Fitzgerald wastes no time

GAELIC GAMES:WATERFORD HURLING boss Davy Fitzgerald gathered his players for training at Fraher Field in Dungarvan at 9am yesterday following their Munster final humiliation.

A full turnout, with the exception of John Mullane, who was working in Dublin, was reported for a frank discussion surrounding the events at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Initial plans to meet at 6am were shelved, but Fitzgerald and his backroom team were anxious to sift through the debris of the 21-point loss to Tipperary rather than wait until this evening.

Waterford will instead train tomorrow evening, and Fitzgerald is exploring the option of training again on Friday night and Sunday.

It is understood the manager may also call his players for training tomorrow, Thursday, Friday and Sunday in preparation for the quarter-final against Galway on Sunday week.

Meanwhile, Tony Dempsey has made a couple of changes to his Wexford Under-21 team to play Dublin on Wednesday night in the Leinster final.

Pádraig Donnelly from Glynn Barntown comes in at corner back, with Eoin Moore moving to the middle of the field. Rory Sludds drops to the bench. John Leacy returns from injury to take his place at centre back at the expense of James Gahan, who started the last time out.

Dublin Under-21 hurling captain Liam Rushe will be the subject of the GAA’s first live “player cam” in tomorrow’s final, which goes out live on TG4.

The game throws in at 7.30 at Wexford Park, as the home side aim to take revenge over Dublin for last year’s defeat.

“An exciting player like Liam Rushe is a great contender for its first outing and it will allow younger hurlers to study the individual skills of intercounty players as well as giving viewers a different perspective on the game,” said Ger Cunningham, sports sponsorship manager at Bord Gáis Energy.

On Friday, also at 7.30pm, Tipperary welcome Cork to Thurles in the Munster Under-21 semi-final. The winners play Limerick or Clare in the final on August 3rd.

WEXFORD (U-21H v Dublin): M Fanning; W Devereux, M O’Hanlon, P Donnelly; M O’Regan, J Leacy, S Murphy; E Kent, E Moore; S Tomkins, H Kehoe, L Óg McGovern; P Morris, J Breen, P Doran.