The game was put to bed in the first 10 minutes with a callow Waterford side – Daniel Lalor, Se\u00e1n Mackey, and James Power came in for league debuts before Jack Fagan was added to their mounting injury list – unable to stop the Rebels running riot.<\/p>\n
Yet maximum points from outings against Limerick and Offaly has changed that outlook. Indeed Peter Queally\u2019s men head to Nowlan Park today knowing a rare league win against the Cats would not only effectively preserve their status, but keep the hosts in the relegation conversation.<\/p>\n
Offaly, with three defeats from three, are set for a return to 1B, with pointless Galway, along with Kilkenny -on two points – all currently in the mix.<\/p>\n
It was the unexpected win over Limerick that has given the depleted group a shot in the arm.<\/p>\n
With just four league defeats from 17 outings at Walsh Park, Waterford tend to give a better account of themselves on home turf.<\/p>\n
De La Salle’s Reuben Halloran has become the scorer-in-chief and did as much as anyone to lower Treaty colours, though the injury to captain and full-back Conor Prunty was the one grey cloud in the sky.<\/p>\n
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\nReuben Halloran has hit 1-36 in his three league outings<\/p>\n
‘Average\u2019 was Queally\u2019s description of the more \u2018workmanlike\u2019 success over struggling Offaly. Leading by the bare minimum at the break, the introduction of the experienced Stephen Bennett helped the D\u00e9ise home.<\/p>\n
What would have pleased the management as much as the result was the performance of Conor Keane in the full-back line. The De La Salle man was tasked with picking up Offaly’s Adam Screeney and ended the game as the player of the match with a sticky display on the livewire forward.<\/p>\n
Now it\u2019s a date with neighbours Kilkenny, a fixture that has not been kind to Waterford in recent years.<\/p>\n