Waterford GAA Thread - Mod note post #1

Billy didn’t play intermediate. Has been coming on for the seniors all year.

Predictable enough outcome. Mount Sion tried to rough up Gunners at the start but to no avail. They were very game but ultimately limited. They rely too much on Aussie ; he’s only human and there’s a limit to how many players he can carry on his back. Apart from Luke O’Brien maybe, don’t think Davy will be calling up too many.

It’s onwards and upwards for Ballygunner ; they’ll take some stopping. As mentioned earlier, Ian Kenny didn’t put a foot wrong throughout. If I’m not mistaken, that was Patrick Fitzgerald’s first start at senior level ; he had some nice touches without raising any flags. When Dessie shot for goal in the 2nd half, Fitzgerald was completely unmarked inside, waiting for a tap in goal. They have great strength in depth, e.g. Billy O’Keeffe comes in near the end and nonchalantly taps over two points.

Yeah weekend of the 5th Nov against the Tipp Champs in Walsh Park or Fraher Field in the Munster QF

Winners play Limerick Champs in the semi final 2 weeks later in Limerick (that's the case of a Ballygunner QF win)

Stephen o Keffee must be close to that also…?

They played the Munster Semi final vs Loughmore-Castleiney there last year, possibly because of the floodlights

No HARRY RUDDLE yesterday either.

Was he injured or just couldn't get into the team? I think I heard someone saying he was playing intermediate for BG this year

Be worth a try but very doubtful

Isn't the redevelopment of Walsh Park due to start in October, which would rule the current stand and far side out of action until works are complete

I read somewhere (Co chairman quote in news and stat I think) that the ground will remain in use during the renovations/re construction……?

Anyone think this? While Jamie gleeson was going through on goal and fouled his shot I thought and those around me hit the net..

It is only when I saw the game it was that o'keefe saved it..

Wouldn't agree with alot of this, Fraher Field was in awful condition for the Ballygunner Loughmore game last year, PUC pitch used to be poor but after they re-laid it in 2019 it's probably the best pitch in Munster, definitely best county ground pitch, held up well for Ballygunner Kilmallock and even on Sunday from the highlights i saw was in reasonable knick for the Cork quarter finals.

Dan just can't get away from the Blue and White!!

I was surprised at some of the tactics used by Mount Sion in last Sunday’s county final. They persisted with long puckouts, even into the wind in the second half, even though Ballygunner are past masters, especially in the kind of conditions we had last Sunday, in getting the ball to the ground under long puckouts and then winning the ensuing ruck.

Even when Mount Sion got good possession in the midfield area, they kept hitting balls (high and low) straight to individual forwards, even though they always had a Ballygunner defender up their rear end. Again, in wet conditions, it was easy enough for the defender to deny the forward possession in these situations. Ballygunner, by contrast, play the ball into open space for their speedy forwards to run on to.

Mount Sion also had no system for getting possession to Austin Gleeson who was out of the game for most of the time. Again, this contrasts with Ballygunner, who are excellent at getting the ball into Dessie Hutchinson’s hand. 

I have often thought that the best place to play Austin Gleeson is at corner forward and to play diagonal ball across the field into whatever corner he is in, with the ball preferably hitting the ground before it gets to him. Given his power, pace and skill, Gleeson could be devastating if he got sufficient possession in this situation.

This is the kind of ball that incoming mentor Eoin Kelly loved when playing for Tipperary, and Conor Stakelum in particular was very good at sending them in. It will be interesting to see if there are any developments along these lines when Kelly comes in.

I was also amused to see that, whatever about their poor recent championship record, Mount Sion still maintain a corporate memory going back decades. I noticed that, when Austin Gleeson was being given a towel to dry his hands and hurley before taking a free in the first half, the towel carrier also slipped him a dry sliotar. This was a standard ploy of Mount Sion’s when they were in their pomp back in the 1960s, especially when they got a late free in a close game on a dirty day. The dry ball probably was more use given the kind of sliotars they had in those days which absorbed loads of moisture, but I still had to smile to see that they are still at it, even though it is illegal!

It's part of a long list of things not known about I'd say.

At least I'm making an effort contributing to the fourm which had gone very quiet nowadays