Versatile Austin Gleeson just happy to be serving Waterford’s cause

Such is the ever increasing versatility of Austin Gleeson that even he is finding it hard to keep up. It’s one thing for a player to be happy with any place on the field; it’s another thing to admit to not knowing where that place is.

Sunday’s Munster hurling semi-final may help Gleeson make up his mind. Chapter three of Waterford’s spring/summer trilogy with Clare promises to be as finely balanced as the previous two, and Gleeson has the ability to swing the end result Waterford’s way.

He very nearly did in the Allianz League replay a month ago. Lining out at centre forward, when his versatility could have seen him play centre back, or indeed full forward, Gleeson chipped over three points from play, his constant movement also helping keep Waterford in front until seconds from the end – when Tony Kelly’s double-whammy won it for Clare.

Still, there’s no great certainly where Gleeson will start in Thurles on Sunday. Waterford manager Derek McGrath – who has known Gleeson since the day he walked into De La Salle College at age 12 – possibly knows him better than anyone. Which is why Gleeson will play wherever he’s told. [CROSSHEAD]Subtle differences[/CROSSHEAD]  “Wherever the lads want me to play, I’m gonna play,” he says. “I actually don’t know where I want to play myself, so wherever they think they’ll get more use out of me, that’s where I’ll play. I don’t really care to be honest.”

For a player still a few weeks shy of 21, Gleeson has already come a long way, experiencing both highs and lows since his sensational goalscoring senior debut in the 2014 Munster quarter-final against Cork (when he started at wing forward). There are, however, more than subtle differences between playing in the forwards and the backs?

“ I suppose I would prefer facing the ball and running towards the goal,” he says. “But look, we tried that and it worked sometimes while other times it didn’t work, so you change it up a small bit. It’s more about the team, so wherever he [Derek] wants me to go, I’ll go.”

One of the reasons Gleeson flourished at centre forward in the replay (lining out between Jake Dillon and Michael Walsh) was the nature of the game, torn open after just 17 seconds by Patrick Curran’s goal for Waterford. That immediately dispersed the stifled air of the drawn game, and what happened next defied both tactics and at times logic itself.

“Even Davy [Fitzgerald, the Clare manager] said it in the week leading up to the drawn game that it was going to be like that, ball in the middle, and that’s exactly what it was.

“The second day then was a lot more open, and I expect Sunday to be exactly like that again. I suppose the first day was kind of more getting to grips with each team, and not trying to break first, and then the second day was a lot more open. But the same kind of tactics were applied. It was just more open and everyone played with freedom.”

Both teams are fully aware the league final result could have gone either way – before Clare clinched a first league title since 1978. Moments before Kelly’s initial equaliser, Waterford’s Jamie Barron was fouled, only for referee Diarmuid Kirwan to wave play on, then promptly award a dubious free for a challenge on Kelly.

So, while the Waterford management were surprisingly Zen about the end result, it’s no surprise they were keen to park it, move on – and Gleeson is no different.“I suppose the Monday and Tuesday after you’re kind of looking back on it and seeing what really went wrong for us.

“But Clare won the game and we’ve no qualms about it. They finished a lot stronger than us, and that kind of cost us. But we were back in the clubs on Tuesday night so it wasn’t too hard to get over it I suppose. [CROSSHEAD]Only human[/CROSSHEAD] “We know it could have gone our way, but unfortunately it went their way. But look, the referee is only human, and everyone makes mistakes. It just happened, and we still had a chance after that and Tony Kelly still got the point after that. That (decision) only made it a draw, but they still won by a point. So look, we won’t complain about that. It happens in every sport so we just moved on.”

What must haunt Waterford a little, however, was that they had Clare on the ropes, only to be knocked out themselves with the final blow.

“Yeah, but that’s to the credit of Clare really. They have the players to get back from any deficit that they’re in. We know that we were six points up at one stage in the second half, and probably should have tried to drive on a bit more, but it’s to Clare’s credit that they stuck to their game and really tore at us.

“Like Tony Kelly, it’s hard to keep those players down for so long, so we knew they were going to come at us but we didn’t handle it as well as we probably should have I suppose in one way. We know we need to work on that now.  So we just moved on straight away.”