Waterford, Fitz Live in Hope

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Irish Voice Sport

Waterford, Fitz Live in Hope

September 3, 2008

The Cathal Dervan Column

A MAN I know is rushing back from World Cup duty in Germany on Sunday morning in order to get to Croke Park in time for the All-Ireland hurling final. Two more men I know, Irish footballers by the names of Stephen Hunt and John O’Shea, are already scouting out venues in Mainz to watch the game live.

It will come as no surprise to know that all three gentlemen in question are from Waterford, all three have a vested interest in how their team goes in Sunday’s showdown with Kilkenny.

They are, if you like, three wise men and all of a Waterford persuasion.

All of them are hopeful, if not overly confident, that their team can topple the reigning All-Ireland champions as they go for the treble.

All of them know that the Cats will be red hot favorites come Sunday’s showdown, the biggest game of the year in one of the world’s greatest sports.

The one factor that will inspire Waterford fans in Germany and elsewhere on Sunday is the Davy Fitz factor.

Ever since Davy Fitzgerald succeeded Justin McCarthy as Waterford manager earlier in the championship, there has been a swagger about this side that could them from contenders to champions.

Fitzgerald as a player was a man who knew how to turn the form book upside down. In his life he has battled against adversity, in his sport he has triumphed on more than one occasion against the so called big guns.

It will, to be fair, take something of a miracle for the Deise to succeed against Kilkenny and against all the odds come Sunday afternoon, but you can never bet against Davy Fitz.

And just in case you are interested there is a fascinating video doing the YouTube rounds at the moment of Fitzgerald in dressingroom action as the manager of the Limerick IT hurling side.

The halftime team talk is peppered with the sort of language and the sort of inspirational talk that you would expect from a man who has been to the top of the mountain.

The fact that the video was leaked onto the internet by a former Kilkenny minor has been dismissed as irrelevant by Fitzgerald.

He’s more interested in Sunday and the biggest game in Waterford hurling terms for many, many years.

One more inspirational team talk and who knows, he could just be a McCarthy Cup winning coach at the first time of asking.

I doubt it will work out that way, but who knows? Stranger things have happened in the world of hurling.

Now where’s the guide to Irish pubs in Wiesbaden, Germany, so we can sort out where we can watch the match!

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