Cork and Waterford remain optimistic ahead of next battle

WATERFORD will face into next weekend’s replay with the same confidence with which they approached Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC quarter-final, according to selector Seamie Hannon.

Hannon agrees that they have every reason to be optimistic, because of the team’s battling qualities, which have been in evidence in all of their big wins this season.

“You’d have to take pride from the way the lads play on. It has given this team a new lease of life. It wasn’t in Waterford teams until Justin (McCarthy) came,’’ he said. “They really play out the 70-minutes plus. They proved it in Croke Park on Sunday. They weren’t gone nearing the end, even though we looked dead and buried. With two minutes left and we were four points down you would have felt we’d be pushing our luck to get a draw. You would have been inclined to think that the match was going to swing in Cork’s favour, that it was their game. We had that chance at the end where we could have stolen it. Donal Óg Cusack made a brilliant save. I don’t know how he stopped it. But we were still able to grind out a result.”

Meanwhile, Cork selector Cathal Casey was prepared to admit that, on the overall analysis, they were reasonably satisfied with the outcome. “There were times when they were winning by a fair few points, and at that stage we’d have accepted a draw,’’ he said. “But there were times when we looked like winning. I suppose, all in all, it was balanced. Cork and Waterford seem to bring the best out of each other. A draw was probably a fair result. We were disappointed not to win, but we’re hopeful of winning the replay. We have had a lot of matches, but we’re still in the championship.’’

As far as the management are concerned, that’s very much to the credit of the players and the positive attitude they have shown all through the campaign. “We’d have liked to start well, but it didn’t happen for us. In that situation you hope the players would have the character to dig out of it which, to be fair, our lads did.’’

It was only the fourth drawn game between the counties in the championship, the most recent being in the 1989 Munster semi-final in Thurles. The previous draws were in 1965 in Thurles and 1931 in Clonmel. Both of these games were won by Cork and Waterford were triumphant in 1989.