Davy Fitzgerald concerned by Waterford fade outs

Waterford manager Davy Fitzgerald says his team need to address their second-half slumps after being edged out by Clare at Walsh Park.

The Banner are now the only side with two wins from two in Allianz Division 1A, squeezing past the Déise by the bare minimum after a spirited fightback by the hosts.

Level at the break, it took Waterford 11 minutes to register their first score of the second half, by which time Clare had tacked on four points. In a contest where the scores were not free flowing, it was the buffer they needed when Waterford rallied at the end.

A Stephen Bennett free in added time was the final score with referee Liam Gordon blowing the full-time whistle shortly after the resulting puck out.

Speaking after the match, Fitzgerald felt his side could have snatched a result, but admitted his charges have developed a bad habit of fading out of games after the interval.

"It could have gone either way," he told RTÉ Sport. "I think we were a little bit unlucky not to get a result.

"From our point of view, the first 10 or 15 minutes after half time, which was the same against Offaly, we kind of went to sleep a small bit and gave Clare that bit of a cushion.

"We let them run the ball, we didn't pressurise them enough, but it was the same last week, so we have got to learn from that."

The former Clare manager did question whether the referee played enough time after Bennett’s 75th minute free to make it a one-point game.

"We were finishing stronger. When we got that last free, I think Shane asked him and he (referee Liam Gordon) said there was a minute. That only seemed to be 15 seconds when he hit out the ball."

Much has been made of the fall-out between former All-Ireland winning team-mates Fitzgerald and his Clare