That Waterford lost last Sunday’s All-Ireland final was hardly that surprising. However, the manner of their defeat certainly was.
Big-day capitulation was a common occurrence for the Déise hurlers in days of yore. Even the 'great' team of 1957-63 shipped severe drubbings from Tipperary in 1958, 1960 and 1962. The team which beat Cork and lost by a point to defending All-Ireland champions Limerick in 1974 went down without a fight against the Rebels in 1975. The Munster final meltdowns in 1982, 1983 and 1989 were all preceded by top-class semi-final performances against Limerick, Tipperary and Cork, respectively. Waterford had good hurlers but the flakiest temperaments in hurldom.
This all changed after the county’s last collapse against Tipperary in 1995. Waterford suddenly became good value for money. Their victories became more frequent and if they lost, they never went down without a fight. Their growing self-belief meant that, increasingly, they were shading victories in tight finishes. Last year, they won their three knockout games in the National League by a combined total of four points and produced a grandstand finish to hold Cork to a draw before disposing of them in the replay. This year, they were under pressure in their games against Offaly, Wexford and Tipperary and got over the line first in all three. This is an experienced team of considerable quality used to dealing with pressure.
So what happened last Sunday? It is ridiculous to suggest (as some have) that the result simply reflected the gulf in class between the two sides. Kilkenny brought a similar level of intensity to their game against Cork, yet there were only six points in it at the end. And who would say that Cork currently are a better team than Waterford? Besides, the current Waterford side have never had any psychological qualms about taking on Kilkenny. They have quite a good record against them in the League (including last year’s victory in the final) and, although they lost their previous two championship games to the Cats, the combined margin of defeat was just four points.
It has been suggested that the savage effort made by Davy Fitz to get the team up to the physical level to match Kilkenny actually left them physically exhausted in the end. Or that the sheer emotional outpouring at finally getting to the final after five failed semi-final attempts left the adrenalin tanks empty. However, the simplest and most likely explanation for last Sunday’s debacle is that the occasion was just too much for them. Admittedly, Waterford haven’t been playing this year with their normal fluency, but they made up for this with a workrate which stifled other teams.
Last Sunday their ball control was poor, they were tentative in the challenge, slow to the breaking ball and to play the ball when they got it and their decision-making was simply terrible. They fumbled the ball 28 times in all against just seven for Kilkenny (most of which came late in the game when the result was not in doubt) and failed ten times to complete intended short passes (against none for Kilkenny). All this meant that Waterford’s level of possession, and hence number of plays, was way down on previous games: where they averaged 181 plays per game in their three previous outings, last Sunday their play count was down to a mere 133, compared with 174 for Kilkenny.
Undoubtedly, a lot of this was down to Kilkenny’s suffocating harassment of players either in possession, or attempting to gain possession. An unexpected statistic from the game was that Waterford did quite well in terms of gaining possession from puckouts. They won 43% of their own puckouts against 47% for Kilkenny, and won 50% of Kilkenny’s puckouts against just 21% for the Cats (the remainder in both cases being puckouts where the outcome was indecisive). However, repeatedly the Waterford player who gained possession from a puckout was unable to use it effectively – or at all – such was the level of harassment exerted by Kilkenny. Yet in their semi-final against Tipperary, it was Waterford who led the way in terms of harassing their opponents. According to Christy O’Connor, writing in the Sunday Times, Waterford were well ahead of Tipp in terms of hooking and blocking. Last Sunday An Moltóir counted just three hooks and blocks by the Déise players compared to eleven on the part of the Cats.
The most telling evidence in support of the argument that Waterford were dazzled by the lights is provided by Ken McGrath’s implosion on the day. Can anyone remember when last the Déise’s talismanic figure had a truly bad game? In the semi-final he turned in a typically excellent performance which saw him finish in second place to Tony Browne in An Moltóir’s quality ratings. Last Sunday McGrath was not just anonymous, but in fact a liability. His positioning and timing were all wrong, and he failed to deal with any of the five balls which Kilkenny sent down the middle in the first half. The fourth of these, which he swung at and missed, led directly to the Cats’ second goal. Just a minute before, his poorly struck free which Tommy Walsh cleared with interest, led to Eddie Brennan’s crucial first goal. Tony Browne should have been moved to centre back – where he had a good second half – much earlier than he was. McGrath cut a forlorn figure when moved to centre forward where he was equally ineffectual. One can understand why Davy Fitzgerald would have been reluctant to subject him to the indignity of substitution, but would Brian Cody have been equally considerate in this situation?
While it is unlikely that Fitzgerald could have done anything to stem the tide, one would still have to call into question some of his other judgement calls. His decision to allow Dan Shanahan to remain on the pitch for most of the match was unfathomable. All summer, Big Dan has shown no reason for his manager’s faith in him, and he saved his worst performance of all for last Sunday, as reflected in his fumble when put in possession by Eoin Kelly’s flick on the edge of the square in the 24th minute, and his “fresh air” followed by a feeble poke in a similar position in the 49th minute. The big man from Lismore didn’t play one good ball in the entire game. Surely, with Waterford struggling to gain possession the half forward line, Gary Hurney would have been a better option? He certainly could not have been worse.
Davy Fitzgerald’s decision to move Brick Walsh into the forwards was another bad call. In the first half, Walsh was having quite an effective game, playing the ball seven times to six for his opposite number, Cha Fitzpatrick. With Walsh out of the way, Fitzpatrick proceeded to clean up after the change of ends, and played the ball no less than eleven times in this period. Meanwhile, Walsh disappeared out of the game, making just three plays after the change of ends.
