Further into the vortex

Come on Tipperary hurlers, play the game. Waterford and Cork’s hurling panels have both staged heaves against their manager, and now Clare and Limerick are doing the same. That Sheedy fella must have some skeletons in his closet that demand a principled response. Won’t someone please think of the children?

Turning the dial away from Silliness FM, the week’s events on Shannonside represent an escalation in a process that manages to be both inevitable and impossible to predict. It would be tempting to dismiss either spat as unrelated incidents, that the respective County Boards should simply back their managers to the hilt and that’ll be the end of the matter. Indeed, Clare already seem to be going down that road with chairman Michael O’Neill being rather bright and breezy about it all.

Tempting, and entirely misguided. International rugby squads once famously assembled the night before a match without much in the way of anything as shallow as training or preparation, and this was probably true back in the day for inter-county squads. This meant that camaraderie was purely based on internal county loyalties. Nowadays though, GAA panels spend months on end in each other’s pockets. No doubt Justin McCarthy would be of the opinion that there is no ‘panel’ once the season ends and he can start from scratch the following year. Strictly speaking he’d be correct but you can’t expect players, especially ones from a county who were lambasted by all and sundry like Limerick’s were after losing to Tipp last season, to so casually walk away from each other.

It’s a classic case of the law of unintended consequences. When the back door was introduced, the GAA didn’t foresee that county panels would become so much more militant as a result. And it’s only going to get worse.

Remember the Fraher 15!

An early chance for revenge in the Munster Under-21 final as Waterford draw Clare in the 2010 senior Munster championship. Bring it on! On a less flippant note (after all, you wouldn’t have to look far to find something needing ‘avenging’ with the other three counties) for the second year running the draw has been sweet to Waterford as Cork and Tipperary are paired in the other half of the draw. Clare will be quite pleased too. As if that wasn’t enough, we’re in the soft half of the draw in the football too with the All-Ireland champions, the Munster champions and the Division Three champions all on the other side of things.  Well done Jimmy O’Gorman on a draw well rigged done.

Waterford FTW!

Kilkenny beat us in the Senior.
Galway beat us in the Minor.
Clare beat us in the Under-21.

Spot the pattern? Our day will come . . .

(PS yeah, I know Clare beat us in the Minor and Tipperary beat us in the Senior too. Don’t wreck me buzz.)

The politics of envy

It’s that time of year again – deciding who we would least hate to see winning the Liam McCarthy Cup. For years, it was a simple task to parse my desires regarding the destination of the All-Ireland. Waterford would go out with barely a whimper, so allegiances would swiftly switch to Cork. After that would come the Munster champions, which would usually mean Tipperary – at this stage Tipp would have been the famine-struck losers rather than the Hell’s Kitchen ogres of yore, so it was easy to run up the Munster flag of convenience. Then it would be anyone but Galway.

Simpler times, because then Waterford became competitive which complicated the overall All-Ireland picture. This would be best illustrated by the crushing nature of the defeat to Clare in 1998 which meant that it would be anyone but the Banner boyz for the best part of a decade – I’m happy to report that my gut reaction to being told of their victory in the Under-21 semi-final was one of delight – and each year would present a new set of slights with which to get wound up. This was best illustrated in 2007, when we had the first Come on the Déise edition of this annual game. Despite not feeling any inherent animosity towards Limerick, and no resentment at the manner in which they scuppered our own All-Ireland dreams, I still couldn’t bring myself to root for David over Goliath.

Last year saw a hiatus in this particular routine but it’s back for 2009, and the question is: Kilkenny or Tipperary? The unique selling point of last year’s final was Waterford’s presence in it. This year it’s Kilkenny’s quest for four All-Ireland’s in a row, the first time since Cork in 1944 that a team in the final are chasing that target. On balance, I’d rather see this happen than not happen. While having one team dominate a sport is generally seen as being malign, there is some logic to the school of thought that revels in the presence of excellence. Plenty of people root for Tiger Woods and Roger Federer. In addition, to see Kilkenny crush all before them would make Waterford’s shortcomings in recent years feel less acute – we would all be labouring under the burden of toppling a team that, with Cork having not won Munster in 1941,  could objectively claim to be the best of all time.

