Can Déise sustain this intensity?
Waterford finally put Cork to the sword yesterday in the All-Ireland quarter-final replay at Croke Park, before 55,000 witnesses, after a hurling diet so rich, it’s a wonder we don’t all have gout.
Talk about starting as you mean to go on: in the first minute, Seamus Prendergast looked for a point, only to see Donal Óg Cusack save. As omens go, given its echo of last year’s semi-final, it was a bad one for Waterford, and they were under pressure early on.
Keeper Clinton Hennessy was busy, as three times Cork looked for goals in the first 10 minutes. As a statement of intent from Cork it was unmistakable; so was Hennessy’s clean sheet.
The men in red were far sharper than Waterford in the first half, with Tom Kenny and Jerry O’Connor processing much of their possession. By contrast, Waterford were less cohesive; captain Michael Brick Walsh’s salmon leap for possession would have caught the eye of Australian Rules scouts, but his side were hurling individually, in patches rather than as a team.
Until about 20 minutes in. Stephen Molumphy, rivalling Tom Kenny and Brick Walsh for the title of the hardest working man in sport, won the ball and fed passed to Dan Shanahan on the 21. Do you need to ask what happened next?
Having dominated the first half, Cork went for their cup of tea one point up. Waterford had yet to fire, so let Molumphy tell you what happened next: “Justin (McCarthy) spoke to us at half time, saying we were only in second gear and that we were capable of a lot more. He said we needed to keep our composure. In the second half we did that.”
And how. Waterford kept pace with Cork, point for point throughout, and you had plenty of jostling for room on the highlight reel: we were divided between a 42nd-minute Ben O’Connor point from the sideline — on the run, of course — and Ken McGrath’s over the shoulder catch 10 minutes later, which was worth the price of admission alone.
With 13 minutes left Waterford were one up when the momentum finally lurched their way. A long delivery from Molumphy - who else? — beat the Cork full-back line, and inside, gloriously solitary, as inconspicuous as any man 6’3” tall and liberally tattooed can be, was Dan Shanahan one-on-one with Cusack. His ground stroke was a firm putt that Padraig Harrington would have been proud of, and the white and blue colours danced all around the ground.
Cork died hard. Ben O’Connor — superb throughout — kept them in touch, but Waterford had clearly learned a lesson from last week. With Cork looking for a goal, there was an extra defender or two in white and blue clogging the channels to goal. The game became even more fragmented when Neil Ronan took a heavy knock and was removed on a stretcher (happily he recovered quickly after the game).
The delay sent the game towards 78 minutes, but with five substitutes used, Cork had 14 men trying to chisel out a chance against 15.
Waterford had three points to spare at the final whistle. Cork boss Gerald McCarthy had no complaints.
“We’re dejected, the lads fought very hard to the end. You’d have to say Waterford were the better team on the day. The spurt they put in halfway through the second half gave them the lift they needed, and Dan Shanahan’s goals were the difference between the teams, the way he tucked them away, right into the corner as he’s been doing all season.
“Waterford deserved their win. It eases the pain a little bit when you know that.”
Though it’ll be little consolation, the men in red can take comfort in their contribution towards an immortal hurling summer. To paraphrase Joe Frazier’s corner men in Manila, nobody will ever forget what they did this season.
Or what Waterford have done. They must gear up for another Munster championship re-run against Limerick on Sunday, but if they can replicate their second half performance they have every chance of winning. Particularly if Mr Shanahan keeps this form going.
“He’s a bit of a legend alright, isn’t he?” asked Stephen Molumphy afterwards. There wasn’t much dissent.
In the curtain-raiser, the Wexford-Kilkenny All-Ireland semi-final, there were no surprises. Wexford came with intent, but their touch and accuracy hadn’t improved significantly since the Leinster final, and they went down 1-13 to 0-23.
Wexford badly needed an early goal, and they chased a rumour of a green flag on 13 minutes, when a dangling delivery into the Kilkenny goalmouth stayed in the air a fraction too long for David Doc O’Connor: PJ Ryan was brisk off his line to clear. Had Wexford goaled then the game might have been interesting, but the momentum drained away as Kilkenny cleared the ball downfield.
All over the field the Cats showed an adhesive touch and industry. They were brisk and accurate, and none more so than Henry Shefflin, who helped himself to 0-14.
Brian Cody moved Shefflin to centre forward early on, but you don’t leave the conductor hidden among the violinists, do you?
Their next opponents in the final took away some food for thought. Kilkenny only really motored with Shefflin at number 11, while Jackie Tyrrell and Michael Kavanagh weren’t overly delighted to be sprinting at the corner flags. Then again Tommy Walsh wore a hole in the bas of his hurley from clearing the ball, so getting at them isn’t easy.
Last word to Waterford’s Molumphy: “Limerick is the next battle, but every game for us is an All-Ireland final now.” Or an All-Ireland semi-final. Waterford are only 70 minutes from the promised land. If your heart can stand it, next week can mean only one game.
