Waterford senior hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald watched his side fall to a 4-23 to 0-25 defeat at the hands of Tipperary on Saturday evening. Jake Morris led the charge for the Premier County, with the Nenagh Éire Óg club man netting three times. But a further dampener was put on the Déise’s trip to Thurles after Austin Gleeson and Conor Prunty both sustained injuries.
The pair were forced ashore during the contest, and are now considered doubts for next month’s Munster Championship opener with hamstring injuries.
“Hamstring to Prunty, hamstring to Austin, [Shane] McNulty had to come off at the end,” Fitzgerald told reporters after the game (quotes via The42).
“It depends how bad they are. You’re looking from three to six weeks and Prunty is a big loss to us.
“We’re in a race against time with the Limerick game and missing two or three of them.
“Mikey Kiely will be touch and go whether he makes it back or not. Darragh Lyons probably won’t be back so we are down a few bodies. But no excuses, we’ll be ready to go in April.”
Waterford will open their Munster Championship campaign against Limerick on Sunday, April 23. The Déise are bidding to qualify from the provincial round robin for the first time, after bottom-two finishes in 2018, 2019 and 2022.
Prior to that, they finish their Allianz Hurling League Division 1B campaign against Kilkenny next weekend, with a semi-final spot still within grasp.
Meanwhile, Liam Cahill is left sweating on the fitness of Seamus Callanan. The 2019 Hurler of the Year pulled up in the first-half at Semple Stadium on Saturday evening.
