Taken from hoganstand.com
Monday, March 27, 2006
It was a much depleted Down side that took the field in
Portaferry on Sunday, March 26th against a very strong Waterford team in
Division 1A of the NHL.
Despite the best efforts of the home side they were literally no match for an
in-form Munster side who played some outstanding hurling in heavy windy
conditions to run out convincing winners on a scoreline of 6-12 to 0-8.
The scoreline is no reflection of the effort the Down side put up on the day,
and after the game they were praised by the Waterford boss and former Cork
All-Ireland star, Justin McCarthy.
He added: “Down made us fight all the way, and never let their heads down over
the hour. We had to get scores because scoring averages is going to be important
so we had to get a good score up.’’
“I personally thought that Down battled hard, and they have some fine hurlers in
the side. We have an important NHL game next Sunday against Offaly, one we must
win if we are to reach the semi-finals of the competition which was our goal at
the start of this season.’
None of the six Down players who have left the county panel during last week
complaining of a poor training programme were present at the game, but it must
be said that their replacements gave it their best shot and didn’t let the side
down. The game itself was over as a contest when Waterford turned over at the
break ahead by ten points, and they really turned it on in the second-half.
Down – Graham Clarke; L. Clarke, S. Murray, S. Roddy; K. Courtney, A. Dynes,
Gabriel Clarke; C. Coulter 0-1, A. Savage 0-1; P. Hughes, B. McGourty 0-1, R.
McGratten; E. Clarke, Paul Braniff 0-5, E. McGuinness.
Sub – A. McGuinness for A. Dynes.
Waterford – C. Hennessy; T. Feeney, K. Moran, D. Coffey; B. Phelan, Ken McGrath,
E. Murphy; M. Walsh, D. Bennett; Dan Shanahan 0-4, J. Kennedy 2-0, Eoin McGrath;
Johnny Mullane 1-3, S. Prendergast 2-0, Paul Flynn 1-4.
Subs – S. O’Sullivan 0-1 for E. McGrath; E. Kelly for D. Bennett; Tony Browne
for M. Walsh; J. Hartley for M. Walsh; E. Murphy for D. Coffey.
Referee – F. Smith from Meath.