There was no inkling of how the game would eventually develop in the early exchanges. If anything, Waterford had the better of matters in the opening five minutes, and indeed Michael Duignan noted on the RTE broadcast that there were no signs of nerves at this stage, when the score was three points to two in favour of Kilkenny. But then the Waterford errors began to kick in. Kevin Moran was nowhere in sight when the unmarked Henry Sheflin launched his massive long range point from under the Hogan Stand in the 6th minute. A minute later Jamie Nagle was robbed in possession leading to an Eoin Larkin point, and in the 8th minute Declan Prendergast failed to hold a JJ Delaney delivery leading to an Aidan Fogarty point. Then Eoin Murphy failed to control a simple hand pass from Declan Prendergast properly and was shouldered over the end line for a 65 which King Henry duly converted. The Cats were now four points ahead and all of them arose from Waterford errors.
Over the next five minutes there was no change in the scoring relativities, but then in the 16th minute Henry Sheflin won a puckout in splendid isolation and drove forward to set up an easy scoring chance for Derek Lyng. By the 20th minute there was still only six points in it, but then came Eddie Brennan’s two-goal burst and it was all over. Between the 24th and 26th minutes, Waterford did have four possible goalscoring opportunities, any of which could have kick-started a comeback if converted. First there was Dan Shanahan’s fumble on the edge of the square when put in possession by Eoin Kelly, then Stephen Molumphy burst through the Kilkenny half back line but failed to find Seamus Prendergast with his attempted handpass. Next, Eoin Kelly made a very poor attempt from a 20-metre free and Eoin McGrath sent the rebound wide from ten metres. As usual, the team with attitude was getting all the breaks and the team with the losing mentality could do nothing right.
The second half was reduced to farce as Kilkenny toyed with the Waterford defence while Waterford resorted to long range shooting from out the field which yielded a series of bad wides. TJ Reid came on with 26 minutes to go and played the ball an amazing eleven times, helping himself to four points in the process. Paul Flynn came on with 20 minutes to go and didn’t get one decent touch of the ball. There you have the story of this game in a nutshell.
Tommy Walsh was way ahead of everyone else with 22 plays for 33 quality points under this column’s system of awarding one point for a basic play (mainly flicks and hooks), two for a good play, three for an excellent play and four for a superb play). Cha Fitzpatrick was just behind with 32 points from 17 plays, reflecting the better general quality of his plays. The only other player to break the 30-point barrier was from Waterford – the redoubtable Tony Browne who obtained 31 points from 17 plays, ten of which were made in the second half when he was moved to centre back. Browne was also Waterford’s leading player in the semi-final, and one just has to marvel at his consistency and sheer professionalism.
Six Kilkenny players made it into the twenties, of whom four were in the high twenties – Eoin Larkin (29 points from 13 plays), Derek Lyng (28 from 16) and Henry Sheflin and Eddie Brennan (27 each from 14 and 13, respectively). JJ Delany and – amazingly – TJ Reid were the other members of this group. Only three Waterford players – Stephen Molumphy (who battled gamely to the end), Brick Walsh and John Mullane – made it into the twenties, and even then, at the lower end.
The question now is whether anyone can hope to stop Kilkenny carrying off the four in a row in 2009. Much will depend on whether Galway are admitted to the Leinster championship, which would mean that Kilkenny could no longer concentrate on peaking for just two games in August/early September. Much could also depend on how the Waterford players react to last Sunday’s setback, and on whether Davy FItzgerald continues on as manager. Fitzgerald’s achievement in reaching the All-Ireland final was considerable. He took over a team which was unfit and demoralised, and which never played with the fluency of 2007. Brick Walsh had the appearance of man with lead weights attached to his feet. Dan Shanahan simply wasn’t at the races. Seamus Prendergast struggled with injury all year. Aidan Kearney and Kevin Moran missed most of the summer with illness and an ankle injury unnecessarily aggravated in the Munster championship game against Clare.
With more time to work on fitness and tactics and get a proper look at the available reserves, Davy surely will have an even stronger hand at his disposal in 2009, the fiftieth anniversay of Waterford’s last All-Ireland victory.
Play counts (quality points total in brackets):
Kilkenny: Ryan MJ 3 (6); Kavanagh M 5 (6); Hickey N 9 (15); Tyrrell J 5 (7); Walsh T 22 (33); Hogan B 8 (15); Delaney JJ 13 (24); Fitzpatrick J 17 (32); Lyng D 16 (28); Sheflin H 14 (27); Comerford M 8 (11); Larkin E 13 (29); Brennan E 13 (27); Power R 9 (15); Fogarty A 8 (14); Reid TJ 11 (20).
Waterford: Hennessy C 7 (12); Kearney A 2 (4); Prendergast D 6 (7); Murphy E 9 (14); Browne T 17 (31); McGrath K 9 (14); Moran K 10 (16); Walsh M 10 (20); Nagle J 6 (9); Shanahan D 4 (5); Molumphy S 13 (22); Prendergast S 4 (5); Mullane J 11 (20); Kelly E 10 (12); McGrath E 6 (9); O’Sullivan S 7 (10); Kennedy J 1 (1); Bennett D 1 (3); Flynn P 0 (0).
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