There is a benefit match for Ken McGrath, to aid his recovery from heart surgery, at Walsh Park on Friday evening between a Munster selection and a Leinster selection at 7:30pm. Tickets cost €10-for anyone who won’t happen to be in Waterford on Friday evening, you can still donate to any Permanent TSB, account number: 23053903, sort code 99 06 32. Dig deep ye tight cunts-I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a worthy cause and €10 should be nothing to the high flyers on here. I’ve been lead to believe that our most prominent businessman, @Bandage , will be making a very generous 5 figure sum donation 
. Kudos to you, my friend.
This was a spectacular success.
Had the very same procedure in 07. Endocarditis which is an attack of the mitral valve. A very serious heart disease with surgery the only way to cure it if intravenous antibiotics don’t take affect. Fuck did I get a charity match. Ken is cashing in here. Fair play he deserves it.
Peter G may not inspire the same sense of goodwill as Ken McGrath
Have you got a fucking problem?
Thank fuck you didn’t lose any heart anyway. Did they even add a bit ya mad cunt.
Tongue and cheek Fagan.
Is it heredity or what Peter?
You were put on ignore for your childish strops re Olly Mann. Don’t address me again. Thank you. Back on ignore you go.
Munster 2-14 Leinster 4-15
They were on their feet in Walsh Park last night before the ball was even thrown in.
The man whose name was on the tickets for the Ken McGrath All-Star Challenge was strolling out to the middle of the field for a souvenir photograph with John Mullane, captain of the Munster invitational side, and Eddie Brennan, the Leinster skipper. The crowd were settling in their seats and mulling over the line-outs when the PA announcer broke in.
As soon as he drew spectators’ attention to Ken McGrath advancing on the 65-metre line, the crowd in the stand stood and applauded loud and long, hailing the man who won All-Star awards in three lines of the field.
There were almost 7,000 in attendance for the game, which also benefited the Irish Heart Foundation, and if they saw players who were |curating performances that recalled their best rather than competing with the tooth-and-claw savagery that marked their recent primes, well, that didn’t matter to those in attendance. It was a tribute to an individual and a tribute to an era all in one.
Some of the middles were a little thicker than a few years ago, and more than one player looked grateful the sidelines seemed a good distance from the perimeter of the field, cutting down significantly on the amount of playing area to be covered.
Munster were managed by Clare boss Davy Fitzgerald, who made just the eight pre-game changes to the programme team. Including five extra Waterford players didn’t anger the majority of the crowd, certainly.
The dynamic on the Leinster line was a little different. Brian Cody had an appointment — Tullamore, this evening, remember? – which precluded his taking the Leinster side, so Noel Skehan, Eddie Keher and DJ Carey were on the line for the eastern province. No, their switches weren’t questioned.
In fact a rough count of All-Stars within the wire perimeter of the stadium last evening, management included, topped out at around 106.
For hurling snobs it was like Valhalla mixed in with the Beatles gigs in the Cavern Club. There were sporadic outbursts of competitiveness in the game itself, but only in terms that were non- injurious: the ante wasn’t upped physically but in skill: John Tennyson snapped a loose ball under control with a downward slap and delivered it downfield; Donal Óg Cusack played a reverse ball across his own goal seconds later.
Paul Flynn collected a crossfield ball from Eoin Kelly and looked Damien Fitzhenry in the eye: it felt like 2003 all over again. How quickly you forget, in fact: Eamonn Corcoran’s quick feet to set himself. Noel Hickey, in possession, advancing with elbows flared.
Tony Browne’s unmistakable striking silhouette. The pure sound of Cha Fitzpatrick’s connection with the ball. Benny Dunne’s lengthy stride.
You go to a game like that half-expecting to leave a message for a current manager, that a career or two might be worth resurrecting, but that wasn’t really the purpose of the evening. The men on show didn’t make nonsense of their decisions to retire, or their managers decisions to retire them in some cases, but given at least one of them began his senior career in 1991 – Tony Browne – that was hardly a surprise.
We had the flurry of goals you expect in a game like this come the second-half, with Eoin Kelly’s effort, ghosting onto a John Mullane centre like Martin Peters, probably the pick of the bunch, though Peter Queally’s eye for goal – in a Leinster jersey, too – was probably the collector’s item for home supporters.
At the final whistle the announcer asked players to remain on the field for kids who wanted autographs, but it wasn’t strictly necessary. They all knew how to behave. They’d been doing it for years.
Scorers for Munster: E. Kelly 1-2, D. Ryan 1-1, E. McGrath, B. Dunne, M. O’Brien, Dan Shanahan, P. Flynn 0-2 each, O. Moran 0-1 each.
Scorers for Leinster: S. Whelahan 1-3, M. Comerford 1-2, P Queally 1-1, L. Ryan 1-0, C. Fitzpatrick, B. Murphy 0-3 each, E. Brennan 0-2, K. Broderick 0-1.
MUNSTER: D. Óg Cusack (Cork); E. Corcoran (Tipperary), D. Prendergast (Waterford), T. Feeney (Waterford); J. Gardiner (Cork), T. Browne (Waterford), S. Óg Ó hAilpín (Cork); E. McGrath (Waterford), B. Dunne (Tipperary); E. Kelly (Waterford), O. Moran (Limerick), F. Lynch (Clare); J. Mullane, P. Flynn, D. Shanahan (all Waterford).
Subs (rolling): T. Kenny (Cork), B. Phelan (Waterford), B. Cummins (Tipperary), M. O’Brien (Limerick), B .O’Meara (Tipperary).
LEINSTER: D. Fitzhenry (Wexford); E. Murphy (Waterford), N. Hickey (Kilkenny), D. Franks (Offaly); P. Tennyson (Kilkenny), J. Tennyson (Kilkenny), T. Óg Regan (Galway); J. Fitzpatrick (Kilkenny), D. Ruth (Wexford); E. Brennan (Kilkenny), M. Comerford (Kilkenny), K. Broderick (Galway; S. Whelahan, G. Oakley, B. Murphy (all Offaly).
Subs (rolling): C. Hennessy (Waterford), G. Laffan (Wexford), L. Ryan (Dublin), P. Queally (Waterford) Referee: M. Wadding (Waterford).
Ok so Kev you’re off ignore. Sorry if I hurt your feelings Kev. Regards me earlier posts Kev on the surgery I don’t want to give anymore info than what I’ve already blurted out.
Just to say
I became very very ill and lost 4 stone in 2 months. It took six visits to hospital before I was diagnosed in the Mater. Mr. Woods and his staff saved my life.
That’s an incredibly poorly written article.
what charity benefited from this GGA game
Irish heart foundation.
thank you
Waterford’s premier club really stepped up to the plate here.
was Fitzgerald and Lynch the only clare lads involved or did i hear Gerry Quinn gave a hand?..