WATERFORD LAST night unveiled Michael Ryan as their new senior hurling manager to succeed Davy Fitzgerald. Ryan becomes the first native county man in 15 years to hold the position.

Ryan comes with a long and varied managerial experience and is also bringing an experienced backroom team of Pat Flanagan, Nicky Cashin and Brother Philip Ryan.

A special county board meeting was convened last night to ratify this management team – as recommended by the six-man appointment committee set up to find a successor to Fitzgerald, who has since returned to his native Clare.

Ryan was nominated by his own club, Fourmilewater, and first came to prominence as manager of the women’s All-Ireland-winning Waterford team, who collected five titles in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2000 he was a selector with the Waterford under-21 football team that beat Kerry in the Munster championship, after a replay, and more recently served as a senior hurling selector under Justin McCarthy when Waterford won both the National hurling league and Munster titles, in 2007 – before leading De La Salle to county and Munster club hurling honours last year.

Meanwhile, Galway will this evening take the penultimate step in finding their new senior hurling manager when three nominated candidates are interviewed ahead of next Monday’s decision to ratify a successor to John McIntyre.

The three candidates are recent All-Ireland under-21-winning manager Anthony Cunningham, plus two former All-Irelandwinning club managers in Micheal Donoghue of Clarinbridge, and Portumna’s Johnny Kelly.

Kelly’s chances were boosted with the news that former county star Tony Keady has agreed to come on board as a selector if he is successful, with former Antrim manager Dinny Cahill also in the running to become a selector.

However, Cunningham’s recent success with the Galway under-21s leaves him as favourite.