Good win for the Deise reserves yesterday, didnt expect to get a result, what with Dublin being a team that are allegedly going to win an AllIreland in the next 5 years.
The McCrabbe thing was wierd now that it turns out he is grand, seemed to get his knee caught under him after nagle gave him a littel tip and knocked him over. A few points on the duns first. They have two good corner backs and a very good centre back. Keeper and two wing backs are poor. At midfield McCrabbe when out there is lively, but the other tow lads that started there are everage at best. Liam Rushe is only a mullocker, Kevin Flynn is past it at this stage, and Shane Ryan needs to do a lot more hurling. They need Dotsy in there and Ross O’Carroll, as was pointed out on friday is a big loss. They were very physical at u21 the last few years but that power wont cut the mustard against the big boys, and theire hurling needs to improve dramatically. The striking was slow and first touch was poor and passing chronic at times.
Onto Waterford, they only hurled in patches. James Murray and Gary Hurney are not up to it. Kevin Moran was brilliant and if settled in the half forward line he could be good. Full back line was good but not tested and will look forward to seeing how Lawlor does next weekend in Galway, to see where he really is at. Richie Foley was gret at times but seems to drift in and out. Of the young lads who are still u21, there is a lot of promise in Maurice Shanahan, Noel Connors, Jerome Maher, Tomas Ryan and Tommy Connors. The 6 lads that are being rested are back training tomorrow week and none of them will walk back in… The future is bright enough…
'Tis indeed Hang, there is a fine crop of hurler in Waterford at the moment. De La Salle school seems to have a fair bit to do with it, but i think there seems to be a general pick up in standards across the board from talking to my mates down there.
If Waterford stay competitive at the very top over the next few years then Davy Fitz is going to have to take serious credit. My own suspicion is that they will hit a significant slump as the core of the breakthrough team ages, and that a lot of newly introduced lads that are going well will not cut it without the leaders they’ve had. They’re looking good now though, Richie Foley and Noel Connors seem to be better quality than what they’re replacing, and there are a few decent forwards coming through as well. The truth is though, transitioning from a breakthrough team is always a huge ask and if somehow they manage to do it well they’ll deserve huge credit for doing so.
I kinda agree wtb, but from what i’ve seen, and what i’m being told, many of the new hurlers in Waterford are better “hurlers” than those ahead of them. The coaching seems to have improved across the board.
davy is good for Waterford because they have always lacked discipline, not just on the field, but in their preparation as well. He actually may have come a little late for the team we think of with Browne, McGrath, Flynn, Big Dan and all those. But if he getsa year or two out of a fresh Dan and Ken with the likes of Brick, Moran and them settle in positions then they could really do something. I’d like to see McGrath at full forward, he could do a Corcoran for them. Him at 70% is a mile better than Hurney anyway.
Maybe, they look to be better quality alright, but then so did David Forde, Alan Markham etc. when introduced to the Clare team of the nineties. The same was true of a lot of the lads who were brought in later. The reality was though the engine that was winning championship games hadn’t the horsepower of their prime and that showed. The possible difference with Waterford is that they have Brick Walsh to anchor them at the back, and that Mullane seems to be maturing very well. Also I suppose, Clare’s slump coincided with the rise of three superb teams in Waterford, Cork, and Kilkenny. With the exception of Tipp, there’s no one coming like a train at the moment so there’s an opportunity to rebuild without falling down the pecking order too much. At the same time though an old team is an old team. You can replace hurlers but you can’t replace leaders, and it’s leaders that win you championships.
Just watched the Waterford/Dublin highlights on tg4. Molumphy had a serious game for Waterford yesterday. He looked the best player on the pitch by a long way. Dublin were walked on in truth. I can see why they’re working on the physical side because they’ll win fuck all if they go like this.
Limerick gave it a decent rattle in Kilmallock to be fair to them. Tannion seemed to change the game when they put him in at full-forward. Scored the goal and a two or three point and was generally doing a good job of breaking up the game in there. Limerick’s wing forward (O’Sullivan) hit a couple of lovely scores and Paudie Mac caused a bit of trouble. I’d be worried for Limerick when they get onto the faster pitches though. They could be in for some awful beatings.
