Those who have been predicting the demise of the current Waterford hurling team will undoubtedly feel justified following last Sunday’s horrendous display against Limerick. Others have been going even further and suggesting that Munster hurling in general is in trouble. There is a lot more wishful thinking than rationality in such sentiments.

Six years ago these two teams put on a display which for dourness and low quality was almost on a par with last Sunday’s debacle. On that occasion, both sets of forwards also missed a hatful of chances, with Waterford eventually edging a low-scoring affair by 1-13 to 0-14. And nobody could lay any blame on the weather on what was a lovely summer day. Yet, the previous Sunday the same teams shared the spoils in an eight-goal scoring fest which had both sets of supporters on the edge of their seats from start to finish. And, of course, that Waterford team went on in subsequent years to play some absolutely outstanding hurling.

So one would need to be wary about jumping to conclusions about the long-term significance of last Sunday’s below-par Déise performance. Perhaps they were lulled into a false sense of security by the poverty of Limerick’s dire first-half display. A more likely explanation is that they were feeling the pressure of needing to prove themselves again following their traumatic experience in Croke Park last September. This was indicated by a high fumble count, lots of poor striking, and repeated instances of wrong option taking.

Limerick have shown time and again in recent years that even when they are playing badly, they can be very hard to beat. They are physically strong, work hard and don’t give up. These qualities were again in evidence last Sunday, at least in the second half when they really took the game to Waterford. However, ultimately they were let down once again by another recurring characteristic of this team – lack of scoring power up front. They really should have won this game comfortably on the basis of clear scoring chances created – we counted twelve bad misses for the Shannonsiders altogether against just six for Waterford.

Limerick’s cause was greatly assisted by the telling introduction of effective substitutes. David Breen and Denis Moloney both did extremely well and Donncha Sheehan also did his bit. By contrast, despite some hype about the quality of the Waterford bench, Davy Fitzgerald was very loathe to use it. Eoin McGrath’s long layoff was clearly to be seen in a disastrous first touch, while Shane O’Sullivan was anonymous in midfield (when has he ever played a good championship game?). However, Waterford’s biggest problem was Ken McGrath’s no-show.

McGrath actually started well enough, but when he missed a simple tap-over point midway through the first half his confidence seemed to go to pieces, and he was reduced to a pathetic figure by the time he was eventually hauled ashore. Those who argue that McGrath was misplaced in attack and should have been picked at centre back ignore the fact that McGrath normally plays his club hurling in the forwards where he was also 'man of the match' in the 2002 Munster final. It is more likely that Waterford would have been routed had he been placed at centre back last Sunday.

As it was, Brick Walsh did quite a good job of holding the middle of the Waterford defence, to such an extent that An Moltóir did not record even one instance of Ollie Moran getting a clear strike during the course of the game. It would appear that Davy Fitz is not the only manager who has a blind spot for one of his most senior players. It would also appear that Ken McGrath has still to recover from his nightmare outing in last year’s All-Ireland final.

It is astonishing that Davy waited so long to shore up his ailing midfield, where Donal O’Grady and Seamus Hickey dominated last Sunday. Tony Browne’s impact was instant when belatedly introduced into this area, while Eoin Kelly, starved of possession at the edge of the square, also made his presence felt when moved out the field towards the end of the game. It is likely that Waterford would have won this game had these rather obvious moves been made earlier in the game.

Waterford will draw most comfort from the performances of their two championship debutants. For a nineteen-year-old, Noel Connors showed enormous composure and appears to have all the traits required by a corner back – low stature, physical strength, a bit of pace, good close control and the priceless ability to be all over his opponent without fouling him. And, on the basis of the amount of ball played (of which more anon), Richie Foley was a clear man of the match. One has to admire the man for not letting the early implosion of his sidelines (where he went in five strokes from hitting an eighty-yarder to missing the ball altogether) undermine his confidence.

Limerick will be equally pleased by James Ryan’s second half display (despite being opposed by the aforementioned Richie Foley) and especially by those of David Breen and Denis Moloney when introduced as substitutes. Assuming that Ollie Moran will never be as ineffective again and his brother Niall can get at least a reasonable return from his shooting, Limerick should be a much more potent attacking force next Saturday. However, the fact that the entire full forward line which started the game was eventually replaced suggests that backup on the bench will be pretty thin.

Due to RTE missing out on the first nine minutes, an accurate count of plays is ruled out for this game. This was clearly the GAA’s fault, and not RTE’s, as they ordained that extra time should be played in the event of a draw between Westmeath and Wicklow but didn’t allow enough time for such an eventuality. One is reminded of the comment of one wag when one of the food outlets at Croke Park ran out of food in the interval between the All-Ireland minor and senior finals a few years ago: “They mustn’t have been expecting the crowd!”.

However, no marks to RTE for not including the missing minutes in the streaming version of the game on the station’s website. We were, therefore, only able to use what was shown of this period on the Sunday Game on Sunday night in making up our play count for the first half. This produced a total of 68 plays for Waterford and only 50 for Limerick, which is probably a fair reflection of the overall balance of play in this period.

The play count for the second half was, perhaps surprisingly, exactly even at 70 each. The big difference, of course, was the use made of these plays. Thus, while Limerick (especially Donal O’Grady and James Ryan) repeatedly ran at the Déise defence to considerable effect, Waterford’s reliance on playing the ball in from out the field was undone by poor striking, in terms of both length and direction. The relatively immobile Brian Geary must have thought that all his birthdays had come together as ball after ball came down the middle where he gobbled it up and drove it back with interest (and good direction, it should be added).

In terms of individual plays, Richie Foley was way ahead of everyone else with 23. The only other Waterford players to make double figures were Brick Walsh (12), Stephen Molumphy (11) and Séamus Prendergast (10). Niall Moran was Limerick’s busiest player with 15 plays, followed by Mark O’Riordan and Brian Geary (13 each), Séamus Hickey (12) and James Ryan (10).

Of course, number of plays says nothing about their quality, and An Moltóir also awards points based on the quality of individual plays (in which scores from frees and good puckouts, sidelines and frees are also included), ranging from basic through routine, good, excellent and a new category of superb (awarded only once last Sunday for Séamus Hickey’s marvellous first half point). The criteria for allocating plays to these categories have also been rejigged this year.

In terms of quality points, Ri