THE ONLY SOUR note from a Waterford perspective after last Sunday’s All-Ireland quarter-final win over Wexford was the 65th minute sending off of Tadhg de Burca.
De Burca is a lynchpin of the Deise defence and one of Derek McGrath’s most trusted lieutenants. The All-Star was involved in an off-the-ball tussle with Harry Kehoe where he appeared to interfere with the Wexford man’s faceguard.
The incident was spotted by the linesman and de Burca was duly red-carded.
It’s understood referee Fergal Horgan has noted the incident in his report and a one-match suspension is likely to be applied, meaning de Burca will miss the semi-final against Cork.
“He’s one of the best hurlers in the country,” says de Burca’s team-mate Kevin Moran. “Any team would miss a player of his calibre. Look, we’ll see what happens.
“We’ll be back training tonight so I haven’t really had a chance to talk to him or see how his spirits are. If it is to be, he would be a huge loss.
“It’s unfortunate, we’ll just leave it up to management to see what they can do about it. It’s something that I’m sure they’re considering their options on.”
Although he typically wears number five, de Burca has been operating as a sweeper in the Waterford system in recent times.
Their game against Wexford drew criticism from some quarters, with former All-Ireland winners Michael Duignan and Henry Shefflin bemoaning the use of spare defenders by both sides.
“It’s a little bit over the top,” is Moran’s response. “I think that’s the way teams set up. It’s not just Waterford and Wexford, every team sets up like that. Maybe it’s not as publicly spoken about as ourselves.
“Look, as a player, you can’t let it affect you. It’s water of a duck’s back. You just get on with it and when you have the ball try to do what you can with it and express yourself as best as you can.
“And when you don’t have it, just defend and cut out space. There’s more to it than just sweepers and all this kind of stuff, but that’s not for myself to be talking about.”
On a positive note, Moran believes this Waterford group are maturing as they aim to go one step further than the past two seasons and make it to an All-Ireland final.
At 30, the maths and business teacher in De La Salle College is one of the elder statesmen on the Waterford team. He scored 1-3 against the Model last Sunday and continues to impress in the engine room.
Having lost to Cork once already this summer, Moran feels Waterford can learn a lot from their Munster semi-final last month.
“Absolutely. I suppose as a player there are aspects you’re going to look at without getting too fixed on it because you know you could play the game over in your head before you get out on the field.
“It’s important that you balance it right. Obviously there are aspects of our own game, individually and collectively that we were disappointed with against Cork in Thurles. But, in saying that, there were areas we played quite decent as well.
“Look, it’s early days, the draw has just been made, we didn’t know who we were playing yesterday morning. There’s three weeks to think about Cork and likewise Cork about us.
“Every game takes on a life of its own and there will be a huge amount of preparation done between now and the 13th of August.
“It’s going to be a huge task and very difficult, but that’s what we want to do and we’re going to try our hardest and work as hard as we possibly can.
“We are maturing as a group. The way we’re playing, we’re developing it all the time. The more times you’re here and playing in an All-Ireland semi-final, the better.
“At the same time it’s time for us to start winning All-Ireland semi-finals. Hindsight will be a judge of that.”
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