GAA Notes 19th February 2012

Post date: Feb 21, 2012 8:19:26 PM

Tallow GAA Lotto- supported by Kearney's Restaurant Tallow

20/2/12 Numbers Drawn 3,6,11,20 No winner

Consolation Prizes Maurice O Connor, Dave Hoare, Julieanne & Carmel, Irene O Keeffe

Promoter Seamus O Brien

Next Draw 27/2/12 Keniry's Bar Jackpot €1800

Senior Hurling

Our senior hurlers had their first game of the year last Saturday in Tallow against Cork champions Carrigtwohill and it was a good workout for both sides at this time of year. Training continues as normal Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm, all juniors and seniors please make an effort to attend.

National Hurling League

We wish our county representatives Paul O Brien, Thomas Ryan and Aidan Kearney the best of luck as Waterford kick off their League campaign next Saturday night against Cork in Cork. The start of the league always heralds the onset of spring and the promise of dryer ground and the hopping ball (though a Kilkenny man had to remind me during the week that this time last year he travelled three times to Thurles to see one match).Waterford are likely to start with a maximum of three or four of the team which started in the 2007 All Ireland semifianl against Limerick which underlines the extent of the transition which Davy Fitzgerald's reign has had to manage. If Waterford are to be competitive this year it will be due to Davy's blooding of young players in the two previous Leagues and the quality of the schools and colleges teams over the last four years.

Five years ago we had a forward line that was the envy of the country and, of those, only Mullane is still standing and with him taking a break for at least the initial stages of the league it places a huge onus on the forwards that have come onto the team in the meantime. Shane Walsh and Pauric Mahony have made the transition to senior intercounty hurling seamlessly and Kevin Moran has been successfully reinvented as a ball-winning wing forward and auxillary midfielder. The abscence of pace in our forward line is an issue though and this makes the hoped-for return to full fitness from a chronic hamstring condition of Brian O Halloran and the progression of Brian O Sullivan vital to the success of our forward division. Aside from them though (and we are talking about players only a couple of years out of minor grade) it's difficult to see where the pace is going to come from.

The positioning of our own Paul O Brien at midfield in recent early season matches is also a belated recognition of the form he has shown in the the Waterford club championship over the past five years. His performances against Ballyduff and Lismore last year were on a higher plane to any other midfielder's in the championship and he deserves a decent run in the team in his best position