Munster Express Online

National Football League Division Four

Waterford 0-12
London 0-13

Dermot Keyes at Fraher Field

The wind was careering towards the Colligan at full-time on Easter Sunday. Waterford’s players and management – and a crowd numbering just 121 – 79 of whom had passes, were no longer in view.
A group of cheerful London players skipped back out onto the Fraher Field sod, smeared substitute goalkeeper Brian McBreaty in some Dungarvan mud, and, laughing posed for a photo, presumably Twitter or Facebook-bound.
The visitors had registered their first win of the League campaign in what may ultimately prove to be the ‘Wooden Spoon’ decider in this section. And for the third time this season, Waterford had lost an NFL fixture by a single point.
But this one, in this observer’s view at least, represented a different type of disappointment to the reversals to Louth and Wexford.
Poor decision making, even taking what appeared to be a soft free awarded to London late on, ultimately cost the hosts a win which the panel’s morale desperately needed.
While Tom McGlinchey hasn’t been helped by the self-imposed exile of several Stradbally players, as well as Sunday’s early injury to the talismanic Paul Whyte and with Patrick Hurney ruled out with an injury of his own, this game still ought to have been won. There’s no getting away from that.
This represented a crushing disappointment for the Deisemen, who will now face Leitrim at home on Sunday next (1.30pm) in front of an even smaller crowd due to the GAA’s insistence that all Division Four matches must throw-in simultaneously.

That this includes those games which will bear no material difference to the outcome of this section, when the County Board had sought a Saturday night fixture, appears entirely illogical, given that the hurlers will be in Wexford that same afternoon.
But common sense ain’t all that common when it comes to GAA scheduling and don’t expect that to change any time soon.
Playing into the gale in the opening half, Waterford went in just a point down at half-time (0-8 to 0-7), and from there, one hoped that the men in white and blue would kick on from there and take a first win in five meeting against the Exiles.
A free-ridden affair (referee Sean Lonergan had awarded no less than 60 come full-time) saw London centre-forward picking up on a misdirected Deise pass to send the visitors ahead inside 30 seconds. Dualtach Molloy doubled their lead in the second minute before the hard working Gavin Crotty got Waterford off the mark just moments later. Adrian Hanlon availed of the wind to confidently stroke over a fifth minute free before JJ Hutchinson repeated the trick at the opposite end two minutes later. Hutchinson landed a brace of frees in the 10th and 14th minutes before London’s Dean Moore latched onto Maurice O’Gorman’s poor clearance to tie things up on the quarter hour.
Gavin Crotty, full of running, was upended on another upfield surge come the 17th minute, with Hutchinson in hand to land another free thereafter. The sides drew level for the third time thanks to a fine Adrian Hanlon point, with Mark Gottsche edging the visitors ahead in the 25th minute. And their lead was soon extended by Lorcan Mulvey, as London punished a third poor Deise clearance to register another point.
Conor Prunty – productive whenever the ball came his way on Sunday – charged through on goal after 27 minutes, only for his shot to fly the high side of the crossbar. Scott Conroy and JJ Hutchinson exchanged frees prior to the break to ensure London went in just a point ahead.
A patchy second half saw only two points recorded in the opening quarter – both from the reliable boot of JJ Hutchinson, and London didn’t land a score until Gottsche struck a fine 52nd minute point. A minute later, Waterford goalkeeper Stephen Enright demonstrated brilliant reflexes to deny both Dean Moore and Liam Gavaghan what appeared to be certain goals,
While Hutchinson’s fine point sent the Deise two clear on the hour mark, he would surely have scored a match-winning goal six minutes previously had Gavin Crotty opted to pass to the unmarked Gaultier forward as opposed to taking on the shot himself. It would prove a costly decision in the final analysis.
London substitute Eoin Murray left just a point between the sides with six minutes remaining but JJ Hutchinson’s 68th minute free edged the hosts even closer to a second win of the League campaign. Enright was on hand moments later to make another superb save, this time denying substitute Sean Hickey, seconds before four minutes of additional time had been announced.
In the opening two minutes of the additional four, Gottsche and Hanlon tagged over frees to restore parity, to the despair of the Waterford bench. But at the death, Waterford still had a chance to regain the lead from a free which, one suspects, JJ Hutchinson would have landed. But a rushed kick to Conor Prunty saw the midfielder steer his shot wide as time was running out.
Alas, there was still enough time for London to seal another victory over Port Láirge through midfielder Cathal Greene, who slotted the ball over after Ernight had again saved smartly. Moments later, the final whistle blew.
Another one-point defeat had been recorded, but this one proved particularly bitter as another spring full of ‘whatiffery’ draws towards its conclusion.

