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Cork’s deliverance is due any day now, so why not here?
There were sighs of relief among most Cork hurling supporters when this draw was made and they found themselves paired with Waterford but those sighs of relief could be turned to groans of regret by tomorrow evening.
By Diarmuid O’Flynn
As pointed out repeatedly by manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy inrecent days, Cork have a very poor recent record against Waterford, and under their new manager Michael Ryan this is now also a Déise team on the rise. Where Cork hurling has been energised by the appointment of Jimmy, Ken McGrath appears to have had the same effect on Waterford.
Early in the year they were struggling which led to a shake-up in the management team, Ryan bringing the recently retired Ken on board as coach/selector. Immediately there was a turnaround in Waterford’s fortunes and from looking like certain relegation fodder they recovered superbly in their final two games to secure their Division 1A status. They then went on to beat Clare in the Munster semi-final, put up a good fight against Tipperary in the provincial final before being eventually subdued.
Make no mistake then, this is one hell of a tough draw for Cork to have got. Unlike against Kilkenny or Tipperary, Waterford have no major psychological scars when facing Cork — the opposite in fact and some of their greatest days, some of their greatest wins, have been against their western neighbours.
Moran, Molumphy, Mullane – you think they’ll fear Cork? Noel Connors, the Mahony brothers, Maurice Shanahan and Shane Walsh, you think they won’t relish the opportunity to continue Waterford’s great recent record against the red-men?
This isn’t to dismiss Cork’s chances, not at all. There’s a potentially outstanding team developing Leeside but there’s a precociousness there also, a fragility. They raised their game against Tipperary first time out in the championship this year, were up to the required intensity levels, but that fragility cost them, point-scoring opportunities wasted, goal-scoring opportunities eschewed.
Against both Offaly and Wexford subsequently in the All-Ireland qualifiers there was an even more marked departure from the standards necessary at this level, a lowering of the intensity, a lack of the kind of killer instinct and ruthlessness needed at the top.
It will come, that’s certain, and when it does this Cork team will be a match for any, but when? If it’s not there tomorrow then be sure of this, Cork will not get past this hurdle. The thinking here though is that it will be there, that Jimmy and his management team will make sure it’s there.
As with Waterford, there’s great talent in this Cork team. Donal Óg Cusack is a huge loss but Anthony Nash is proving a revelation in goal and is even a scoring threat from penalties and from long-range frees. Full-back and, to a lesser extent, centre-back is proving problematic but everywhere else they are really well served, an explosive attack well captained and well led by Patrick Horgan.
Big game for both sides, hopefully will live up to the standard set over the last decade.
Verdict: Cork