Déise footballers are good enough to record rare championship win

It’s hard to believe that it is nearly thirty years since Waterford beat Tipperary in a Munster Senior Football Championship game at Fraher Field. And in those near thirty years it is also hard to believe that Waterford have won just one championship game at the Shandon Road venue, that a game against Paudie O’Sé’s Clare in 2010 under the guidance of John Owens who the same year helped Waterford climb out of the bottom tier of the National League.

Both Waterford and Tipperary clash this Sunday in the Munster Championship at the Shandon Road venue again at the quarter final stages of the championship, a game that Waterford have to have a very realistic chance of winning.

This is a game that some have billed as a who is missing type of game rather than who will be actually playing.

It’s no secret that both Tom McGlinchey and Liam Kearns would like to put out sides far stronger than they would like this year. We all know that none of the Stradbally players have made themselves available to the management team this year.

Nobody has come out and given us a definite reason as to why no one from the County Champions have worn the white and blue shirt for Waterford this year but we can all surmise.

The obvious conclusion that most of us can reach is that it is something to do with the club having to play a County Final and a Munster Club quarter Final 23 hours apart last year.

This is something that should never have happened. But who is to blame for this. Is it the County Officer Boards Fixture Committee for allowing a great deal of the year passing with no games getting played, and then when the county senior hurlers who are often our last team to be knocked out of the championship are finished for the year we are left to play catch up with the clubs fixtures.

When this happens the number of clubs involved in the latter stages of the hurling and football championships becomes a problem as fixtures have to be balanced.

Or are the clubs to blame for the late running of the competitions themselves. Do we really have 12 senior hurling and football clubs in Waterford. And are the way the club championships working the way they should. Is there interest in a county league in Waterford and a league style championship? The numbers attending the games in the early stages would suggest that there is not interest and maybe we could well run the championship like it is in Kilkenny.

Waterford also go into this game without Conor Prunty who pulled out of the panel a few weeks back to concentrate of staking a place on the county under 21 team and are also without Dean Crowley who is recovering from an injury.

Tipperary will go into this game as the favourites but they are without players of the ability of Liam Casey, Jason Lonergan Ross Mulcahy and Kevin Fahey who are in the USA for the summer, while Colin O’Riordan will be in Australia for the summer, and Paddy Codd and Barry Grogan have not committed to the footballers this year, while Steven O’Brien, Seamus Kennedy and Bill Maher are all committed to the hurlers in 2016.

The National League for both sides was somewhat of a disappointment for both sides with neither side reaching the levels they would have liked to reach.

Promotion from the bottom tier of the league was Waterford’s main objective this year, but the side won just two league games beating Carlow by nine points in Carlow and Leitrim by one at Fraher Field.

In three other games for Waterford (against Louth, Wexford and London) were lost by a single point while two points was the difference on the score board when they played Wicklow. In Waterford’s other game they suffered a heavy loss to Antrim in Belfast.

Tipperary played in a division higher than Waterford they too would have had realistic chances of winning promotion for 2017.

They began the year without the players of the Clonmel Commercials Club who won last years County Final and went on to beat Nemo Rangers in the Munster Final at Mallow, meaning that an All-Ireland semi final had to be played in the spring and Liam Kearns had to without players from the Club for the start of the league campaign.

They finished the league with seven points winning two of their games against Clare and Offaly and recorded draws against Limerick, Westmeath and Sligo but lost out to Longford and Kildare.

Goalkeeping duty for Tipperary is expected to be a fight out between Ciaran Kendrick and Evan Comerford with Comerford expected to get the nod.

In defense going on the teams sent out in the National League Alan Campbell could well start at full back with Robbie Kiely in front of him, with Ciaran McDonald and Jimmy Feehan starting on the right hand side of the defensive unit with the likes of Colm O’Shaughnessy, John O’Callaghan, Donagh and Shane Leahy all vying for places on the left hand side of the defense.

In the middle of the field expect Alan Maloney an Martin Dunne to partner each other while in attack Tipperary could well have a very dangerous full forward line consisting of Conor Sweeney, Michael Quinlivan and Philip Austin while there could also be plenty of threat in a half forward line consisting of Peter Acheson and Brian Fox with the likes of Josh Keane and Billy Hewitt fighting it out for the last place. George Hannigan could also come into the reckoning for a place in the team from the start.

Stephen Enright will start between the posts for Waterford with either Thomas or Maurice O’Gorman starting at full back with Tadhg Ó hUallachain and James McGrath in the corners.

Stephen Prendergast was at centre back in the league and could well continue there for the championship but he could also move to the middle of the field to partner his brother Tommy in place of Conor Prunty with Thomas or Maurice O’Gorman which ever is not selected at full back playing centre back. Ray Ó Ceallaigh was another regular in the league for Waterford and could well continue at wing back with Brian Looby on the other side.

In attack Paul Whyte, Patrick Hurney, Gavin Crotty, Craig Guiry, JJ Hutchinson, Joey Veale, Liam Lawlor Michael O’Halloran and Sean Corcoran are all quality football but only a maximum of six of them is likely to start. Liam Ó Lonáin missed the league this year but he was in brilliant form in the early rounds of the senior football championship and if back in the panel it will be hard to overlook him for a place in the team from the start with the form he brings into the game, possibly playing on the edge of the Tipperary square.  

When the sides met last year at Thurles Waterford were at the end of a very heavy defeat. Both sides this time around are much different in look but expect both at the same time to field very strong starting fifteen.

The result twelve months ago did not do Waterford or football in the county justice. I for one am expecting this game to be much closer. When the sides met in the league and McGrath Cup down the last number of years very little has separated the sides and this is how I expect it to be this time around.

So who will win? Playing against Waterford at Fraher Field can be a difficult task for most sides and I expect Tipperary to face such a task on Sunday afternoon. For me it’s Waterford to win on Sunday with a couple of points to spare.

And let’s hope that we will see a significant increase in the amount of support that Waterford will receive compared to what was seen as some of league games earlier this year. With football strong in South Tipperary which is just a short journey from Dungarvan it would be terrible to see the visiting side out number the home support when it comes support.