Michael Walsh (Waterford hurler)

For other people named Michael Walsh, see Michael Walsh (disambiguation).

Michael 'Brick' Walsh

Personal information
Irish name	Mícheál Breathnach
Sport	Hurling
Position	Midfield/Centre Back
Born	23 April 1983 (1983-04-23) (age 28) Stradbally, County Waterford
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Nickname	The Brick
Club(s)
Years	Club
	Stradbally
Club Titles
Waterford titles	7
Inter-county(ies)*
Years	County	Apps (scores)
2003-	Waterford	41 (1-22)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles	3
All Irelands	0
NHL	1
All Stars	3
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 9 August 2009.

Michael 'Brick' Walsh (born 23 April 1983 in Stradbally, County Waterford) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays both hurling and football with his local club Stradbally and has been a member of the Waterford senior inter-county team since 2003.

Early life

Michael Walsh was born in Stradbally, County Waterford in 1983. When playing for Stradbally's underage football and hurling teams, he was generally their best player on the pitch, usually scoring more than the rest of his team combined in each game. He once had a sore back, having carried the team on his own for so many consecutive games. He was educated locally and later attended the Waterford Institute of Technology where he studied Business and Finance.^[1] He completed his MA in 2006. While studying here Walsh's hurling skills came to the fore, particularly when he played a key role in the college winning Fitzgibbon Cup titles in 2003, 2004^[2] and 2006.^[3]

Playing career

Club

Walsh plays his club hurling and football with his local Stradbally team. He has had much success with the club's football team, winning senior county championship medals in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,^[4] 2005, 2009 and 2010.^[5] In 2006 Walsh's side were defeated by The Nire in their attempt to win a sixth county title in-a-row.^[6] He has twice won the county Waterford footballer of the year award.

Inter-county

Walsh first made his mark as a Gaelic footballer with the Waterford at minor and under-21. In 2003 he helped his native-county to defeat both Cork and Kerry to win the Munster Under-21 Football Championship. In 2003 Walsh made his debut with the Waterford senior hurling team, coming on as a substitute, replacing Tony Browne against Kerry in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship.^[7] He subsequently claimed a Munster title, however, his side were later defeated in the All-Ireland semi-final. The following few years have brought little success for Walsh and Waterford. In 2005 and 2006 Waterford reached the All-Ireland knock-out series via the qualifiers system, however, they were beaten on both occasions by Cork. In 2007 Walsh captained Waterford to their first National Hurling League title since 1963^[8] and a third Munster Senior Hurling Championship in five years.^[9] Walsh was reappointed Waterford captain for 2008, the first time the same person has captained the team for two consecutive years. While playing poorly throughout the National Hurling League and being knocked out of the Munster Hurling Championship in the first round, Waterford would later progress to their first All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final since 1963. The day would however turn out to be bitter-sweet for Walsh, with Waterford losing resoundly to a Kilkenny team going for their first three in a row since 1917.^[10] In 2009 Walsh played Centre Back and is now recognsied as one of the best centre backs in the country. He earned an all star for his great play.

