Another day, another year, Waterford have been eliminated in the Munster Round-Robin series.
If you’re a Déise fan you would try and take some positives from this years campaign but former Limerick hurler Niall Moran sees it differently due to the recent failure at underage level.
After opening with a win and a draw against Cork and Tipperary respectively, Davy Fitzgerald's side looked in pole position to make it out of Munster for the very first time since the Round-Robin format was introduced.
However defeats in the final two games against Clare and Limerick ended another campaign that began with much promise
Speaking on RTÉ’s Game On on Monday, Moran said that for Waterford supporters reflecting on the year – their only win in the Allianz Hurling League came against Offaly - there is a glass-half-full-or-empty dilemma to consider.
"They definitely fluffed their lines against Tipperary coming down the home straight, up four points at home, and game sewn," he said.
"That ultimately would have been enough to see them through.
"With the league that they had, and the number of injuries they had, the performances in championship definitely exceeded expectations."
Moran says that while there is obviously talent at Fitzgerald’s disposal at present, but has concerns for what is coming through the county given their dire underage record in recent years.
Since 2015, they have played 30 minor championship matches and won just six of them. This year’s win over Limerick was the first in the grade since 2018. They also ran Tipperary very close in the group stages this year, while things are even more bleak at the under-20 level. They also ran Tipperary very close in the group stages this year.
Since they won the All-Ireland in 2016 (under-21 at the time), their record at that grade is one victory from 16 games; that win came against Kerry.
"From the outside looking in at Waterford, I felt once they went direct, they have a really exciting calibre of hurler, but for Davy going forward, and I imagine he will stay with them and is still probably the right fir for them, I’m not quite sure where he will find players to improve upon it," Moran said.
"Waterford’s record at underage is anaemic. They may pay the price for that over the next couple of years, even in the next 12 months if they look to improve."
