Without a win in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship, the Waterford hurlers have now seen their season end prematurely for the second year running.
Davy Fitzgerald’s side looked tepid, confused and seemingly without a plan, as they fell at the penultimate hurdle in Semple Stadium last night, Fitzgerald's home county of Clare ultimately driving the final nail into the coffin of Déise hurling for 2023.
Defiance
With one game left to play in Munster - a now admittedly dead rubber against Tipperary - the county is without a championship victory of any sort at any age group in 2023. Waterford hurling now finds itself at a somewhat bleak crossroads, the like of which could hardly have been envisioned just 13 months ago, when Conor Prunty climbed the steps to collect the National Hurling League title on April 2nd, 2022. It has also been a year to forget in ways from the footballing perspective, also winless in any code - barring the league result over London - with two games left to play in the Tailteann Cup.
Speaking to WLR Sport after the final whistle in Semple Stadium, Davy Fitzgerald was bullish in his defence of what exactly has gone wrong and offered a defiant response in the face of inevitable criticism that will come the way of himself, his players and the county board.
I'll always say this, there'll be another day, people can smile, there'll be another day, there'll always be another day. I won't take anything personal. I'm used to getting battered over the last few years and that's fine, work away, and I'm going f***g no place."
While it can be argued that much of this criticism may not actually be on a personal level and is likely solely directed at a much-maligned style of play, it will be a source of concern to all involved with Waterford GAA that fans have become increasingly disillusioned throughout the course of the season.
Issues such as Dessie Hutchinson’s best position, having to play home games in Semple Stadium, a lack of game time for Patrick Curran and queries regarding strength and conditioning are just some of the many sticks that the Déise faithful have begun to beat with.
The Game
The Déise hardly laid a glove on the Banner in front of the 14,320 assembled fans; heavily weighted towards Clare's droves of travelling support. It was almost 10 yellow jerseys to every white and blue. At times, it felt like that on the pitch.
Waterford trailed by three points at the half-time break with Calum Lyons sent off on a second yellow card shortly before the interval.
Cathal Malone's 52nd-minute goal proved pivotal, while man of the match Tony Kelly notched 0-13.
The Banner were without top-scoring Aidan McCarthy, but as is often the way with a top team, an able deputy duly fills the void. Ian Galvin slotted in and notched 1-01 for good measure.
"Once the sending-off came we were in a bit of trouble," Fitzgerald conceded. "That was it, done and dusted. There was no comparison in the second half. Clare out-hurled us, out-played us, were better than us in the second half, 110%".
Clare hardly needed to leave second gear, and in comparison to their dogged performance against Limerick, they were comfortable winners.
Support
Attendances have been low throughout the championship, and some have made the argument that the performances have not been there to warrant the travelling support. The Walsh Park element remains a firm issue of contention with no true "home game" this year, and that point must be considered in the context of the need to redevelop the venue for the future, though many feel not being able to play at Walsh Park has proved to everyone’s detriment.
It was widely noted that seemingly few people made the trip to the Munster opener with Limerick, a somewhat strange anomaly in ways given it was a Championship opener and an opportunity to lay down a marker against the All-Ireland champions, but it must be considered the additional costs that playing away games in theory all season has dealt to supporters.
Fitzgerald acknowledged that the support had been lacking, saying: “If people want to come and support us, we'd love to have them, but we know we have one or two issues to deal with as a team and we're going to work extremely hard to deal with that."
Round-Robin
One. That's how many wins Waterford have in the Munster round-robin format in 15 games.
The words "round robin" have become such a grimace-worthy combination that it almost requires hushed tones before being spoken. That figure did not improve this year and with the underage success of counties like Clare, Cork and Tipperary - many find it hard to see how Waterford are attempting to bridge the gap with any sense of urgency.
Issues have not been exclusive to the current management team. Previous managers have failed to make an impact in Munster, but it will prove to the demise of Waterford if the issues aren’t addressed.
Another year being left behind in Munster is perhaps spelling the slow decline of Waterford hurling, alarmingly akin to the Offaly sides of old.
Despite the whimper in which this year has ended, Fitzgerald was nonetheless bullish as to whats comes next.
"The one thing you do in life - people will try to put you down, they'd put your family down. You stay going, you stay with it and you believe and you'll come around so you will. Let the tough stuff come and let the criticism come. We will stay fighting and we will come back, 110%."
Issues
Iarlaith Daly and Peter Hogan joined the starting lineup in Thurles, and hopes were high that they could add some much-needed freshness to the side. Combined with Austin Gleeson starting his first Championship game, there was a sliver of hope that the team could get their backs off the wall and offer a performance that would extend their summer, but the performance never came. Jamie Barron's attempt on goal - which ultimately flashed wide - was one of 12 first-half wides, with Waterford converting just 10 of their 23 scoring opportunities.
"We know we have one or two issues to dig deep and sort out, we know that, we knew it after the Cork game," Fitzgerald explained to the huddled media members at Semple Stadium.
"We know we're going to get a bit of stick back at home - and we deserve it, that's fine. But we're not going to run from the issues. We know what they are, we're going to deal with them and we're going to come back fighting better than ever."
Asked by WLR GAA correspondent Tomás McCarthy, "What are the issues Davy?", the manager responded, "That's personal Tomás. That's with us and I think it should remain with us no matter what the story is."
Brain Drain
This county has a lot of experienced people that can offer their expertise to the game, but in the current climate, some of the most talented and highly rated are elsewhere.
Dan Shanahan, Donal O' Rourke, Tony Browne, Stephen Molumphy and others are all plying their trade in rival counties.
Shanahan is in Laois, O' Rourke in Cork, Browne went to Tipp with Liam Cahill and Molumphy is helping to build Kerry hurling to a respectable level.
All of those guys could have a massive contribution to their home county and with the right role in schools, underage or the senior backroom team they couldn't but help to inject something new into our systems.
There is also an argument that former senior managers like Derek McGrath, Michael Ryan and Pauric Fanning could have more prominent roles beyond their predominantly club hurling positions.
Opportunity Missed?
If we look back to the players who won the U21 All-Ireland back in 2016 - the debate is circulating now whether or not their opportunity to win senior championship silverware has now disappeared. Whether that be Munster or All-Ireland success, is the chance gone?
Austin Gleeson, Stephen Bennett, Patrick Curran, Conor Prunty, Darragh Lyons, Conor Gleeson, Peter Hogan & Jack Fagan were all part of the Déise side that slaughtered Galway 5-15 to 0-14 in Semple Stadium in 2016. That seems a long time ago now, and a distant memory at most. A time we could only dream for now.
The swashbuckling and forward-minded approach that we know them to be capable of has been entirely missing. Waterford have been in two of the last five All-Ireland finals as well as a Munster final and winning a league title, but unless the issues are addressed - it may be quite some time again before we can see our beloved Déise lining out in Croke Park again.