[quote=“Watch The Break, post: 383342”]
Just watched the Waterford/Dublin highlights on tg4. Molumphy had a serious game for Waterford yesterday. He looked the best player on the pitch by a long way. Dublin were walked on in truth. I can see why they’re working on the physical side because they’ll win fuck all if they go like this.[/quote]
Ultimately it’s Dublin’s stickwork that’s more likely to let them down in the long run. Don’t think the beating was as bad as some people would suggest, two of the goals came straight from the restart after the injury and Waterford only got five scores more in the match. But Dublin have some serious work to do, no doubt about it.
Maybe, but I thought they were pushed aside by Limerick last year despite matching them in the hurling stakes. Real lack of ruthlessness in Dublin hurling. I remember the goal Paudie Mac got against them in Thurles last year, he drove past Brady and Brady didn’t even try to pull him down. For a full-back to let a lad coast past him like that is unforgiveable. They’re the same everywhere though, and if they go on like that they’ll outhurl some teams but they will be bullied by a couple of big, aggressive forwards and leak a heap of goals. That’s Dalo’s biggest challenge in my eyes.
The whole mentality of Dublin hurlers has to be changed too. There is still a losing culture there at senior level and it will take more than beating Kilkenny at minor level once or twice in a decade to change that. That showed in the second half against Limerick with poor shot selection, bad wides and balls being driven over the sideline etc. The players didn’t really believe they could beat what was a very average Limerick team.
Yeah, I’d agree with that and the fact it took them 3, 4 or 5 goes before they eventually got the better of a Wexford team at a very low ebb brought it home too. Their failure to win the drawn game in Kilkenny in 2008 was purely down to a lack of nerve and last year they fell over the line somewhat. They’re a vast distance away from winning anything, in my opinion. They need to harden up massively and McCrabbe is a case in point. He hobbled off injured in nearly every game last year and he’s started this season in the same manner. You want one of your main men leading from the front in the crucial closing stages.
I also think that ultimately it will their hurling that will leave them down, the pace of champioship hurling at the later stages is unbelieveble and Dublin have a long way to go to get there. Its like when a young lad breaks onto a senior panel, for the most of them it takes a couple of years to get to the pace and physicality of it, unfortunately gym work wont cut it.
As for McCrabbe, he lay prostrate on the ground screaming in pain for 10 minutes, and now it turns out he has a bruised knee and might play this weekend.
That’s massive alright, it’s all about the upward curve though. If you think of the Liam McCarthy competition being divided into two or three real contenders every year and then, ‘the rest’, then Dublin are probably nicely competitive against the rest. They’ll have to beat a few more teams to prove it of course, but I think even if they do they’ll have to go that next step to make the progress permanent. The likes of Wexford or Galway have enough tradition to go a few years with about a big win and still stay competitive, but Dublin could fall away altogether if they don’t get one. They need to either win a Leinster championship or beat a big gun in the championship fairly soon or the enthusiasm they’ve built up over the last few years will evaporate.
Anyone have the Galway/Waterford teams for the weekend? Easily the mnost interesting game of the round.
You’d fancy Galway in Salthill but they looked fairly toothless without Joe the last day. Waterford have looked good under Davy at this time of the year, generally quite lively and enthusiastic. Close call.
Thus, the Waterford team to face Galway in the Allianz NHL Division One at Pearse Stadium on Sunday 28 February is: A Power (Ballyduff Upper); J Maher (Geraldines), L Lawlor (Fourmilewater), N Connors (Passage); D Prendergast (Ardmore), M Walsh (Stradbally), J Murray (Tallow), J Nagle (Dungarvan); R Foley (Abbeyside); M Shanahan (Lismore), K Moran (De La Salle), T Connors (Passage); S Walsh (Fourmilewater), G Hurney (Abbeyside), S Molumphy (Ballyduff Upper, captain).
Galway (NHL v Waterford): C Callanan; D Joyce, S Kavanagh, F Moore; D Barry, T Og Regan, D Collins; G Farragher, N Cahalan; A Callanan, C Donnellan, A Harte; I Tannian, J Gantley, N Healy.
On the basis of those teams I’d still fancy Waterord to win, not by much though.
True though losing that game was their own fault, they had so many chances to bury Waterford that day. Waterford in fairness just took advantage when Galway failed to close out the game. Is this one on TG4 on sunday?
