Cahill hails Gleeson as his brilliant Déise dare to dream
A repeat of Saturday night’s second-half performance and Waterford could go one step further than they did in 2017
BY THE time Liam Cahill made his way into the Hogan Stand, where postmatch interviews are conducted in these Covid times, the Waterford manager was a model of calm.
Perhaps enough time had passed since Fergal Horgan’s final whistle confirmed the Déise’s spot in an All-Ireland final for Cahill to collect his thoughts. But inside, part of him must still have been bouncing.
Waterford had produced one of their greatest halves of hurling to secure only a third championship win over the Cats. It was a performance that attacked Kilkenny on the pillars of their game.
The Cats were out-worked and outfielded and out-thought. You might get them on one of those aspects on a given day, but rarely all three.
Toughness
And it was a victory for mental toughness too. Waterford were nine points down at one point, conceding two goals from uncomplicated long deliveries that weren’t dealt with. They had also hit nine wides by half-time.
At one stage early in the second half they were eight in arrears, but in the third quarter they blew Kilkenny away, outscoring the Cats by 1-11 to 0-4.
And if anyone embodied the Waterford performance, it was Austin Gleeson. He hit three bad first-half wides and looked to be trying to force his way into the game.
He’d land four second-half points, the last one an almost inconceivable act of balance, skill and instinct as he split the posts while falling over out of a ruck.
Left with the option of coming back with his shield or on it, Gleeson, and the rest of the Waterford team, chose the former.
“The fellas worked really hard today to see out the match and credit to Austin Gleeson, he was out on his legs there and he absolutely gave everything he had. If ever a performance epitomised Austin Gleeson, on my watch, I think today was that.
“In fairness to the man, he’s been lauded and applauded for all the spectacular things he does. I think from today and over my reign so far, he’s brought a different aspect to his game from work-rate and honesty and hooking and blocking and I’m delighted for him in particular.
“That’s what will be required every day you go out and you’re playing opposition like Kilkenny or the top teams in the country, you have to have that ruthlessness to see out matches.”
Waterford had similarly heroic performances in other areas. Jack Fagan, a Meath man, was immense under the high ball, as was Calum Lyons who hit two first-half points when they were struggling.
Brilliant
Tadhg de Búrca was superb too, while Dessie Hutchinson was game. Stephen Bennett continued his brilliant season with another superb performance.
Bennett was strong in both halves. His first from play saw him traverse Croke Park with a trail of Kilkenny defenders in his wake until he saw enough of a window to get a shot off. In the second half, he also delivered the goal after a brilliant Fagan fetch.
“Absolutely, he’s having a marvellous year, isn’t he? He’s a really good forward,” said Cahill.
“He always was a good forward, it’s just that he’s now delivering consistently. He’s a massive player. He makes mistakes but I don’t think he’s beating himself up as much as he used to about making mistakes.
“He’s always concentrating on the next ball. I’m thrilled for him that he’s eventually fulfilling his potential that he’s showed for so many years.”
Brian Cody was as immovable in defeat as he is in victory. There was no in-depth dissection of where it went wrong for Kilkenny.
Despite more routine brilliance from TJ Reid, and a strong performance from Cillian Buckley, they couldn’t halt the Waterford machine when it got motoring. They had been beaten, “fair and square”.
“We probably missed a fair few chances but they missed chances also. But the game lasts for 74 minutes whatever it is and they were very strong in the second half,” said Cody.
“They won an awful lot of ball and were very athletic and they got great scores and that’s it and we were beaten fair and square . . . they’re strong in the sky. Their players are good at doing that, good at winning ball. “Essentially, it’s hurl
ing and the game is played out there and they certainly haven’t done anything that hasn’t been done before. They got a huge impact going in the second half and deservedly won the game.”
And while Kilkenny might have had a close-range free while two down, Cody wasn’t for making excuses.
“I’m not going down these roads because if you look over the 74 minutes that were played I’m sure there were instances where they might say they should have had a free and we should have had a free.
“I don’t think it’s anything to do it with it really. If you lose the game you can’t start making excuses for it. The better team wins the game.”
Afterwards, Cahill insisted that an All-Ireland final appearance was attainable for his side at the start of the year. And after the nature of their second-half performance, it was hard to argue against them taking one more step.
“I think it was a realistic goal. If you were setting targets at the start of the year, and they are realistic, it would have been a realistic goal that with a bit of luck, you’d get to a final.
“I don’t mean to sound that we were confident or arrogant about it – we weren’t – but we did feel that if we looked after ourselves and trained well and got the balance of our team right that we’d have a chance. And look, we’re getting a bit of luck along the way and we’re there. We’ll look forward to the final.” SCORERS — Waterford: S Bennett 1-10 (6f); A Gleeson 0-4; D Lyons 1-0; C Lyons, D Hutchinson, J Prendergast, N Montgomery 0-2 each; S McNulty, J Barron, T de Búrca, J Fagan, I Daly 0-1 each. Kilkenny: TJ Reid 1-14 (13f); M Keoghan 1-1; J Donnelly, R Hogan, E Cody 0-2 each; C Buckley, P Deegan 0-1 each.
WATERFORD – S O’Keeffe; I Kenny, C Prunty, S McNulty; C Lyons, T de Búrca, K Moran; J Barron, K Bennett; J Fagan J Dillon, S Bennett; D Hutchinson, A Gleeson, J Prendergast. Subs: N Montgomery for Dillon (18), D Lyons for K Bennett (48), I Daly for Moran (60), C Gleeson for Prendergast (60), P Curran for Fagan (67). KILKENNY – E Murphy; C Delaney, H Lawlor, T Walsh; P Walsh, C Buckley, P Deegan; C Browne, C Fogarty; J Donnelly, TJ Reid, M Keoghan; B Ryan, R Hogan, E Cody. Subs: W Walsh for Keoghan (38), C Fennelly for Ryan (49), N Brassil for Hogan (56), G Aylward for Cody (58). REF – F Horgan (Tipperary).