Waterford defender Prendergast retires

Long-serving Waterford defender Declan Prendergast has retired from intercounty hurling after 12 years of service in the Déise jersey.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, the 30-year-old Ardmore man said he felt he had "enough done" at this stage of his career, which saw him land Munster GAA Hurling Championship medals in 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2010.

Prendergast was a versatile defender, playing at left corner back, centre half back and left half back in different Munster-winning teams over the years. He featured in Waterford's first two games in the Allianz Hurling League in 2012, the defeats to Cork and Kilkenny, but he has not played in recent games.

He made his debut in 2000 under Gerald McCarthy against Laois, and he believes the various Munster victories stand out as the highlights of his career.

"I suppose in a dozen years you have ups and downs, but those were great days for all of us as players and obviously for the supporters, who followed us loyally through all the years," he said.

"The one disappointment would be that we never won the big one, the All-Ireland. The lads still have a chance though, they have a good team and a mix of young lads and experienced players. Hopefully they'll manage it, even though it'll be very tough."

In his role as a Waterford defender, Prendergast regularly came up against some of the top forwards in the game, and he reckons Tipperary's Lar Corbett and Kilkenny's Henry Shefflin were as good as he came up against.

"Lar was a very difficult man to mark, very quick, very accurate, but Henry Shefflin is obviously a fantastic player as well."

Prendergast says he will continue to play for his club, and is looking forward to being able to give them the commitment that wasn't always possible when he was on county duty.