Puc Fadó: The last Clare – Waterford encounter was a little tasty

With Clare and Waterford getting the Munster hurling championship underway this weekend, we take a look back at least year’s feisty affair.

By Declan Whooley

On a sunny day in June last year, Waterford marched on to a fourth successive Munster hurling final courtesy of a two point win over the Banner in Davy Fitzgerald’s first year in the Clare hotseat.

The facts will say the Déise won out on a scoreline of 2-17 to 1-18 with 10 different scorers on the day, while Clare were left to rue a number of missed opportunities from dead-balls, but as is so often the case in GAA, the facts don’t tell the whole story.

The game was a thoroughly entertaining fixture, with much hype in the build-up with Fitzgerald going up against the side he had managed for three and a half seasons. There were suggestions that there was no love lost between him and some of the players in the blue and white, and we were left in no doubt by the end of the game.

In a game of such fine margins, tensions are always going to be high and one incident on the sideline seemed to almost overshadow the game itself. With the sliotar rolling out over the sideline, Waterford forward Eoin Kelly looked to have had a quick word with his former boss which irked the Sixmilebridge man no end.

His response of “I’ve got two All-Ireland medals and you have got fu** all” was picked up by the microphones and there was of course the Sunday Game ‘investigation’ afterwards.

Not only that but John Mullane’s celebration right in front of Fitzgerald only added to the simmering tension. Unfortunately it all seemed to overshadow what was a gripping encounter with John Conlon and Shane Walsh in particular causing their markers all kinds of bother.

Both sides exited the All-Ireland series by the end of July, and both will hope to progress a little further this year after showing promising form at times in the League.

Recently retired John Mullane has said he expects the game to be ‘toxic’, Noel Connors claimed there is no bad feeling at all and we’d imagine the truth is somewhere in the middle.

If the game gives us half as many talking points as last year then we will be doing well.