Cronin points finger at weather

Waterford boss Gareth Cronin was in little doubt that the windy conditions and poor pitch at Lissywoollen were the main factors behind tonight's listless 0-0 draw.

"The weather ruined it, it made a lottery of the game," a bemused Cronin told extratime.ie. He also pointed to the state of the playing surface. "It didn't help. Nine games or something [played at Lissywoollen] in a week I heard. That might be an exaggeration…but I'm beginning to realise that that's the difference in the First Division, the pitches are really poor."

Drawing on the positives, Cronin said he was pleased with his sides' second half showing. "I thought we did okay second half. We should have won it and could have scored with Luke Fitzpatrick's header."

He also singled his defence out for particular praise but had words of warning for the other players. "The performance of the back four, especially Breener (David Breen) and Kenny Browne, was magnificent and Dave Warren was great again but everyone else could give a little bit more," he said.

Cronin explained the change to a 4-5-1 come 4-3-3 formation for tonight's clash. "I was hoping to exploit them with a diagonal ball. That's why when we were defending on the right, Karl Bermingham was isolated [on the left] and all we needed was one good ball but the wind made that impossible and that's why I went back to 4-4-2 with half and hour to go."

The introduction of Michael Foley gave the Blues a different attacking dimension and Cronin was quick to acknowledge the contribution of the former Saint Pat's man. "Michael came on and did great. He is still getting his fitness because he missed a whole month of pre-season. Michael will play the full game on Monday against Kerry and he will be in contention to play the full ninety next week…He will be a big player for us," said the Cork native.

Despite his disappointment, Cronin is taking solace from the fact that his charges have yet to taste defeat. "We have to try and stay unbeaten for the first round of games and then build on that."