Bench strength lifted us against Cats, says Déise ace Connors

CRITICISM from within was the perfect spur for Waterford to re-ignite their championship season against Kilkenny but it is the quality of their bench that has thrust them into a quarter-final for the third successive year, Noel Connors has admitted.

Connors (right) was forthright in his belief after the Kilkenny win last week that the pressure being mounted in the county on Derek McGrath after the Cork loss was a motivating factor.

But when it came to actually getting them over the line, it was the impetus of fresh legs that did it, Connors points out.

“Derek made a few decisions and brought on fellas with pace and speed, fellas that would get on the ball and run. And I think that gave us the extra energy in extra-time,” he said.

“When we went into the dressingroom afterwards, we looked around and saw the likes of Tommy Ryan, Brian O’Halloran and Paddy Curran, lads who were very fresh, extremely fit physically and well able to take a score.

“Even Maurice (Shanahan), when he came on, we knew that he would deliver. I think that we got a lot of energy when we looked at these lads. They are the ones that really drove it on when they came on,” said Connors.

Connors’ admission that they were playing for their manager as much as themselves the last day stemmed from questions being raised in the county over his position, he said.

“He came in for a lot of criticism, I think we as a team came in for a lot of criticism after the game. People were perhaps suggesting that Derek’s tenure should be looked at and a lot of the players,

senior players including myself, were perhaps a small bit gone past it. As a team, we used that and fuelled ourselves through that emotion to give back to Derek.

“I think our motivation as a team was Derek and what he has done for us in the last three or four years, considering we were in a relatively poor position when he took over. A lot of people would have left the panel and retired. Where he has brought us to has been absolutely phenomenal.”

Connors, who is studying for a PhD himself through Waterford IT, says McGrath’s thoroughness was a factor in taking parental leave from his position as a secondary school teacher earlier this year.

“It’s a very, very demanding job. It’s grand for us as players, to turn up on the day of training, an hour, an hour and a bit before training, go in, sit down, get a rub, change, stretch whatever.

“Whereas Derek is probably thinking about training, matches, drills, recovery, there are probably so many different elements that we don’t even consider or contemplate.

“He has everything done down to a tee. He’s probably looking two or three weeks in advance of where we are in a particular moment in time. He probably has every different scenario if fellas are tired.”

Connors himself admits hurling is a “release” from the isolation of study at such a level. “I can go out and express myself and maybe take out some anger on some of the lads I am trying to mark.”

Scoring four goals in a championship match, two of which were in extra-time, was another welcome development for a team that is constantly chided for not scoring enough.

“I suppose it’s something that Derek has worked on quite a lot and I think Dan (Shanahan) has put a lot of work into the forwards this last year, perhaps two years, and he’s worked a lot on finishing. No better man to stick the ball in the top corner than Dan.

“It was great just to see it work out for us. We all know that goals win games. When you look up the field and you see a goal going in, psychologically it’s probably worth a lot more than three points.”