JUST ONE STEP TO KEVIN AS DEISE EYE THE FINAL
Waterford skipper admits results tested his faith
WATERFORD captain Kevin Moran admits it was difficult to keep the faith when the Deise’s season threatened to implode.
Boss Derek Mcgrath played a dangerous game of putting all his eggs in the Championship basket this year.
Waterford won the League in 2015 and contested the final in 2016 – but ultimately failed to reach an Allireland final.
So this season was tapered to allow for a slow start and, hopefully, a Championship climax, with a first final place since 2008 the big ambition.
But when their League quarter-final loss to Galway was followed by defeat to today’s opponents Cork in the opening round of the Championship, the players began to worry.
Moran said: “Look, there’s a time in the season when you’d be questioning things. But all you can do is stick to the process and have trust in the management and your fellow players.
“That’s worked out for us and, in fairness, we’ve done a lot of work over the last few years that we’re drawing from too.
“You want to be at the business end of the season and that’s the box ticked in that sense.
“But now it’s about pushing on to the next level and taking the step to where we haven’t gone before.”
Moran has stood tall as skipper. The experienced midfielder sniped two points in the wins over Offaly and Kilkenny and 1-2 against Wexford in the All-ireland quarterfinals.
He said: “You can’t beat playing regular matches like that and it’s been going great in terms of getting back out on the field and expressing ourselves. We’ve won three on the bounce so hopefully it will bring a bit of momentum for us into this Allireland semi-final.” The De La Salle man insisted he’s not the only one who has answered the call this summer and upped the ante. “Without name dropping, we all know who those players are. They’re fantastic guys and the younger guys in particular have been so influential in making that transition up from U-21 to real leaders in the senior setup, which can be really tricky. “They’re leaders in their own right and it’s a cliche that is thrown out too often but, genuinely for me, they’re very mature and have old heads on their shoulders. “We’re a tight knit group and we’re all in it together and there are different types of quality and leadership needed at different times in games. That’s what we all work on providing.”
Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh (inset) has been one of those leaders. He’s 34 now and has been on the scene since 2003, so this could very well be his last shot at glory.
Moran acknowledged that plenty wrote Walsh off as over the hill after the loss to Cork in Munster.
He said: “That’s water off a duck’s back to the likes of ‘Brick’.
“It was a cop out and an easy comment to throw out there.
“Everyone has difficult games and no more than myself over the years.
“It’s just about a test of your character then and seeing what you’re made of, and turning around, getting back on the training field, getting the mind right and going back out the next day, always trying to be better.”