This article is from page 108 of the 2008-07-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 108 JPG
THE Clare managerial diaspora had at least one success story on Satur- day as David Fitzgerald guided his Waterford side to victory over Of- faly. While it wasn’t a vintage Wa- terford performance, there were still significant signs of improvement since the Sixmilebridge man took over. Iwo successive victories in as many weeks has instilled a renewed optimism amongst the Waterford faithful but with less than a week to go before their next challenge in the quarter-final against Leinster fi- nalists Wexford, manager Fitzgerald acknowledges that there is still room for refinement.
‘No-one needs to get carried away yet because both on the sideline and on the field, we have stuff we can improve on and if we are to battle Wexford, we are going to have to im- prove.
“You can’t fault the lads workrate. If they weren’t up for that game, Wa- terford were out of the champion- ship. You could see by Offaly how up for it they were, the good scores they got were some of the best scores I’ve seen all year so we did well to come out of that, I can tell you that but we will have to improve.”
The most significant change that the three time All-Star has made since his arrival in the aftermath of Wa- terford’s 2-26 to 0-23 defeat to Clare in June has been the switch of Ken McGrath from centre-back to full- back. It has received constant media scrutiny but Fitzgerald is more than content with his defensive line, who have not conceeded a goal since his hoy eLeyesleeetesel
“I am happy with the boys back
there. We did give away too many scores but as I have said, a lot of their scores were good scores.
“Listen Offaly were awesome and do you think it will be any different against Wexford the next day’? It’s go- ing to be the same ding-dong again. Pll tell you it’s a lot easier being out-
side there 1n the field than it is stand- ing up on the sideline, that’s for sure. It’s a win, I enjoyed it but I am not fooled. I know we are far from the finished article and we would be well down the peaking order as regards the contenders for the All-Ireland.’ Wexford have been knocking at the
door for several years now without making any real substantial head- way. They have contested the last eight Leinster finals but with Kilken- ny’s total dominance in the province, their only final victory came in 2004 when they defeated Offaly. Last year, they surprised many by beating Tip-
perary to reach the All-Ireland semi- final and having played against them for Clare only two years ago, Fitzger- ald knows the potential danger that they possess.
“For Wexford, we know ourselves we will have to improve if we are to beat them. We know that, we are not stupid. They are a decent team but in saying that, we won’t be throwing in the towel too easy ourselves.
“The one thing that the lads prom- ised me is that they will fight every game for seventy minutes and I ex- pect that out of them. If I’m driving down from Clare, the one thing I have asked for is to give seventy min- utes of honesty. If they are honest for seventy, then I believe they will be there or thereabouts with a chance.
‘These boys are very anxious to do well and maybe put too much pres- sure on themselves. We will see next Sunday what the story is. All I am focused on is Wexford next Sunday and I know they probably won’t be too afraid of what they have seen to- day but we will give it a go.”
If anyone doubted David Fitzger- ald’s full commitment to the Wa- terford cause, they were certainly convinced last Saturday. Five min- utes after half-time, a brief wrestling match broke out after a hefty chal- lenge by Ger Oakley on Eoin Mc- Grath in which both Fitzgerald and Offaly manager Joe Dooley got in- volved. In typical passionate fashion, Fitzgerald jostled with Dooley before turning to the crowd and lifting his arms to inspire the crowd. Waterford may not be the finished article yet but they certainly won’t lack spirit and determination under Fitzgerald’s watch.