Dessie Hutchinson said the five weeks prior to Waterford's Munster Hurling Championship victory over Tipperary on Sunday were "tough" for players.
Waterford picked up their first victory of this year's championship with a six-point win over Tipp at Semple Stadium. It was not enough to lift them from the basement of the round robin table.
"A bit of pride, more than anything," Hutchinson told GAAGO when asked what motivated the Waterford performance.
"It's been a really difficult last four or five weeks. You don't want to go outside your door, you don't want to do anything. It was really tough.
"The only thing we could do here was show ourselves how good we actually are, leave the shackles off a small bit and go for it. Thankfully, we put in a performance, but ultimately it's still a huge disappointment on the year."
28 May 2023; Dessie Hutchinson of Waterford has his shot blocked by Brian McGrath of Tipperary during the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 5 match between Tipperary and Waterford at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile
Waterford came into the championship following a disappointing league campaign for new manager Davy Fitzgerald. The disappointment continued with defeats to Limerick, Cork and Clare in Munster.
Also, with Walsh Park undergoing redevelopment work, their home games were played in Thurles. Hutchinson said the lack of Waterford support at Semple Stadium for their opening game against Limerick made facing the reigning All-Ireland champions an even more difficult task.
"There's just a lot, whether they were coming at management or they were coming at players," Hutchinson added about the criticism.
"Even from day one, we struggled to have support here in Thurles against Limerick in our opening game. People put us behind things from the very start of the year.
"When you're playing up in Tipperary and you don't have huge support behind you, it's tough to go and put in a performance, even though we still should have beaten Limerick on that day. Carrying on from that, just after the Cork game, we felt the year was gone for us already.
"It was just really tough. Nobody goes out to play badly. Unfortunately, our performances haven't been good enough. It's been a really tough few weeks."
Hutchinson, who scored 1-4 from play against Tipperary, was named Man of the Match.
13 May 2023; Dessie Hutchinson of Waterford tussles with Rory Hayes of Clare during the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 3 match between Waterford and Clare at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
"Dessie Hutchinson was phenomenal," former Cork hurler Eoin Cadogan told GAAGO after the game.
"We were praising Tony Kelly a couple of weeks ago about coming back [in defence] here in Thurles and turning the ball over. Dessie was disciplined in the tackle. Most forwards are not renowned for being disciplined in the tackle.
"His movement all day long. He continuously showed [for the ball] - he didn't give up. He was barking orders at the rest of his forward unit to set up. I thought he was outstanding today.
"When you're questioned like that, hurt can drive you. Waterford have been challenged. Their management have been challenged. The players have been challenged but today they came out.
"Waterford brought huge running, huge energy, fierce cohesion and understanding in terms of Billy Nolan coming in and playing that role in defence as sweeper. Waterford got everything right."
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