Peter Queally proud of Waterford's display
Waterford senior hurling team manager Peter Queally. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile
By Cian O'Connell
A defiant display delivered, but it still wasn't enough to earn Waterford anything from a compelling Munster SHC encounter against Clare.
An action packed match unfolded at Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg, but Clare eventually prevailed.
Waterford manager Peter Queally saluted the manner in which Clare dealt with the Deise's determination. "Probably a hand pass away from getting a draw out of it," Queally remarked about the possibility of grabbing a fifth goal in additional time.
"Very unfortunate there, Aaron (O'Neill) just got through and saw Dessie (Hutchinson) out of the corner of his eye coming on to it at pace.
"Unfortunately, it just went behind him. Jack Prendergast outside as well. We had a two or three man overlap there and that's probably the difference in the end.
"I suppose, on reflection, I have to hand it to Clare. I thought when we put them under the cosh in the last 15 minutes, every time we got a score or a goal and got a bit of momentum, I thought they picked off some magnificent scores. I thought their execution was very good in that period as well."
Queally felt Waterford weren't clinical enough. "Probably one area that we might have left ourselves down in a bit was our shooting and their execution," he added.
"We had a few wides, but some of them were kind of wides we expected the score. Overall, very disappointed, but very proud of the lads and the way they played for the entirety of the game."
Stephen Bennett produced a remarkable performance, registering 3-12. "We can't overstate it," Queally responded.
"It's not even the scores; it's his physical presence, his work-rate. He's an absolute warrior.
"Again, I'm probably saying this with the last two years, if people knew what he puts his body through, and to be able to go out there and put in a performance like he did and work his butt off like he did there, he's an incredible player."
Goalkeeper Billy Nolan was also praised by Queally. "He was magnificent during the league and again there, the saves that he pulled off," the Waterford manager replied.
"He's adding his puck out array to it as well. I thought his puck outs and his execution in the puck outs were excellent too. So, overall, he's been colossal for us this year."
Tipperary are next on the agenda for Waterford on Sunday. "That's the nature of a championship," Queally says.
"This time last year, we beat Clare and we still had to do the same thing. We had to dust ourselves off and come back. So, whether it's a win or a loss, everyone is dusting themselves off.
"You can't rest on your two points if you collect them or you can't rest on getting nothing from it.
"You just have to dust yourself off, come back and try to replicate the same effort and intensity and execute all the skills and the hard work on top of that as well."
