Derek To Smile This Time Around

Ahead of the draw for this weekend’s second round games in this year’s All-Ireland Hurling qualifiers, I like many others once the four teams that would be in the bowl for the draw on Monday Morning in the Morning Ireland Studio at RTE’s Radio Centre in Montrose, felt that Dublin would be the best draw for Derek McGrath’s side.

The reason for thinking this is that to win the All-Ireland Hurling Championship this year, you have to beat a number of good teams to do so, and if Waterford were to be paired with Dublin it would mean that Kilkenny and Tipperary, the other two sides in the bowl and the two sides that contested last year’s All-Ireland Final would be paired with each other and one of them would be gone out of the reckoning for this year’s championship.

But after the draw I and I am sure many others would have sat down and think things over in our heads and maybe come to the conclusion, getting Kilkenny might not have been the worst draw in the world.

Since 1998 when Waterford woke from a long sleep and became one of the leading lights of the game, even if we as a county have till now not fulfilled our true potential, Waterford and Kilkenny have met nine times in the championship, and taking the 2008 hammering in the All-Ireland out of the equation, if it is the one that most will remember because it is finals that are remembered most, the results against Brian Cody’s men are not all that bad.

Ok, I hear you argue that Waterford in this time have not won any of the games against Kilkenny in the championship and you have to go back to October 1959 for the last and only time Waterford have beaten Kilkenny in the championship, but in the last twenty years I ask you how many sides have held Brian Cody’s men to within two pucks of the ball in all but one occasion.

Twice the sides have finished level in recent years after seventy minutes. The first of these was back in 2013 in Michael Ryan’s last game in charge of Waterford, but in the extra twenty minutes the more experienced Kilkenny side held out for a 1-22 to 2-16 victory and last year Derek McGrath’s side drew in the All-Ireland semi final at Croke Park (1-21 to 0-24) and in the replay at Thurles, Waterford lost out by just two points, the smallest tally that Waterford have lost out to Kilkenny in a Championship game since they lost out 1-11 to 1-10 on August 16, 1998 when the two sides met in the All-Ireland semi final.

Since Brian Cody took over Kilkenny back in 1999 his side is the one that has proven most successful over the next fifteen years or so, in which time he was able to pick from players like DJ Carey, Henry Shefflin, JJ Delaney, Noel Hickey, Tommy Walsh and lots more of a similar standard.

All of these players have since left hurling on the big stage, and while those that have come after them are good, the question has to be asked are they as good as those that have come before them. Time will tell, but many will tell you that the present Kilkenny side is not as good as those from recent years, but is it fair to compare different teams from different eras and more over so as the way hurling is played changes.

Of Cody’s side in recent years it could be argued that in recent games only TJ Reid is playing anywhere near up to the standard that they are capable of doing so. (Let’s home there won’t be a commentator’s curse this weekend after saying that). Last weekend they had Richie Hogan and Ger Aylward taken off. Walter Walsh appeared at one point he was going to be withdrawn by Cody but he must have got the message before it happened and got better as the game went on.

The Kilkenny backs did not play up to standard against Wexford recently and were made to pay the price. How bad were the Kilkenny back’s that night? Well on Sunday last in the Leinster Final Davy Fitzgerald’s side looked nowhere near as good against Galway. But to be fair to Kilkenny last weekend they looked a lot stronger in defence against what could at times be a dangerous Limerick attack.

How good are Waterford. I don’t know do many of know right now. We certainly don’t know after playing what was a poor Offaly side last weekend.

Will Derek McGrath, Dan Shanahan and Eoin Murphy be happy with what they saw and give the side that beat Offaly a vote of confidence to start this weekend?

The management three-o will be happy with what they saw, that is for certain, but will they make changes. We will have to wait and see for another little while.

There was some who suggested that Kevin Moran came off last weekend after he picked up a knock. If this is correct and it was to force him out of this weekend’s game his loss would be a big one.

Of the rest of the players that were withdrawn none were because the players were playing below par, but more over to give game time to those that came in and those that did come in would have impressed the management team with the four that came into the attack all getting their name on the score sheet and will have done their chances of a starting place this weekend no harm at all.

We must also remember that Stephen Bennett comes back into the set up this week after sitting out last weekend’s game as a result of a ban picked up for an incident spotted by the TV Camera’s which was not spotted by the officials on the day against Cork.

For me, the De La Salle Club man is unlikely to make any great amount of changes for this game. If he does we might see Stephen Bennett return to the fold with the player to miss out anyone’s guess.

The Waterford management team could go with pacy players that are normally in reserve from the start this time, but maybe they might be better off held till the second half on Saturday and then send on around mid way through the half if Waterford are in with a chance of winning and hope that their pace will cause trouble to a Kilkenny defence that will be tiring as the game goes on.

This game is going to go right to the wire and every score chance that both sides will get will have to be taken.

Kilkenny may well go into the game as favourites and if they do it will favour Waterford.

As to the outcome of the game, Waterford’s championship results against our neighbours across the River Suir as it flows through Waterford city might not be the best, but something is telling me that this weekend is the one where we will see Waterford’s long wait for a championship win against Kilkenny come to an end.