SHC WATERFORD v GALWAY:THEY'VE NEVER lost to Galway in the championship and they beat them by 10 points in their last All-Ireland hurling quarter-final, but Waterford selector Peter Queally says history will play no part when the sides meet again in Thurles on Sunday.

And that’s not all about playing mind games. Queally is well positioned to compare the past with the present.

A selector with the current team alongside manager Davy Fitzgerald, he also played midfield on the Waterford team that beat Galway 1-20 to 1-10 in the 1998 All-Ireland quarter-final, which extended Waterford’s winning streak over Galway to 7-0.

They also beat them in the round-robin qualifier in 2006, 1-25 to 2-20, to make it 8-0. (Three of those wins, it should be noted, came during Galway’s ill-fated move into the Munster hurling championship.)

“Well I don’t think either of us will be bothered by that going into Sunday,” says Queally. “We’re only thinking of 2009 and, hopefully, we can get another win here. We certainly wouldn’t be the biggest of rivals with Galway, but we do have a bit in common.

“We wouldn’t be up there with the more traditional All-Ireland winners, and are still struggling to get up there with the likes of Cork, Kilkenny and Tipperary. We definitely have that in common.

“But in terms of rivalry and recent meetings it’s really only been in the league. Geographically we’re a long way apart as well, so there wouldn’t be any tense rivalry there because of that. So it’s hard to say there is any great rivalry there, because we have met so few times in the championship.”

There is, says Queally, one relevant comparison with the 1998 quarter-final in that Waterford were also coming into that game having lost the Munster final – on that occasion after a replay, with Clare, 2-16 to 0-10: “That’s the only similarity I could really draw from that game, and this weekend, in that we were also on the back of losing a Munster final.

“But there’s no similarity for Galway. That was their first big game of the championship that year, while this year they’re coming in very battle-hardened, with three tough championship matches under their belt. We won’t be catching them cold this time, like we might have done in 1998.

“We performed quite well on the day, but that was the time when Galway would come into the championship very short of match practice.

“They definitely underperformed, and probably thought we’d be on a downer, having lost the Munster final just the previous week. But we managed to regroup very well.

“The big thing I remember from that is an amazing performance at midfield from Tony Browne. I think he scored something like 1-7, from midfield, with a few sidelines thrown in as well. That’s one thing that sticks in my memory.”

So while Galway are gaining confidence and momentum with victories over Clare and Cork on the last two weekends, Waterford are looking to bounce back from the Munster final defeat to Tipperary last Sunday week. Queally suggests they’ll be well up for it.

“We met up again on the Wednesday night, and just had a bit of a reality check. We feel the real championship only starts now. That’s not taking from the Munster championship, but it’s got to the stage now for us where the one that really matters is the All-Ireland championship.

“And if you look at the papers and that after the Munster final, there was still a lot of criticism of Tipp, even though they were Munster champions, in so far as they were asking are they really good enough to go on and win an All-Ireland.

“Munster champions should really be getting more respect than that, but people really are looking at the bigger picture now. And that’s the All-Ireland championship. And we’re still there, only three games away from winning it.”

Waterford have built their reputation as a hurling force along several lines, including their ability to rise again just after they’ve been written off. But there are only so many times they can go to that well before it runs dry.

“Well I would hope there is still a kick there,” adds Queally. “It won’t be answered until Sunday. But naturally enough Galway will be favourites. I think the big thing for them this year was the performance they put up against Kilkenny.

“That was a game they maybe could and should have won. And I think that has really been the makings of Galway this year.

“So they’re on a bit of a roll, have a lot of momentum. They’re very much backboned by an outstanding Portumna club team. And the confidence and work-rate that they have brought to the team has made a huge difference to them.”