Then there’s Tipperary fans, or more specifically the yahoos who drunkenly accosted me after this year’s Munster final to slobber their appreciation that we had shown up but yerra what chance could ye have being from Waterford. The famine years may have put manners on Tipperary fans at the time but the sense of entitlement didn’t take long in reasserting itself. Perhaps one shouldn’t be too hard on an entire county based on the behaviour of a couple of morons – they were magnificence itself when we won the Munster title in 2002 – but when looking for reasons to split the difference between the two on Sunday, I can think of worse reasons than having that pair being brought down a peg or three.

Still, having put forward the contrary argument the time has come to admit to wanting Tipp to win on Sunday, and this is why: the need to puncture Kilkenny’s veneer of invincibility. When Cork were chasing three-in-a-row in 2006, it seemed nothing could knock them out of their stride. Roy Keane had the chutzpah to encourage them to think of five-in-a-row, the kind of talk that if uttered by the likes of Mick McCarthy would be ridiculed by Roy’s acolytes as being presumptuous. But they were knocked out of their stride, and to an extent that they haven’t been able to summon up the rage for another proper tilt at the title since. If Kilkenny win on Sunday, you can be sure all and sundry will be back in training at the first opportunity to try for something that no senior team has ever accomplished in either hurling or football. If they lose, more than a few people will lose the will to try and rebuild the x-in-a-row house again from scratch.  It might be too much to ask for Brian Cody to be one of those people, but you can always hope.

And it is with that hope in my heart that I will be cheering for Tipperary on Sunday.

Nothing was going to give or everything was going to give

The meeja loves looking at things past for titbits about current events, and there was plenty to chew over about last night’s Under-21 final between Waterford and Clare in Dungarvan. Clare’s appalling 0 for 12 record in Munster finals stood in curious contrast to Waterford’s, whose three wins in the competition came at the expense of the Banner. Normally lazy hacks bang on about how ”something has to give”, but last night it was all or nothing.

And in the end, it was all. I’m not saying for one second that the Waterford team didn’t care, but there was no denying that once Clare got in sight of the finishing line there was only going to be one winner. We would have been able to observe the phenomenon of a team feeling liberated by the prospect of ending the pain that had afflicted previous generations of their county men when we won the 2002 Munster championship. I wrote then how “the Waterford team must have been a terrifying sight. Nostrils flared, eyes bulging, sweating adrenalin, they steamed after every ball as if their lives depended upon it”, and you could see echoes of that in Clare last night. Ger Loughnane lost to Waterford in 1974 as a player and 1992 as a manager at this stage of the competition, so it must have been inspirational to the Clare team to have succeeded where so many of their illustrious predecessors had come up short.

Hard to know what to make of it for Waterford i.e. I don ‘t know enough about the team to make in informed judgement. Obviously it’s disappointing they couldn’t close out the deal after that thumping win over Tipperary, but there’s no shame in losing a tight game against an inspired team. There’s not much point in waiting to see how Clare do to gauge how good we were – they could be a brilliant team yet still lose to Galway. Whatever happens now, it’s been a great year at underage level.

Two last observations, or one with a sting in the tail. It was good to be able to feel no animosity towards Clare on the basis that they were Clare. The wounds of 1998 have well and truly healed. So it has nothing to do with being a bitch when I note that despite the momentous nature of their victory, nobody in Clare seemed bothered updating the Wikipedia page, that task falling to Pmunited, a contributer “living in the US, but born in Ireland”. And there was me thinking Ennis was Ireland’s information town . . . okay, that was rather bitchy. Well done to the Banner.

How do Nemeton do it?

