Waterford really left this one behind them
First, Waterford got tired in the last 10 minutes of this game; second, the Cork substitutions all worked, the Waterford substitutions didn’t.
It’s that simple.
Speaking of those substitutions, one thing it told me was that from now on Cork should use Cathal Naughton only as a sub. Why? Some players can start and play well, some can come in and have a major impact — Naughton is the latter.
Every time he’s brought on as a sub for Cork, especially in a game where they’re under pressure, he delivers, and he did exactly that yesterday. Maybe Cathal won’t like to hear that but that’s how I see it; he is a brilliant go-to guy in that situation and yesterday, as Waterford legs were tiring, he was the difference.
Make no mistake though, Waterford threw this game away, enough blame to go around on the field and off. They were under pressure from the start, Cork racing into an early lead, but Waterford’s management team reacted very well. Kevin Moran was moved to midfield, John Mullane to wing-forward and they did tremendous work, turned the game completely around in Waterford’s favour in the second quarter.
Then what did Waterford do? Cork shifted Sean Óg Ó hAilpín to the other wing, where he thundered into the game — Waterford should have had Mullane go across with Sean Og, kept him under pressure, but didn’t.
Once Sean Óg came back into the game, however, he was tremendous, a great second half. Bad enough that Waterford didn’t have Mullane follow Sean Óg, but their own players then started taking him out of the game, pumping the ball anywhere but where John was situated.
Look at the mistakes Waterford made when they were in a winning position with only minutes to go; Eoin McGrath dropped a ball with goal at his mercy, Shane Casey fluffed a shot for a point with two men free on his left. Contrast that with the two Kilkenny goals in their second half — Fogarty and Fennelly didn’t miss. If Waterford had converted either of those chances they’d be in an All-Ireland semi-final this morning, which would have been no more than the likes of Kevin Moran, Brick Walsh, John Mullane and especially, Stephen Molumphy deserved.
Cork did win, however, and they can thank their full-back line of Shane O’Neill, Stephen McDonnell and Brian Murphy, and their full-forward line of Paudie O’Sullivan, Luke O’Farrell and Patrick Horgan, who, on very limited possession, still managed ten points. A lesson they must learn if they want to make an All-Ireland final, how to get fast ball to this trio.
A move that baffled me — I know Brick Walsh was going well but Cian McCarthy had got three points from play. Why was he taken off? Still, Lorcan McLoughlin — his replacement — did play well as did substitute midfielder Darren Sweetnam, centre-back John Gardiner and Cork’s final substitute, newcomer Stephen Moylan.
Job done for Cork yesterday, now it’s on to Croke Park, which will suit all those younger players, though I’m not so sure though about some of the veterans. They’ll all need to improve though, that’s for sure.