Championship Appearances

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Match report
1	11 May 2003	Walsh Park, Waterford	Kerry	0-0	2-26 : 1-12	Munster Quarter-Final	Anfearrua
2	1 June 2003	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Limerick	0-0	4-13 : 4-13	Munster Semi-Final	Irish Examiner
3	8 June 2003	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Limerick	0-0	1-12 : 0-13	Munster Semi-Final Replay	Irish Examiner
4	29 June 2003	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Cork	0-0	3-12 : 3-16	Munster Final	Irish Examiner
5	20 July 2003	Nolan Park, Kilkenny	Wexford	0-1	0-18 : 1-20	3rd Round Qualifier	Irish Independent
6	16 May 2004	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Clare	0-1	3-21 : 1-08	Munster Quarter-Final	Irish Examiner
7	6 June 2004	Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork	Tipperary	0-1	4-10 : 3-12	Munster Semi-Final	Irish Examiner
8	27 June 2004	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Cork	0-0	3-16 : 1-21	Munster Final	Irish Examiner
9	8 August 2004	Croke Park, Dublin	Kilkenny	0-1	3-12 : 0-18	All-Ireland Semi-Final	Irish Independent
10	22 May 2005	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Cork	0-0	2-15 : 2-17	Munster Semi-Final	Irish Examiner
11	18 June 2005	Dr. Cullen Park, Carlow	Offaly	0-3	1-26 : 1-15	Group Stage Qualifier	Irish Independent
12	2 July 2005	Walsh Park, Waterford	Dublin	0-0	4-17 : 1-03	Group Stage Qualifier	Irish Independent
13	9 July 2005	Cusack Park, Ennis	Clare	0-1	0-21 : 4-14	Group Stage Qualifier	Irish Independent
14	24 July 2005	Croke Park, Dublin	Cork	0-1	1-13 : 1-18	All-Ireland Quarter-Final	Irish Examiner
15	4 June 2006	Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork	Tipperary	0-0	1-12 : 3-14	Munster Semi-Final	RTE Sport
16	18 June 2006	Cusack Park, Mullingar	Westmeath	0-1	3-22 : 1-14	Group Stage Qualifier	Irish Independent
17	2 July 2006	Walsh Park, Waterford	Galway	0-2	1-25 : 2-20	Group Stage Qualifier	RTE Sport
18	8 July 2006	O'Moore Park, Portlaoise	Laois	1-5	2-17 : 1-13	Group Stage Qualifier	Irish Independent
19	23 July 2006	Croke Park, Dublin	Tipperary	0-1	1-22 : 3-13	All-Ireland Quarter-Final	RTE Sport
20	6 August 2006	Croke Park, Dublin	Cork	0-0	1-15 : 1-16	All-Ireland Semi-Final	RTE Sport
21	17 June 2007	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Cork	0-0	5-15 : 3-18	Munster Semi-Final	Irish Independent
22	8 July 2007	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Limerick	0-0	3-17 : 1-14	Munster Final	Irish Independent
23	29 July 2007	Croke Park, Dublin	Cork	0-0	3-16 : 3-16	All-Ireland Quarter-Final	Irish Independent
24	5 August 2007	Croke Park, Dublin	Cork	0-2	2-17 : 0-20	All-Ireland Quarter-Final Replay	Irish Independent
25	12 August 2007	Croke Park, Dublin	Limerick	0-0	2-15 : 5-11	All-Ireland Semi-Final	Irish Independent
26	1 June 2008	Gaelic Grounds, Limerick	Clare	0-0	0-23 : 2-26	Munster Quarter-Final	Irish Examiner
27	5 July 2008	Walsh Park, Waterford	Antrim	0-0	6-18 : 0-15	2nd Round Qualifier	Irish Independent
28	21 July 2008	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Offaly	0-0	2-18 : 0-18	4th Round Qualifier	Irish Independent
29	27 July 2008	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Wexford	0-0	2-19 : 3-15	All-Ireland Quarter-Final	RTE Sport
30	17 August 2008	Croke Park, Dublin	Tipperary	0-2	1-20 : 1-18	All-Ireland Semi-Final	RTE Sport
31	7 September 2008	Croke Park, Dublin	Kilkenny	0-0	1-13 : 3-30	All-Ireland Final	RTE Sport
32	14 June 2009	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Limerick	0-0	0-11 : 1-08	Munster Semi-Final	Irish Independent
33	20 June 2009	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Limerick	0-0	0-25 : 0-17	Munster Semi-Final Replay	RTE Sport
34	12 July 2009	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Tipperary	0-0	2-16 : 4-14	Munster Final	RTE Sport
35	26 July 2009	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Galway	0-0	1-16 : 0-18	All-Ireland Quarter-final	RTE Sport
36	9 August 2009	Croke Park, Dublin	Kilkenny	0-0	3-15 : 2-23	All-Ireland Semi-final	RTE Sport
37	7 June 2010	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Clare	0-0	0-22 : 1-15	Munster Semi-final	RTE Sport
38	11 July 2010	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Cork	0-0	2-15 : 2-15	Munster Final	RTE Sport
39	17 July 2010	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Cork	0-0	1-16 : 1-13	Munster Final Replay	RTE Sport
40	15 August 2010	Croke Park, Dublin	Tipperary	0-0	1-18 : 3-19	All-Ireland Semi-final	RTE Sport
41	12 June 2011	Semple Stadium, Thurles	Limerick	0-0	3-16 : 3-15	Munster Semi-final	RTE Sport

References

1. ^ http://www2.wit.ie/StudentLifeServices/SportRecreation/SportingAlumni/
2. ^ http://archives.tcm.ie/waterfordnews/2004/03/12/story13781.asp
3. ^ http://www2.wit.ie/News/News/2006/MainBody,5311,en.html
4. ^ http://archives.tcm.ie/waterfordnews/2004/11/05/story16175.asp
5. ^ http://www.waterford-news.com/news/story/?trs=cwauauojau
6. ^ http://www.munster-express.ie/sports/gaa-football/nire-defeat-stradbally-in-county-final-encounter/
7. ^ http://www.anfearrua.com/db.asp?a=topicdisplay&tid=514733
8. ^ http://www.rte.ie/sport/2007/0429/waterford.html
9. ^ http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling/dynamic-dan-adds-some-extra-dash-for-the-dise-995588.html
10. ^ http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2008/0907/kilkenny_waterford.html?gaa

Further reading

• Waterford News & Star article

Sporting positions
Preceded by Paul Flynn	Waterford Senior Hurling Captain 2007-2008	Succeeded by Stephen Molumphy

Persondata
Name	Walsh, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	23 April 1983
Place of birth	Stradbally
Date of death
Place of death