A victory built on teamwork and early second-half scores
"We are only halfway to our objective," he said."There are still two very difficult hurdles to overcome but, yes, it was very pleasing to have turned a five-point half-time deficit around in the second half.
"People may not realise it but the wind played a major factor. There was no panic at half-time when we went in five points down, as it was worth a couple of scores.
"We pointed out at half-time to the players that they had to relax a bit more on the ball. They weren't hurling within themselves and I told them that when Waterford upped the ante in the first half we failed to respond. Thankfully they did so in the second half and played with more passion.
"It was important to get early scores in the second half and, once we achieved that, everything seemed to go well for us from there on."
Goals win matches, and Cork got their share yesterday. The first one by Setanta Ó hAilpín was crucial, as it got the Leesiders back into the game at a time when Waterford were rampant.
"It kept our heads above water because Waterford had struck a purple patch and we were clearly struggling to contain them. We were second to the ball all over the field and it wasn't looking good for us.
"Fortunately, Waterford hit a couple of bad wides which kept the pressure off us in the run-up to half-time. I felt that a five-point lead wasn't insurmountable given the wind."
Never one to criticise his players in public, O'Grady felt the Cork defence played well enough all through, but did agree there were a couple of mistakes made, which will be worked on ahead of the All-Ireland semi-final.
"When you are playing against such a strong wind as we did in the first half, the tendency is for the ball to come back into the defence more frequently and, as a consequence, there are bound to be mistakes made.
"The knack is to minimise those mistakes and I feel, over the 70 minutes, our defence acquitted themselves very well.
"To be fair to Waterford, they rocked us with a goal and three points on the trot but, credit to our defence, they hung in well, particularly for the last quarter of the first half.
"That was another crucial factor in our victory.
"Expectations were always going to be high after the display against Clare, but because of local championship games we had only seven days to prepare for today's final, and that wasn't a sufficient time to come down from the high of the Clare victory and to get back up again for today's game.
"We were a bit flat in the opening half but no team is going to dominate a match from start to finish. That is why I was very pleased that when we took control early in the second half, we got a couple of quick scores which gave us the impetus to drive on."
In keeping with his management style, O'Grady wouldn't single out any player for particular mention, adding that all 17 who took part contributed to the victory. "It was a team effort which won it for us," he said.
"There was never any question about the character of our team. They are a very committed group of players. So too are the back-room people, who must take a share of the credit for the victory. Everybody involved made a contribution.
"I may be the front man but I can tell you there is enormous work being done behind the scenes by all those involved, and today's victory is down to their efforts also.
"Looking at Waterford, our game plan was to try and contain John Mullane, Ken McGrath and Paul Flynn. Mullane is an exceptional talent and would trouble most defences, and containing two out of the three isn't bad," said the Cork coach.
For Tom Kenny, John Gardiner and Ronan Curran, who were playing in their first Munster senior final, it was particularly pleasing to make the major contributions they did.
Kenny, from the Grenagh club in mid-Cork, was following in the footsteps of fellow club-man Phil Duggan, who played with Cork in the 1950s.
"It was a fabulous victory," said Tom. "And I'm at a loss for words at the moment to describe how I feel. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I now know how players of the past felt when they won a Munster senior medal. It's brilliant.
"The key to our success was the early second-half scores and we were never going to be beaten once they went over," he said.
John Gardiner, who hit four magnificent long-range points which broke the heart of the Waterford side, said:
"Holding them to just five points at half-time was the key to our success as the wind was exceptionally strong. Once we got in front, there was no way we were going to be beaten."
Ronan Curran, who played a starring role at centre-back, said he thoroughly enjoyed the match, particularly the last ten minutes, when Cork led.
"It was never going to be as easy as the Clare game but the lads rose to the challenge. Waterford attacked in waves in the opening half, but our defence stood firm and the second half was brilliant once we got on top."
Since taking over as chairman of the County Board late last year, it all seems to be going right for Jim Forbes and Cork. Forbes, who played a major role in pulling all sides together following a player strike last Christmas, said he was absolutely amazed at the transformation that has occurred, but added that he wasn't surprised.
"Everybody has put in a tremendous effort since getting back to training, and today we got the reward for a lot of hard work."
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