Tonight the Munster Under-21 final will be broadcast live on TG4. It’s not exactly a trek to Fraher Field to cover the match for Nemeton from their base in An Rinn, but there doesn’t seem to be any part of the country in to which their reach does not extend to cover live sport. They are even showing eleven League of Ireland matches. So why is it that big daddy up in Montrose seems incapable of such coverage, to the extent that when Bohemians played Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions League qualifiers they felt the need to play the beal bocht to justify not showing it? 

The perverse thing is that coverage of the big matches is so all pervasive these days that it probably harms attendances – the GAA were likely relieved to get a round-ish figure of 30,000 at the match last Sunday – yet for all-ticket affairs like tonight’s match in Dungarvan we have to rely on an independent broadcaster from beyond the Pale. It all comes from the licence fee eventually, but if Nemeton didn’t exist would they be invented?

The lowdown on the Under-21’s

Giveitfong has given Clare folk some insight into the Waterford Under-21’s in a post on AFR. Some of us (ahem) might find it informative too:

For the benefit of Clare supporters. The Waterford goalkeeper Adrian Power is the senior sub goalie and many people believe he should be on the first team due to his sometimes unbelievable shot stopping abilities and his excellent puckouts, although he is also inclined to do crazy things [after Cider and Ray Barry, clearly a grand Waterford tradition]. All three full backs are on the senior panel with Noel Connors in the first team. Full back Shane Fives was excellent against Tipperary while the other corner back Jerome Maher was possibly even better. This line’s performance was a key factor in the defeat of Tipp.

The half back line is the same as that which won De La Salle their first All-Ireland colleges title in 2007. Philip Mahony is also on the minor team and is the best hurler of the three. Stephen Daniels had a shaky enough first half against Tipp but was super in the second half: he is not physically big and relies on hurling and positioning. I though the other wing back David O’Sullivan was weak enough against Tipp.

The two big Abbeyside men who started against Tipp were both very poor, but only one of them – Seán O’Hare – was taken off, and his replacement Shane Walsh probably played the key role in turning the game Waterford’s way. I think the occasion got to O’Hare who is a better hurler than he looked that night, but I can’t for the life of me say what John Gorman is doing on the team (well, I do have an opinion but can’t express it here).

All six Waterford forwards are on the senior panel. Paul Murray is usually a defender but put in a great hour against Tipp and landed three points. Thomas Connors, brother of Noel, had a whale of a second half – strong and aggressive and can take a score. Maurice Shanahan is unreal – a much better hurler than Dan, with a bit of his father’s devil in him, and an excellent freetaker. Shane Casey has great pace and skill and also very good vision – did really well both a full forward and on the wing against Tipp. Thomas Ryan is small in stature but has great pace and skill and an eye for a goal (got two against Tipp). Brian O’Sullivan is very skillful but was the least impressive of the forwards against Tipp, but I think from his club form that he is capable of better.

Waterford played with a great combination of skill, commitment and discipline against Tipp and if they repeat that they will be hard to beat. Also 3-21 was a big score to get in a 60-minute match against a team with Tipp’s credentials.

Dungarvan is a big pitch and would always have been regarded as one of the best hurling pitches in Ireland. However, whatever they did with the drainage when they built the stand in the early 1990s it was never the same afterwards. They are after having a couple of gos at fixing the problem and I must say that for the semi-final it looked in the best shape I have seen it in 20 years.

Most people travelling to this game from Clare will probably come through Tipperary, Cahir and Clonmel. There are three roundabouts in a row approaching Clonmel from the Cahir side and I don’ think any one of them as a signpost for Dungarvan. The best advice is to take the exit at around one/two o’clock (looking at the roundabout facing you as a clock) i.e. the one after the exit for Waterford. This should bring you up to traffic lights (petrol station on the left hand side) where you turn right (over the river Suir) for Dungarvan, turn right at the roundabout at the far side of the river (no advance sign for Dungarvan here either) and then turn left about half a mile further on. Very picturesque road between the Comeragh and Knockmealdown mountains but rather twisty in places.

