More impressive Waterford ready to wrest title from Cork

IF there's one distinguishing feature about the meeting of Cork and Waterford hurlers in the Guinness Munster championship in Thurles tomorrow (4pm) it's to be seen in their respective paths to the final.

Justin McCarthy's team has been the more impressive en route, even if they came close to being dumped out by Tipperary in their last outing.

Last year when the counties again met in the decider it was a different story. A rejuvenated Cork had carried out a demolition job on Clare in much the same way that the Banner had swamped Tipperary in the opening round and justified their higher rating by taking the title.

In the early part of the game, Waterford had looked more accomplished, turning over with a five points lead and coming back twice to regain the lead after Cork stormed back, aided by the wind. At the end, it took a typically opportunist goal from Joe Deane to give them a four points win.

While Cork made it to the second phase of the League, they had some mixed results, whereas Waterford were more consistent and earned their place in the final after drawing with Tipp in Thurles. It's history now how they flopped against Galway, except that, unlike Tipperary 12 months earlier (after they had also been beaten in the League final) they produced a superb display in the championship against Clare only a week later.

The Banner were simply overwhelmed by the power of their hurling and were never in the hunt.

What followed in the semi-final was not quite as impressive, largely because they wasted too many scoring chances against a Tipp side that was over-reliant on Eoin Kelly as a consequence of the other forwards not responding. Ultimately after Ken McGrath had been forced off injured in the dying minutes it took a perfectly-taken goal from substitute Paul O'Brien to see them through.

It would be accepted that Cork did not have as testing a run, in the sense that the first-round game with Kerry was of no real value. And, the performance against Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds, when they finished three points ahead, was far from convincing. A mistake by goalkeeper Albert Shanahan which seems to have cost him his place for the qualifier game this evening presented Cork with the gift of a goal after half-time and set them up for victory.

However, they didn't have the scoring power to stamp their authority on the game and looked vulnerable after a late Limerick goal.

Notably, the two goals scored by Limerick came from full-forward Sean O'Connor, which posed questions about Diarmuid O'Sullivan's form. However, there's no better player to respond to a challenge and the expectation that he will be more effective in this game.

The changes made by the Cork management are interesting, especially the introduction of newcomer Garvan McCarthy from Sarsfields which represents something of a gamble. He is included in the half-forward line, an area where Cork have encountered problems not just last year but on and off for several seasons with Timmy McCarthy still limited by an ability to match his finishing with good ball-winning skills.

The re-arrangement at midfield a continuing problem area is also noteworthy, as is the recognition that John Gardiner is best suited to the half-back line (ideally in the centre)! Most intriguing of all is the decision to start Brian Corcoran because of the obvious question about his ability to last a full game. That seems to be an even bigger gamble!

I'm on record as expressing the view before the Cork/Limerick game that the champions would come from the other semi-final and, based on what I have seen so far, I still hold to that opinion.

To my mind, Waterford are better balanced, playing the better hurling and crucially promising more in the area of goal-scoring. From what I have seen of Cork in the league and championship, they haven't quite approached the high standard achieved last year.

However, that's not to suggest that they can't win, far from it. All it requires is for individual players to raise their game and thrust the team dynamic to a different level for the county's proud tradition to inspire victory.

That's the theory. The reality is that Waterford have been the more impressive, look more mature than they were last year and have a stronger panel. For these reasons I believe they will triumph.

WATERFORD: S Brenner; E Murphy, J Murray, D Prendergast; B Phelan, K McGrath, T Browne; D Bennett, E McGrath; E Kelly, D Shanahan, M Walsh; J Mullane, S Prendergast, P Flynn.

CORK: D Óg Cusack; W Sherlock, D O'Sullivan, B Murphy; J Gardiner, R Curran, S Óg Ó hAilpin; T Kenny, J O'Connor; G McCarthy, N McCarthy, T McCarthy; B O'Connor, B Corcoran, J Deane.