Waterford's two-point winning margin over Galway in Walsh Park last Sunday
in no way reflected the extent to which they dominated the game
territorially...

In addition to their 26 scores and 19 wides, they also hit the post, brought a good save from the Galway goalie and had a couple of shots which came up short. At the same time, six of their wides were not shots at all, but poorly directed balls which went harmlessly over the end line.

Still and all, 43 shots at goal over 75 minutes indicates a high level of supremacy, particularly as ten of the wides were "bad" wides in An Moltóir's estimation i.e. straightforward shots which players at this level should always convert. Add in Galway's last-gasp goal and really a ten-point margin would have been a better reflection of the overall trend of play.

This is clearly reflected in the overall count of individual plays. Waterford's total was 167 to Galway's 139. Waterford dominated the first half 82-72 and the second half 85-67. Were it not for Damien Hayes's excellent display, Waterford would have been out of sight. Not only did Hayes score 1-4 from play, but Galway scored two points for fouls on Hayes and three points from Hayes's passes. Hayes played the ball eleven times in the first half but only three times in the second when, for some reason, he went foraging out the field which greatly reduced the scoring threat which he presented.

David Forde, by contrast, had only four plays in the first half but ten after the change of ends when he took over the mantle as the main danger tothe Waterford defence. Yet the man who was marking him for most of the game, Declan Prendergast, played more ball than any other player on the field, at 19, evenly divided between both halves. Although he made a much better fist of the centre back position than the ineffectual James Murray, he is still hardly the answer, as he does not have a dominating presence, being at his best getting flicks in and tidying up broken play. Still, he displayed remarkable sharpness for someone returning to intercounty action after two years.

As has been remarked elsewhere, Shane Kavanagh looked good in the first half
when he was not really marked by anybody, as Eoin Kelly is not a centre
forward and is at his best running onto loose ball. Kavanagh's strike rate
fell from nine in the first half to just two in the second when he was faced
by Michael Walsh, who had eight plays after the change of ends. With Walsh's ability to gain possession and run at defences, one wonders what Justin
McCarthy's reasoning is stationing him at full forward.

It has been suggested that Dan Shanahan destroyed David Hayes in the first
half but the evidence suggests otherwise. Big Dan did most of his damage
in the second half, when he played the ball nine times (including five clean
fetches) compared to five before the interval. Nevertheless, there is no
doubt that Hayes's contribution was very limited, as he only played the ball
four times - twice in each half. Shane O'Sullivan definitely had the upper
hand on Derek Hardiman in the first half, making ten plays to Hardiman's
five, but the Ballygunner man didn't hit the ball once in the second half
before being taken off, while Hardiman raised his play rate to eight.

Further back, the Galway fullback line were never really under any sustained
pressure. John Mullane played the ball only seven times, but four of these
were scores. Except for a couple of times Shanahan turned up in the area,
Tony Regan patrolled the edge of the square quite competently. Eoin McGrath
played the ball seven times also, including a bad miss, a misplaced pass, an
aimless lob which was gobbled up by the Galway defence and a late clearance
out of defence which went straight to the unmarked Derek Hardiman. However,
McGrath did earn two pointed frees, one involving the controversial incident
which led to David Collins being sent off.

As An Moltóir saw it, Collins could have little complaint about being red
carded. He had already been warned for persistent fouling when he got his
first yellow for bringing Dan Shanahan down, throwing up his leg to trip Dan
as he himself hit the ground. As regards the second incident, it is very
difficult to shoulder someone who is coming straight at you, but the big
problem for Collins was that he brought up his shoulder as he made contact,
which appeared to be mainly in the collarbone area.

If Conor Hayes played Collins in midfield in the hopes of shackling Ken
McGrath, then it was an abysmal failure. In the first half McGrath
outplayed Collins 10-5, and while McGrath added seven more in the second
half, Collins didn't add to his tally at all before being sent off. The
busy Fergal Healy played more ball (17) than any other Galway player, and
much more than his opposite number, Dave Bennett (10).

There has been much criticism of Ger Farragher's contribution, which was
minimal from general play (a total of six plays). Yet two of these were
excellent points, and given his high level of free-taking accuracy, he is
surely worth his place, although probably preferably in the full forward
line, where his opposite number would be able to do less damage. As it was,
the player who was marking Farragher for much of the match, Brian Phelan,
had a poor enough game, only playing the ball eight times in total.

One felt an amount of pity for young Andrew Keary, who was thrown to the
lions in the shape of Tony Browne, who continued the good form shown against
Tipperary and is playing extraordinarily well given he is now well into his
thirties. Keary only managed four plays in all (including, it should be
said, one nice point) compared to Browne's 18 (eleven after the change of
ends). Further back, Tom Feeney, who only played the ball once in the first
half, had a storming second period, including eight plays. Niall Healy gave
him more to think about when he came on than Richie Murray (a total of just
three plays). Indeed, all the Galway substitutes made an impression when
introduced, although an already loose game had gotten even looser by that
stage.

Overall, there is no doubt that Galway still have the potential to be a
major force. They have a lot of quality players and are quite skillful and
pacey. A fit Eugene Cloonan would add immensely to the inside forward line,
while surely David Collins will be restored to the left half back position
the next day. If they could get a bit more out of Alan Kerins (just five
plays last Sunday), David Tierney and Richie Murray and maybe a good half
hour from the likes of Cathal Connolly or Ger Mahon, they would be a threat
to anyone.

Waterford also have a lot of quality players, and probably more players
capable of "big" performances than any other county. On last Sunday's
evidence, the return of Declan Prendergast and the return to form of Tom
Feeney will help greatly stabilise their rickety defence which nevertheless
still needs strengthening in the centre. They also lack a mean man marker
capable of putting manners on the likes of Eoin Kelly, Damien Hayes and Joe
Deane. In the likes of Eoin Kelly and John Mullane they have players who
can score at will from limited possession, but they sorely miss Seamus
Prendergast's ability to make things happen in the centre.

A lot will depend on whether Paul Flynn's recent poor form is just that or a
mark of terminal decline. Like Ken McGrath and Eoin Kelly, Flynn reacts
poorly when things are not going well for him. Last Sunday he gave a
gratuitous slap of his hurley to Ollie Canning's back and was very lucky
that it was not spotted by an umpire. He is even luckier that the GAA is
simply not serious about using video evidence to stamp out on nasty
incidents such as this.