Just west of Dungarvan the road meets up with the N72 from Killarney/Lismore (at the Master McGrath monument) and just beyond this junction there is another junction with the road to Dungarvan off to the right and the road to Waterford to the left. You can approach Fraher Field by either road. Taking the Waterford road, take the next right turn and this brings you to the ground along the river Colligan. I believe there is parking at the Cattle Mart just before the ground. This might be the best bet for people coming late.

If you take the road into Dungarvan, turn left at the first roundabout (petrol station on the right) and the ground is to the left of the second next roundabout you meet. However, the traffic situation in this area will be dire. If coming early, go straight on at the first roundabout which brings you into the town square – there are several car parks in the vicinity of the square, which is about ten minutes walk from the ground. Recommended pubs include the Local, the Lady Belle and Paddy Foleys (all in one corner of the Square) and the Moorings and the Anchor on the Quay. The Park Hotel is next to the ground and is also a great meeting place for games.

Welcome to the Déise and enjoy everything about your visit except the match result!

Let’s party like it’s 1992

The Waterford Under-21’s kept the show on the road with a thumping win over Tipperary in Dungarvan on Thursday. The parallels with 1992 are spooky; the Minors beat Tipperary back then and the Under-21’s played Clare in the Munster decider. Let’s hope these parallels carry through. And surely Maurice Shanahan has to get a chance at Senior level now?

Final to be played Wednesday 29 July, venue TBC.

Not my province II

Considering it is believed to be tempting fate to contemplate matches that are not yet cast in stone (see: Waterford’s supposed dismissal of Limerick before the anticipated clash with Kilkenny in 2007 All-Ireland final), would thinking about potential opponents in the qualifiers doom us to avoiding the qualifiers altogether? Ah, if only . . .

Following today’s qualifiers clashes, it struck me that there is a theme dominating what I want from each game: defeat for the Munster teams. Familiarity breeds contempt, and there isn’t a single county in Munster that wouldn’t draw an angst-ridden groan were we to draw them in the qualifiers. Just look at all the baggage that would come with drawing Limerick. There’s Justin McCarthy, the fact that we’ve played them already this year with decidedly mixed results, and we can do without rehashing the events of 2007. The seemingly never-ending clashes with Cork were great for the neutral but they need to be put in mothballs for a while to regain that sense of excitement for the committed. It’s doubtful whether the scars of ‘98 have truly healed with Clare, and after watching their limp exit to Galway tonight it’s not a stretch to say their good efforts last year were built on the back of sticking it to Waterford – as usual. And Tipperary . . . the less said about their love of piling the pain on us, the better.

It’s fair to say that all counties relish the prospect of catching Waterford on one of the days when the demons are are just below the surface waiting to be coaxed out by a poxy goal or a sub charging into the right player. It was a concept famously commented on by one the Wexford Larry’s – can’t remember if it was Murphy or O’Gorman – after they defeated us in the 2003 qualifiers. He said words to the effect that “you always fancy your chances against Waterford”, a putdown all the more galling for being true. But at least with non-Munster counties there is the prospect of something different. It’s not too much to ask for.

Summertime blues

Kicking people when they are down is never nice, but it’s doubtful that anyone is kicking themselves harder at the moment than the Waterford footballers. For years in both League and Championship we were grateful to Kilkenny for keeping us from the very bottom of the pile. Then something curious happened in 2008. Waterford put together a few wins in the League. All other things being equal, Waterford would have been promoted from Division 4 but for a last minute Tipperary goal. Now, all other thing are not equal and it is unlikely Waterford would have played with the same amount of joie de vivre that saw them beat Antrim in the last round had promotion been at stake. But it was clearly an improvement, and it’s been matched by some excellent performances this year in the League.

To recap: in the League we can compete with Tipperary, now a Division 2 side, and Antrim, this year’s Ulster finalists. So why do things go so badly wrong in the Championship? In 2008 we lost to Clare who had finished way down Division 4 and beaten in the 2007 Munster championship. This year saw a limp performance against Cork followed by a massacre from a Meath team who haven’t being pulling up trees recently. Why do things go wrong? Buggered if I know, but something clearly ain’t right.