners’ defence with the likes of Eoin Cody, Adrian Mullen and TJ Reid.

In any case, apart from O’Keeffe’s 1-3 from play, it was his flicks which set up Ballygunner’s other two goals. Ballygunner also got a huge shift in midfield from, Paddy Leavey and Conor Sheahan – Leavey with his distribution and Sheahan with his excellent ball control and pace which allow him to get out of the stickiest situations. And behind them there was an excellent defensive display, marshalled superbly, as ever, by the peerless Philip Mahony. Graeme Mulcahy, who scored seven points from play in a man-of-the-match performance in the Limerick final, was rendered invisible here. And when Kilmallock did manage to get a sight on goal, they had Stephen O’Keeffe – one of the great shot-stoppers – blocking the way.

All of this said, there should be no taking Slaughtneil for granted in the All-Ireland semi-final. Almost exactly two years ago, they came very close to putting one over on eventual champions Ballyhale in the corresponding fixture. There was just a single point between the teams going into added time, and it was only a last-minute goal by Colin Fennelly that finally put daylight between the sides. Final score: Ballyhale 2-24 Slaughtneil 2-19.

yet another o'sullivan to look forward to a bright future, was named on the minor team of the year, really big physical presence and tidy enough hurler

I think you might be confusing him with his cousin Mark. Patrick is an excellent prospect but I wouldn't say he has a big physical presence yet anyway.

What was the issue with the way Connors was "ousted"? He was just dropped like any other player because he had been out of his depth for the previous two years.

This lads dad was also an exceptionally talented player in both codes…..so it’s not all coming from the ‘O’Sullivan’ jeans…🤪🤪

haha sorry, don't know his father , sat down at the minor munster final with myfather, randomly chatting to a girl with her kids she says to us " are ye o'sullivans" turns out she was a second cousin of mine,wouldn't know the connection otherwise inherited the look of the family but not the hurling skill

I think it would be extremely foolish to dismiss Slaughtneil, they gave Ballyhale a big fright 2 years ago and have been focusing solely on hurling from a long way out after not winning the Derry football championship.

No but they were in the recent past were they not. I would put Clonea and Dunhill in the same vein if you want to be pedantic