Waterford to put good record on the line

Waterford put their impressive run in the Munster Minor Hurling Championship in recent years on the line on Thursday evening when they take Tipperary in the first round of this year’s championship at Walsh Park.

Going back to 2010, Waterford have played twelve matches in the minster championship and have lost just three games, coincidently which happened to be the team that went on to lift the TWA Cup on each occasion.

Walsh Park has also become a bit of a fortress for Waterford in the last few years. They have played there on four occasions in the last three championship seasons and recorded wins on each occasion, against Clare and Cork in 2010 and against Tipperary and Limerick twelve months later.

Tipperary are the reigning Munster and All-Ireland Champions at this level and will go into this game fancied to advance to the semi finals at the first hurdle by many.

They have won a record thirty seven titles, five of which have been achieved since the turn of the millennium and if they were to add to these statistics come July, it would hardly come as something that will astound many.

Team manager William Maher and his selectors, Brian Hogan, Martin Maher and Noel Morris have along with team trainer Damien Young assembled a very strong and formidable team Including nine of last year’s panel that won the Munster and All-Ireland finals in their starting team for their trip to the Keane’s Road venue.

Some of their players will be well known to Waterford. Colin O’Riordan who is expected to line out at Centre Forward lined out with Our Lady’s from Templemore in the Dr Harty Cup final while Ronan Maher, Sean Ryan, and Conor Lanigan played vital parts in helping Thurles CBS to reach the semi final stages of the same competition. Both sides happened to be beaten by Dungarvan Colleges.

Waterford under manager Sean Power and his selectors Kieran O’Gorman, Wayne Power and John Treacy have put together what could be a very strong team.

They have included four members of the Dungarvan Colleges team that won the Dr Croke Cup last weekend in their starting line up and have included two more members in the list of subs that they have named.

Stephen Bennett who made such an impact two years ago at this level has suffered from injuries since the tail end of 2012. He is eligible again for this year but is not named in the starting team. He is however listed amongst the subs which will have some people asking questions.

People will be wondering how fit the Ballysaggart club man is. Some will be wondering if he is fit why a player of his ability is not starting, and if he is not fully fit, people will be wondering why the selectors did not include twenty four fully fit players in their match day squad, and if they were to take a gamble on him if not fully fit and things are close near the end, what happens if his injuries are aggravated.

Then again, the naming of dummy teams has become a bit of a norm in recent times and one has to wonder do we have this kind of a case here.

The winner of this game will advance to a Munster semi final and a meeting with Limerick on June 26, while the looser will play the looser of the game between Cork and Clare tonight week.

This could well prove exactly what Waterford don’t want to happen. Those involved with Dungarvan CBS, St Augustine’s College and Dungarvan Colleges in recent weeks have tasted a lot of action and the last thing they would want right now is to have to line out again on Wednesday evening next, especially as those involved with Dungarvan CBS will have to make the journey to Navan on Sunday morning for their All-Ireland Senior ‘B’ Final against Saint Mary’s from Belfast. Games are great, and will help develop a player for the future more than a training session which Waterford would be expected to have should they beat Tipperary, but you have to guard against burn out in the long term if players are asked to play too many games in a short period of time.

Four years ago, the two sides met in the final of the Tony Forrestal Competition at the same venue and on that occasion it was the visiting side that came out on top. This time around, hopefully the result will be different, but it won’t happen easily for Waterford.

Team News

The Waterford team to play Tipperary is as follows - Sean Clancy (Clonea); William Hahessey (Clonea), Sam O’Neill (Erin’s Own), Cian Leamy (Ballyduff Upper); Kevin Daly (Dungarvan), Austin Gleeson (Mount Sion), Michéal Harney (Bunmahon); Mark O’Brien (Ferrybank), Tom Devine (Modeligo); Shane Bennett (Ballysaggart), Colm Roche (Shamrocks), Adam Farrell (De La Salle); Patrick Curran (Dungarvan), DJ Foran (Portlaw), Michael Kearney (Ballyduff Upper).

The Tipperary team to play Waterford is as follows - Brian Hogan (Lorrha and Dorrha); Austin Tierney (Shannon Rovers), Jason Ryan (Toomevara), Darragh Peters (Kilruane MacDonaghs); Barry Heffernan (Nenagh Éire Óg), Ronan Maher (Thurles Sarsfields), Tom Kirwan (Ballybacon Grange); Tom Fox (Éire Óg Annacarty), Willie Connors (Kildangan); Sean Ryan (Sean Treacys), Colin O’Riordan (JK Brackens), Shane Hennessy (Nenagh Éire Óg); Conor Lanigan (Thurles Sarsfields), Josh Keane (Golden Kilfeacle), Mark McCarthy (Toomevara).

In the event of the game ending in a draw after sixty minutes, two extra periods of ten minutes will be played. This evening (Wednesday) is a bad evening weather wise and if extra time is needed, things could be interesting. Should we be making use of the lights in Fraher Field when we have home games in the Munster Championship at this time of the year? I am sure people will have lots of interesting views on this subject.