Waterford: Stephen Enright; Tadhg Ó hUallacháin, Maurice O’Gorman, Thomas O’Gorman; Michael Curry, Stephen Prendergast, Ray O’Ceallaigh; Tommy Prendergast, Conor Prunty; Gavin Crotty, Craig Guiry, JJ Hutchinson; Liam Lawlor, Paul Whyte, Joey Veale.

Substitutes: Michael O’Halloran for Paul Whyte (29 mins), Shaun Corcoran for Joey Veale (49) and James O’Mahony for Liam Lawlor (50).

Scorers: JJ Hutchinson (0-9; 0-8f), Gavin Crotty (0-2) and Conor Prunty (0-1).

London: Gavin McEvoy; Philip Butler, Caoimhin Carty, Conor O’Neill; David McGreevey, Danny Ryan, Colin Dunne; Cathal Greene, Lorcan Mulvey; Mark Gottsche, Liam Gavaghan, Dualtach Molloy; Adrian Hanlon, Scott Conroy, Dean Moore.

Substitutes Ciaran Dunne for Conor O’Neill (26 mins), Eoin Murray (0-1) for Dualtach Molloy (50), Sean Hickey for S Conroy (59), Alfie McNulty for Dean Moore (67) and Shane Buckley for Lorcan Mulvey (Black Card, 67).

Scorers: Adrian Hanlon (0-3; 0-2f), Mark Gottsche (0-3f), Cathal Greene Lorcan Mulvey, Liam Gavaghan, Dulatach Molloy, Scott Conroy, Dean Moore and Eoin Murray (0-1 each).

Referee: Sean Lonergan (Tipperary)

McGlinchey numbed by London setback

Dermot Keyes reports

Deise boss Tom McGlinchey was ashen faced in the wake of Sunday’s defeat. Who could blame him?
A match his side had more than possessed the wherewithal to win had been undone by some poor on-field decision making, leaving him and his selectors facing another week in they must try and rally the troops.
And this will be no easy feat after a second successive League campaign in which the fine margins have all fallen against Waterford.
“The scoreboard doesn’t lie,” he began. “London won. That was it. Simple as that. We’d enough chances to do it and we’ve no complaints.”
When asked if the team lacked composure at times – in terms of goal opportunities and the rushed injury-time free, McGlinchey conceded: “That’s a fair assessment. We had two goal chances and we didn’t take them and that last free…yeah, that’s a true assessment.
“But look, results don’t lie; we can have hard luck stories all we want. We lost and we just have to take it from here for the last game against Leitrim and Tipperary (in the Munster Championship) come the 28th of May.”
Is he confident that he can turn the team’s fortunes around in the narrow playing window that now lies ahead, Tom McGlinchey added: “Sure we’d be hopeful, but every day brings its own different obstacles – we just don’t know what’s going to happen – we’re disappointed, but we have to get our heads right for the Leitrim game next week and then turn our attention to the Tipperary match…
“We’d enough chances to win the game today, there’s no disputing that, but we just didn’t take them. We’d enough fellas on the field to do the job and we just didn’t do it. It’s very disappointing.”