Waterford got their 2024 pre-season campaign off to a winning start as they saw off Kerry by a 3-23 to 3-12 margin in their Munster Hurling League clash at Tralee's Austin Stack Park.
Davy Fitzgerald's side led by 1-11 to 1-06 at half-time, with Jack Fagan scoring a goal on 12 minutes for the Déise after running onto a Michael Kiely pass, while Shane Conway powered in a penalty in first-half stoppage time to keep the Kingdom in the game.
Jack Prendergast and Padraig Fitzgerald added further goals for Waterford as they stretched their eventual winning margin. Kerry also scored two of their own via Maurice O'Connor and another Conway penalty which was merely a consolation.
Meanwhile, there was a late change of venue for Wexford and Wicklow's footballers in the Dioralyte O'Byrne Cup.
The first-round match had been due to throw in at Chadwicks Wexford Park at 7.30pm but following a floodlight issue, it was moved to the Wexford GAA Centre of Excellence in Ferns.
Throw-in for this evening's O'Byrne Cup match v Wicklow is being put back to 7.45pm due to technical problem with generator for floodlights.@gaaleinster
— Wexford GAA (@OfficialWexGAA) January 2, 2024
When proceedings got underway at 8.50pm, Wexford had the better of the first period with a six-point half-time lead, with goals from Ben Brosnan and Mark Rossiter helping them to respond to a strong Wicklow start that had been capped by a penalty.
Wexford dominated the second half, with Conor Kinsella and Rossiter contributing further goals as they ran out 4-15 to 2-12 winners.
