| Davy is story of the summer |
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| TJ Flynn | |
 Days like Sunday are part of reason why, each summer, a country is dazzled and charmed by hurling. Less than three months ago, nobody could possibly have predicted how the season would reel out, how the stories of 2008 would cross paths.Clare to devour Waterford and Davy Fitzgerald - this county's goalkeeper up until 18 months ago Ð to then bring the same Waterford team to an All-Ireland final? Even the greatest narrator couldn't have spun such a yarn. But on Sunday, Fitzgerald became the first Clareman since Cyril Lyons in 2002 to manage a county to an All-Ireland final and given the circumstances Ð Waterford's epic war to reach the big stage, the fact that the county had been written off as genuine contenders, the general consensus that Tipperary would brush Waterford aside Ð the achievement is high-ranking. When Fitzgerald first came to Waterford, players were immediately taken by his energy and application. They were also impressed by the training methods he introduced and on Sunday, the rewards came. ÒThese players have taken a lot of stick. They are still there,Ó said Fitzgerald. ÒNow we have two choices. We can go up and enjoy the All-Ireland and give ourselves no chance or we can get down to work and tear into it and see what happens. ÒAnyone who watched Kilkenny last week will give no one in the country a chance. They brushed Cork aside. ÒThese guys [Waterford] will be big-time underdogs, but we have been that all year. But I've tremendous respect for Kilkenny. I know the players thay have, I know the manager they have, and they're awesome. But on any given day, for 70 minutes, you don't know what will happen.Ó He also drew attention to Waterford's character on Sunday, particularly when Tipperary responded to Eoin Kelly's goal. ÒI think we showed a lot of character when the Tipp goal went in. Normally that would break a team but it didn't break us. It was a great win for those boys and I'm proud of them. But I did expect a performance out of them Ð and that's being straight up.Ó Less than three weeks to go to the All-Ireland final, and even with waiting Kilkenny around the corner, who's to say the story of the summer won't throw up one final twist? |