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*Waterford’s Mark Fitzgerald. Photograph: David Fitzgerald / Sportsfile
ROUND one of the Munster hurling championship is one of the most important games of the year, Waterford defender Mark Fitzgerald has stressed.
Both Clare and Waterford will be eying up Sunday’s showdown in Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chiósóg as a tie to claim a valuable two points in the hugely competitive provincial championship.
Forming a central part of the Déise defence will be Mark Fitzgerald. He said both sides are fully aware of the importance of Sunday’s game in Ennis. “Everyone looks towards their first game, it is one of the most important games of the year. As soon as the league is over that is what the focus goes to and Clare are the exact same and they’re looking forward to a home game in their home patch, we’re looking forward to it just as much as them”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, the twenty two year old said Waterford were embracing the chance the championship atmosphere that will be evident in Ennis but stressed they must bring serious desire and intensity. “If you ask any hurler they will say Ennis is one of the hardest places to go to but that is what you relish when you are playing inter-county hurling and Munster championship hurling is going to away fixtures and you are up against it, your back is up against the wall and hopefully you come out on the right side”.
A qualified teacher, Mark is currently undertaking a masters in project management at the University of Limerick where he has played a central role in UL winning back to back Fitzgibbon Cup titles. “He has an exceptional future because he is an outstanding talent,” UL manager Brian Ryan said of the defender while ex Waterford boss, Michael Ryan described him as a “Rolls-Royce of a hurler”.
Waterford have not dwelt on their relegation from the Division 1A of the Allianz National Hurling League, he said. “We wanted to stay up in Division 1A but the league didn’t go our way so we have parked that since the league finished, we’re looking forward to the Munster championship. You do look at your league campaign but it is parked and you begin to knuckle down. We’ve had five weeks to prepare so we’ve kept the heads down, we’ve been working hard”.
Having made his debut under Davy Fitzgerald, Mark has become one of the leaders for Peter Queally and he’s determined to progress out of Munster. “We’ve been there or thereabouts every year but results haven’t gone our way. Every year our aim is to win the first game and then see where it goes, we want to get out of Munster if not win it”.
On what Queally has brought to the fold, Mark stated, “Peter is a very passionate Waterford man, he has instilled that in us since he’s been there over the last two years, he has a lot of passion, a lot of want, all he wants to do is win for Waterford and all the players want to do the exact same thing”.
Ballygunner’s recent dominance in winning two All-Ireland club titles since 2022 and four Munster championships since 2021 illustrates the talent that exists within the county and has the capability of inspiring confidence within the county set-up. “What Ballygunner have done is extremely special and is unbelievable for the county, I think they just drive standards for the county and when they come back into the Waterford fold after winning it all they do is add professionalism and add want, workrate and competition to the group”.
