Justin: why it’s so hard to put Cork away

ANYONE engaging Justin McCarthy in conversation about Sunday’s Guinness Munster hurling final will find he takes little notice of talk about Cork not being as formidable as they were perceived last season.

Privately, the Waterford manager might very well agree, but he's too experienced to be deflected from making a more realistic judgment. His approach is the one he would have taken as a player and coach, that Cork can never be underestimated in the championship and that when it comes to a Munster final they can be in a league of their own.

This 'talk' about the Cork team losing Setanta Ó Ailpín, as well as Alan Browne and, more recently, Pat Mulcahy is largely immaterial says McCarthy. His assessment is more basic. Form matters.

"Form is only something you had in the last game which could be last week, last month or yesterday. You have to have it in the present state," he explains.

"There's no doubt that Cork could strike form. Don't forget they have a lot of experience from playing last year. They won the Munster championship, got into the All-Ireland and had two great games with Wexford. That stands to a team. A final is a day in itself. Form has to happen. One team has to click!"

Equally, he attaches little importance to the fact that Waterford are contesting their third consecutive final obviously a source of pride to supporters and others but of little intrinsic value in terms of boosting their prospects.

But, of course there is a benefit to be gained solid experience. It's something "you don't see coming upon you, but it is there in the background and a help to you," comments McCarthy. "It enables a player to deal with situations that may arise, because he'll know what to expect from having played in bigger games.

"Experience is different to form, which is what you have on the day. You gain experience over a period. It's stored up, so to speak.

"Last year, when we were holders a lot of people expected us to win. We were very close but Cork played well and got the breaks at the right time in the second-half. There's a different kind of emphasis this year in a way. Not being holders doesn't make a huge amount of difference."

McCarthy was keen to point out that his team was very close to winning last year that it wasn't a case of them falling away after Cork stormed back in the second-half.

"What a lot of people forget is that Waterford came back again and went ahead. We had been ahead at half-time and then Cork took over. But we went a point ahead again. In the end, the goal from Joe Deane was crucial. But that's the nature of the Munster final the uncertainty. You can never judge. A player can come up on a given day and get a score.

"Cork have that capacity, realistically, to raise their game in a final and do something which carries them through. That was always the hallmark of Cork hurling and the opposition know that. Cork are always there up to the final whistle; you can never say that you have put them away."

McCarthy's intention at the start of the year was to bring on players as best they could to the panel and give them the experience that would enable them to break into the team. In that sense, the League was quite competitive, particularly in the second phase, and helped the management a lot. It also gave them a better idea of how the team was shaping.

"You have to take risks with players too. If they're showing up well in training and they have that know-how and skill, I wouldn't be afraid to bring them on. Brian Phelan come on at wing-back instead of Tony Browne in the semi-final, we had Michael Walsh centre-forward and we brought in Paul O'Brien. Paul got three goals against Dublin, a good young fellow who is learning his trade. He got that vital goal against Tipperary. It brought me back to the time Charlie McCarthy was playing for Cork. There are very few players who can get a goal off his left hand, from a ball coming across."

McCarthy makes no secret of the fact that he expects more from his team on Sunday. Video analysis of the game against Tipperary showed they made a lot of mistakes (they had 16 sides) and that while Brendan Cummins brought off a few great saves, 'they made hard work of beating them.'

"That would be a worry from my point of view," said Justin. "We would have to be more accurate at finishing off things a bit better than we did. A bit of carelessness crept into our play and nearly cost us the game."

The message for his players is quite simple. This time they can't afford to repeat their mistakes.

"If we don't play well we're not going to win it," he stated.