Two teams are facing the trapdoor from the championship, with no safety net any more. Who will disappear? Now, that is a tough question because I honestly think Waterford against Wexford and Clare versus Galway are very close calls, with pros and cons in the cases of each team.
In theory this should be easy to call because we have two Division 1A teams playing two Division 1B teams. I know teams still see that league status as a major issue and teams will fight tooth and nail to avoid relegation, but I sometimes wonder if you’re any better in 1A than 1B. I’m not sure it really matters because, when push comes to shove, and certainly in the context of championship hurling, it is not clearcut at all.
That weekend of two weeks ago has significantly changed how this Waterford- Wexford pairing is viewed. If you could turn back to the lead-up to the Munster Final weekend where Wexford were to play Cork on the Saturday and Waterford were very well fancied to beat Tipperary in the provincial final, and asked who’d win a match between Waterford and Wexford, few would have plumped for Wexford.
At the time, their seasons were going in vastly different directions. Waterford were in the league and provincial finals and Wexford had been badly beaten by Dublin in the Leinster championship and had only a win over Offaly. What a difference one weekend has made: Wexford’s win over Cork in the backdoor series and Waterford’s hammering by Tipperary have changed the landscape.
Bad beating
Waterford were blown away by Tipperary in the Munster Final. It was a bad beating and now they have to get back on the bicycle and start pedalling again. It’s not that easy. Two weeks is better than one in terms of recovery time, and their Under 21 win will be a benefit, but I’m sure Derek McGrath has suffered sleepless nights in figuring out how to recalibrate.
Will they change their style? I don’t think they will and I’m not sure they should. However, I have consistently said they need to refine and to adapt more. I thought against Clare that they had, with more bodies coming forward. The key thing for Waterford is they need to score more. If their system is going to continue to limit their scoring power, then they have to adapt it to win silverware. In their favour, they did have scoring chances against Tipperary but hit an inordinate number of wides in the first-half.
I had some worries about their forward line going into that Munster Final and they weren't allayed. Shane Bennett and Patrick Curran weren't a scoring threat that day, but they're still young and there's scope for improvement. Maurice Shanahan and Brick Walsh were replaced and, regardless of the reasoning behind their withdrawals, they weren't scoring threats either. Stephen Bennett could be an addition based on his Under 21 form if they can get him healthy, because he's been struggling with injury.
Wexford will be a huge challenge for Waterford. This is Wexford’s second time in three championship seasons to make the last six and the last time they did so with that huge victory over Waterford in Nowlan Park two years ago. Lee Chin, Conor McDonald and Liam Óg McGovern are back to 2014 form, David Dunne is a dangerous ball-carrier and Diarmuid O’Keefe is playing well. Waterford won’t hold any fear to them.
I don’t think Derek McGrath is being anything other than totally honest when he says there’s not a lot between the teams. It won’t be easy, but it’s just about Waterford for me, but they won’t do it unless they up their scoring rate significantly.
Funnily enough, neither Wexford nor Galway traditionally have great records when playing in Thurles. Maybe the win over Cork might have banished some bad memories for Wexford, and perhaps Galway’s win over Cork there last year at this stage of the championship might also have banished similar memories.
I found it difficult to understand the absolute criticism of Galway after their defeat to Kilkenny in the Leinster Final. I felt Galway played really well in that game for a long time and, also, this Kilkenny team played as well in that second half as I have seen them play. My question of Galway was not about leadership but more of stamina. I thought they finished a bit raggedy and did not see out 70 minutes.
But I think Galway are better than many people think. For a long time against Kilkenny, they dominated in a lot of areas but ran out of steam and I think that match will bring them on a lot.
In terms of the championship to date, that Leinster Final was the most severe physical battle we’ve seen and the two teams went at each other like no other two teams have been able to go at. Tipperary effectively came through Munster unchallenged, whereas Galway did throw it down to Kilkenny for a long time in that match.
Disappointing
Clare on the other hand have been disappointing since the league. Waterford dealt with them fairly easily in the championship and Waterford’s stock hasn’t exactly risen since. Clare’s last match was against a poor Limerick team and their inability to actually close out that game much earlier would be a big concern. Clare have been inconsistent during games, with even their best players in and out of games.
As an example, Podge Collins was very good for five or 10 minutes against Limerick, but aside from that purple patch was very quiet, and Colm Galvin's been in and out of games. I don't believe John Conlon has yet hit the heights of his league form. A lot of Clare's scores are from out the field and only Aaron Shanagher has shown the necessary directness and goalscoring threat. Clare will need to seriously step up on form from the Limerick game.
Galway will be very fired up given the criticism they took after the Leinster Final and could be a dangerous animal here. Clare may not be able to flick the switch to find the necessary improvement and I wouldn’t be surprised if Galway were to come through and book a semi-final place.
