Waterford still off the boil

Waterford boss Davy Fitzgerald will be a worried man following the Decies' win over a young but fiercely competitive Offaly side at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
While the Decies eventually saw off the Faithful County's challenge Waterford rode their luck and were less than convincing winners against a team which is not yet currently up there with the country's top sides.
The first obvious flaw in the Decies' performance was the fact that Eoin Kelly hit 2-13 of the team's total of 2-18.
Kelly's performance was awesome whether from the placed ball or from play and it didn't seem to matter what angle he was shooting from.
Kelly has been one of the top players on the Waterford team for the last six years but he hasn't always produced with the consistency with which he struck yesterday.
However, the forward line, once much feared, is not firing as a unit and the two Kelly goals which were the difference in the sides at the end came from defensive errors.
Last year's hurler of the year Dan Shanahan seems totally off the pace and is a shadow of the player who lit up the championship last year with ten goals.
John Mullane looks back to his best and was very lively and dangerous in the first half but even he faded as the game progressed.
However, despite their huge physical advantage the half forward line of Shanahan, Hurney and Prendergast is not winning enough ball and they had a bad night at the hands of the Offaly half back line.
The Decies' own half back line looks decidedly dodgy too.
They struggled to hold Molloy and Shane Dooley and I am not convinced about the move of Tony Browne to centre half.
Browne has been a great player but he is no longer up to the pace of championship hurling and I think Ken McGrath's presence at half back is missed.
The one positive Fitz can take out of the performance was the fact that the full back line gave little away over the night and for a team which leaked goals in last year's All-Ireland semis this is a big plus.
Waterford are fortunate in that they will once again face Leinster opposition in the shape of Wexford in the next round of the qualifiers.
The Model men turned Waterford over at the beginning of this year's National League campaign but they were once again comprehensively beaten in the Leinster final after struggling to overcome Dublin in two games in the semi finals.
Wexford are not a good side and while Waterford will find them difficult to beat given their current form, Davy Fitz must be hopeful that another game so soon in his reign will at least give him the chance to work on some of the side's shortcomings.
The biggest single thing that the Clare man must hope for is that Shanahan, midfielder Michael Walsh or some of his other big players do eventually find their form and often the best way for that to happen is a run of games.
The Decies stumble on but only just and they won't be in the running for honours this season unless there is a huge improvement in their performance.

Kiely on hiding to nothing!

Don't you just love them in Waterford?
While Davy Fitz is expecting Antrim to throw the kitchen sink at his hurlers tomorrow in the qualifiers the football manager John Kiely is already complaining about a clash between the county's footballers and Wicklow on July19.
Kiely obviously has not gone to the Davy Fitz school of diplomacy for while Davy is insisting that nothing is a given in tomorrow's clash with Antrim Kiely is complaining that he won't have dual players available on July 19 because it clashes with the next round of the hurling qualifiers!
Obviously the football manager is a bit more confident about the hurlers' chances than Davy!
Kiely does make a good point however, about the treatment of football in the lesser counties when games can be fixed for the same day.
I have a certain sympathy for the football manager which is usually shared by hurling managers in most parts of the country who are trying to promote hurling in areas where football is king.
It is not uncommon for county hurling games to be fixed at the same time as football and it has been a huge issue in Derry for years.
However, I think that Kiely also needs to get a little perspective on all this.
Waterford hurlers are trying to win the Liam McCarthy Cup, the premier hurling trophy in the country.
The footballers are starting out their Tommy Murphy Cup campaign, a competition hardly designed to get the hairs rising in the back of your neck and in some counties the very mention of the name Tommy Murphy Cup is guaranteed to bring the Aer Lingus website crashing down with footballers rushing to get the next flight out of the country.
Kiely is on a hiding to nothing until there is a football competition for the minnows worthy of more interest than the battle of the worst eight!

Fitz the man for the Decies

The appointment tonight of Davy Fitzgerald as Waterford boss will bring another dimension to this year's championship.
Enjoyed Pat Spillane's teasing of the former Clare keeper last night about whether or not his hat was in the ring and the efforts of Davy Fitz to keep him off his case.
Fitzgerald's appointment is definitely going to keep the spotlight on the Decies and he was at pains to praise the calibre of their players on the Sunday Game.
He has inherited a good group of players, under achievers maybe, ageing definitely but they are capable of a last hurrah if they can regroup for a big team effort.
Davy Fitz has only a very short period to get them in shape but given his determination to succeed at everything he takes on I think we are in for an interesting championship.

Fitz could restore Decies' self belief

The speculation about Davy Fitzgerald and the Waterford job is interesting.
Waterford have been the big under achievers of the decade promising much in Munster with three title wins but falling short in the latter stages of the All Ireland, most notably last year as Munster champions and National League winners.
Davy Fitzgerald is a perfectionist who sets very high standards for himself.
He has had success steering Limerick IT to a Fitzgibbon Cup victory and he was an inspirational player in his long tenure as the Clare netminder.
The Waterford job will be a big ask, there is a group of very mature players there in the twilight of their careers.
They are capable of making one last push to get back into contention and luckily for the new manager, whoever that might be, their next game in the championship is likely to be against Antrim before tougher tasks beckon.
The one thing that Fitzgerald could bring to the team is his almost fanatical will to win and organisational skills.
If the current group of Waterford lads are to pull themselves up from last week's embarrassing performance against Clare it will need someone who can instil the self-belief which has deserted them on big days more than once in the last ten years.
Fitz for Waterford would be a roller coaster ride!