Congratulations @anon70480284, @Fagan_ODowd and co. Lester and Richie Leahy nearly saved us but they couldn’t do it all on their own. Barron is some hurler.
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They did “turn it on”. The Kilkenny team they turned it on against was the same one as the one that had won the 2014 and 2015 All-Irelands and up to then in 2016 comfortably dispatched a Galway team who are now red hot favourites for this year’s title. It contained a fit, in-form Michael Fennelly and an in-form Richie Hogan, as well as Kieran Joyce and Joey Holden down the spine of the defence and Eoin Larkin coming off the bench. That was a far stronger team than this year’s imposter.
Waterford were given very little chance by most observers going into that game. They were comfortably the better team for the vast majority of the game and should have won, with only their inexperience and Kilkenny’s survival instincts denying them.
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Thankfully we have the benefit of hindsight and the All Ireland a few weeks later along with subsequent performances have shown that Kilkenny were a poor team and that Waterford were merely performing to their normal standard in that game
I’m only after settling down now after that, Christ Waterford don’t do things easy! We’ve come close to beating the cats so many times before and nearly blew it tonight, it’s a huge monkey off our backs. My brother in law is a KK man and a good buddy of mine,I text him straight after the game…“I’ve been waiting a very long time to say this to you…but hard luck”! Deise Abu!
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But you’re making the mistake of thinking the Kilkenny team that played in the 2016 All-Ireland final and the 2017 Kilkenny team were the same forces as the team that took the field against Waterford in the drawn 2016 semi-final, when clearly neither were.
By the time of the 2016 All-Ireland final, Michael Fennelly was out injured which considerably weakened them.
In 2017, the team is decimated by injuries, retirements, players out of form and players out of position.
The team that played against Waterford in the drawn semi-final was the same team which just five weeks earlier had comfortably brushed aside the challenge of Galway once again.
As I already said, Waterford weren’t given a prayer by most observers in that game having been pummelled by Tipperary and unimpressive against Wexford.
They were able to raise their game several notches when they got to Croke Park against the then undisputed pre-eminent team in the game.
This is not difficult to understand.
Well done to Waterford and the likes of @Fagan_ODowd. I’d say section 206 was hopping.
Fair play to Kilkenny for giving it welly in the last ten minutes and just not dying easy. Start of extra time you could see that Waterford still had the legs exemplified by Jamie Barron who looked so fresh. They weren’t gonna lose today.
Glad I hung around for it.
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I still think it’s hard to see Waterford winning the All-Ireland as long as Derek McGrath is so negative. That game was well and truly over and he pulled pretty much everyone back. The forwards were already isolated up front and he made it even more negative, presumably with the intention of stopping a goal & a comeback. And it didn’t even do that.
It just meant that every single clearance was going to Kilkenny, there was never any relief from the backs and Kilkenny were able to narrow the gap. If they had just kept as they were going, they would have got a couple of scores to see it out as there would have been space as Kilkenny were tiring. As it was, they were completely panicked and lucky to take it to extra-time, where they were always likely to have the legs.
Stuff like that really doesn’t work.
They will still frustrate a lot of teams, but they won’t be able to roast everyone for pace like Kilkenny today and I just don’t see them having enough to beat Galway, for example.
If they do learn from today, and presumably take a huge confidence boost from beating Kilkenny, then maybe. But it’s the same failings as the past couple of years really; I suppose Derek is just hoping that Gleeson, the Bennetts, Barron, etc. are just better hurlers now. Which they probably are. But he just needs to show a little bit more faith in them, and be a bit more positive.
This is shocking news,. Unfuckingbelevable.
They will get the successor in with him. And thats not there now.
Such is his authority its hard to know who else in KK is an obvious candidate.
Is Steady Eddie the man?
No
Why?
When was the last time Kilkenny were out if the championship by early July? Pre - backdoor? 1996 maybe?
Lovely, pints are going down well in Minnies.
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1996 - June 2nd. This is the earliest they’ve ever been out in the second chance era.
Might be reading a lot into it but the captain’s speech wasn’t particularly complimentary of Eddie and the management team the other night and it’s seemed clear in the three games that him and Blanchfield don’t see eye to eye
Ger Cunningham would improve Kilkenny.
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