Saturday’s game is one that Waterford, barring an upset of ‘Fionavon’ proportion, must surely win, and win comfortably. The margin of victory must be maximised to the full should there be an upset on the other side that would see scoring differences come into play to decide first and second positions in the event of teams finishing level on points.

It was very interesting to note that Offaly have not yet thrown in the towel, as last Friday’s win over Galway in a challenge game showed. Indeed, coach John McIntyre showed courage and resolve last week in dropping players whom he considered lacking in commitment while bringing on board Neville Coughlan from the county’s defeated football squad.

Waterford will be conscious of the need to beat Dublin by at least as much as Clare did but at the same time this game must be seen as an opportunity to show championship action to some of the fringe players. Against Cork Brian Phelan replaced Dave Bennett and that proved to be the only substitution of significance in the two championship games. With fifteen players on the bench the decision not to make any tactical substitution against Offaly merely brought into question the management’s confidence in their own reserves. No team will win an All-Ireland with just sixteen or seventeen players to chose from and established players must be made to feel under pressure for their places.

In making their selection for the Offaly game it would seem that the selectors pinpointed midfield as the area in need of repair following the defeat by Cork. Brian Phelan rightfully retained his place at wing back, having come on, and it was decided to move James Murray to centre back with Ken McGrath taking Bennett’s place in midfield.

Eoin Kelly, who was universally acclaimed as man of the match against Cork as he struck over some magnificent points from play while enjoying the freedom of Semple Stadium, was moved to midfield, out of the game and off the scoresheet against Offaly.

In fact two of our most prominent players were consigned to passive roles in midfield on a tight pitch. That Waterford won so easily without the maximum return from two such prominent players was due to a much tighter rearguard and the return to form up front of John Mullane.

One would have to expect that with McGrath at centre back and Kelly back in attack both units would operate at an even higher level.

While it could be said that Waterford will go into this game on a hiding to nothing Dublin too will have little to lose. Dublin hurling is at a low ebb after the departure of Humphrey and, after further bungling by the Dublin chairman, Tommy Naughton stepped forward to salvage the situation.

Naughton has been involved with Dublin senior teams in the past as well as the U21 squads in recent years. He is very aware of the task confronting him. The general feeling in Dublin club circles is that standards are not as bad as is being portrayed and the selection of the right players would improve the situation.

The new manager certainly has the respect of the players and the Dublin hurling fraternity. His appointment has resulted in the return of some prominent players to the squad. Since the defeat by Clare a full panel of 24 players attended training sessions at 6am on Saturday and Sunday last.

When Waterford and Dublin met in the league at Walsh Park it was a very one sided affair. On Saturday next Waterford can expect to face amore committed fifteen. In fact the past week has been very encouraging for Dublin hurling with Kilmacud-Crokes winning the All-Ireland U14A title and the county U21 side qualifying for the Leinster Final with a win over Offaly. To cap it all last Saturday saw the Dubs minor hurlers end Kilkenny’s monopoly of the Leinster title by knocking the Cats out of the championship.

Such results can only lift the Dublin seniors. Given the commitment shown by the players under Naughtons brief tenure hopes are rising in Dublin that Waterford will get a harder game than expected.

It is difficult to speculate on the Waterford line-up for this game. The selectors, as we have seen, are not noted for being adventurous or imaginative. We can assume that the same fifteen that started against Offaly, plus Dave Bennett, will be considered for the starting line up, perhaps with some positional changes. On the other hand the temptation may be there to rest a couple of key players prior to the Clare game.

Whatever the line-out anything other than a decisive home win must be out of the question.

Meanwhile speculation goes on regarding venue and time of the decisive clash with Clare the following week. As we said the GAC has got itself into a mess by not thinking out its fixtures strategy properly. While some chose to say they got it right in Carlow last weekend, it is worth pointing out that it was only because of the huge number of Waterford supporters who stayed away but who would have travelled to a neutral venue on Sunday. That the GAC members have a problem with their geography is obvious from the fact that they have fixed Waterford to play Clare in Ennis on a Saturday evening at 7pm while 15 miles down the road we have Limerick playing Galway at the Gaelic grounds on the Ennis Road.

Now with Waterford traffic heading for Ennis and Limerick supporters heading in the same direction towards the Ennis Road, it is small wonder that Limerick Gardai are concerned about possible gridlock in the city with normal Saturday traffic.

Suggestions of a double header in Thurles have been ruled out while a double header in Limerick might only make the position worse on a Saturday. What is a fact is that there is no logical reason why a double header programme could not be arranged for Sunday in Limerick.

In that situation Limerick would retain their home venue and Clare would be conceding very little with the game on their doorstep.

The other alternative may be that the Waterford/Clare tie could take place on Sunday as a compromise. Even that would be some good news for Waterford supporters. Who said the GAC got it right?

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