The major talking point from last weekend’s Waterford senior hurling championship quarter-finals was the remarkable result from the tie between De La Salle and Tallow at Fraher Field.
Rarely if ever has there been so one-sided a match at this stage of the competition. For the Bridesiders to score only four points – all from frees – to De La Salle’s tally of 2-19 says it all.
Liam Mulcahy is by far and away one of the more thoughtful club PROs in the county and it will have been with heavy hands, I’m sure, that he typed his gracious CLG Tulach an Iarainn notes this week (which unfortunately arrived too late for publication).
“What can you say?” he began, before the words “bitterly disappointing” and “completely overwhelmed” came to mind. “The city side were on fire from the get go and we just had no answer.”
John Mullane’s 10 points all came from placed balls – “but De La Salle are far from a one man band. In fact Waterford rely more on Mullane than his club side does,” he observed wryly.
Indeed, in the context of Waterford’s utilisation of the attacking resources at its disposal, an on-fire Eoin Kelly scored 2-10 for Passage against Fourmilewater (2-3 from play), while Lismore’s Maurice Shanahan hit 1-10 (0-5 from play) against Ballyduff Upper.
Anyway, Liam acknowledges, “Supporters will no doubt be disappointed but the players and management were totally devastated. After 90 to 100 training sessions and 25 or more games it is clear that James Beecher and his management team spared no effort in preparations – and don’t forget it is all voluntary.”
It is in Tallow at any rate. At least for Michael Ryan, who was told ‘thanks but no thanks’ by the County Board last week, it wasn’t a misspent afternoon, having missed his three daughters’ appearance in Waterford’s All-Ireland Intermediate Football Final defeat to Antrim.
Tallow may well wish the DLS coach had been accommodated in having the tie brought forward 24 hours as they definitely got out of the wrong side of their beds on Sunday.
