Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
THE DRAW WAS A BIT OF A TOM SHELL FOR US..
TOM MCGLINCHEY admitted his Waterford players were brought crashing back to ‘reality’ after drawing Monaghan in the qualifiers.
The Deise’s win over Wexford on Saturday was their first in the back door series since overcoming London in 2011 – and just their second ever.
But their joy was tempered after being paired off against Division 1 outfit Monaghan in Round 2 of the qualifiers.
Waterford will at least have home advantage for that tie in Dungarvan on Saturday week, though Mcglinchey said it’s a tall order to win.
Mcglinchey said: “We had a great night with the lads on Saturday and they gloried in it on Sunday then but the reality came at 8.30am on Monday morning with the draw.
“It definitely sharpens the mind, I’ll put it that way.
“The fact that we’re not going up there to Clones is a help but Monaghan won’t be afraid of going on the road. They’ve already beaten Dublin at Croke Park this year.
“And they travelled down to Wexford last year in the qualifiers and scored 3-23 whereas it was much tighter between ourselves and Wexford.
“So you have to be realistic, no more than when we played Tipperary in Munster, a strong Division 2 team.
“The big thing for us is that we’re going in with a win under our belt, we haven’t done that in seven years.
“That changes the mindset.
“We’re used to getting beaten all the time but we’ve got some momentum now and we can’t wait for it really.”
Mcglinchey said after beating hosts Wexford 3-14 to 1-18 that he doesn’t do ‘drink bans’ and so allowed the players to celebrate on Saturday night.
He said: “We can’t forget that we won a great match.
“They are a great bunch of lads and deserved to enjoy it and to enjoy each other’s company.
“What’s seldom is wonderful but it’s back to work now.”