For a county that hasn't won an All-Ireland under-21 hurling title in 24 years – and their only one at that – Waterford find themselves on strangely firm ground. Rarely in the history of this championship has any team gone into the final such hands down favourites.
They're as comfortable as 1/8 on to beat Galway in Semple Stadium tomorrow evening, and that's a rare thing between two so-called traditional hurling counties. But then it's certainly not without merit either.
"Boys became men tonight," declared Austin Gleeson, in the immediate aftermath of Waterford's Munster under-21 hurling final win over Tipperary, last July. That marked their first provincial title since 1994, won two years after their only under-21 All-Ireland.
Coming of age
Gleeson was referring to the coming of age of the Waterford minors, who three years ago won their first All-Ireland title in the grade in 65 years. That they beat Galway in that final makes Saturday’s game a sort of reprise for Waterford, given so many of those minors have now graduated to this under-21 team.
Truth is players like Gleeson, given his key role in Waterford senior team particularly this summer, are already men: others like Patrick Curran, brothers Stephen and Shane Bennett, and Conor Gleeson have already transitioned to the Waterford senior team with ease.
This then is not just a Waterford team arriving behind or ahead of time, but simply on their time. That minor win in 2013was also built off the back of the Dungarvan team that won the colleges All-Ireland earlier in the year – making this possibly one of the best bred under-21 hurling teams in history.
It helps too that Seán Power is the man in charge of their fortunes this season, having also managed the Waterford minor team to success in 2013 . Many minor teams struggle to make an impact in the grades above, whether at under-21 or senior level, and nobody realises that more than Power.
Driven
“These guys are driven,” he says. “You see plenty of good minor teams come and go without progressing on to under-21. These lads have applied themselves well over the past three years. It just goes to show we are doing something right in Waterford that fellas are progressing.
“Because if you look at under-21 outside of being a championship where silverware is at stake, it is still a development stage. So, these lads have developed from minor to under-21 in the way we hoped they would and that is very satisfying.”
“We are looking for success in Waterford. Great men have gone before me in management and gone before the lads as players: these lads gave their all for Waterford and didn’t have much to show for it. We will try and deliver for everybody involved in hurling in Waterford. It is easier said than done, mind.”
Power clearly had the Waterford senior team in mind when speaking those words, and whatever about bringing some consolation to manager Derek McGrath after their near miss to Kilkenny in the senior All-Ireland semi-final, players such as Gleeson, Curran and the Bennett brothers have all the self-motivation they need for the neat consolation prize of an under-21 All-Ireland.
Not that Galway will feel content about being such rank outsiders: they’ve won the All-Ireland as recently as 2011, before Clare went on their three-in-a- row (2012-14), with Limerick claiming the title last year.
Greater test
Indeed Galway had the far greater semi-final test last month against Dublin, eventually emerging two-point winners after extra time, during which they saved some of the best hurling until last. In the process, however, forward
Conor Whelan
sustained a shoulder injury that is likely to keep him out of Saturday’s showdown, putting extra pressure on captain
Brian Molloy
, who scored 0-10 against Dublin.
Waterford demolished Antrim by 29 points, Curran hitting 2-7 to bring his championship tally to 2-25. Gleeson, man of the match in the Munster final win over Tipperary, where he hit 0-5, is clearly going to be a marked man, with that task likely to fall to Molloy, given his equally instrumental role in the Galway team.
The constant reference point to this game is their meeting in the 2013 minor final, where Waterford won by nine points, 1-21 to 0-15, although it’s worth recalling the sides were level, with 15 minutes to play, before the likes of Curran and Gleeson all raised their game and drove Waterford home.
“The potential is there,” said Power. “The will to win is there. We just need to implement that and apply it.”
What is certain is that whichever team does emerge will become the inaugural winners of the new James Nowlan Cup, brought in this year to replace the Cross of Cashel trophy, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising.
James Nowlan was GAA president from 1901 to 1921. Following the Easter Rising, he was arrested by the British in May and interned in Frongoch, Wales, for a period. Retiring as president at the 1921 congress, he was appointed honorary life president of the association.
