Sharp-edged attack offers final options

WATERFORD proved last weekend just how hard it can be to break a losing habit in semi-finals and, until yesterday, the only other team in the country that could match them for heartbreak at the penultimate hurdle was the Cork footballers.

Three times in the last five seasons the Munster side have crashed and burned in the last four. None of those defeats was made any easier by the fact that Kerry were the team to evict them on each occasion.

Another team in green and gold barred their path to a first final in eight years here but, impressive as Meath had been at times this summer, they’re no Kerry. The ten-point buffer Cork sat on at the final whistle was proof of that.

“It was our third semi-final and there was no way we were leaving Dublin today without winning,” said selector John Corcoran. “We were more experienced than Meath.

“They are a work in progress, as they admitted themselves, and they probably got to this stage a bit earlier than they felt they would. We have had bitter experience here the last two years, so we will enjoy this one.”

Though far from a classic, Cork were the ones who provided most of the flashes of brilliance. Parsimonious as ever at the back, they cut loose up front despite the absence of their chief assassin. Criticised all summer for not utilising Michael Cussen properly, Cork shuffled their pack to excellent effect, dragging the big man back from the edge of the square and drafting Daniel Goulding into the mix, where he proved to be a potent threat alongside Donncha O’Connor.

It remains to be seen if Masters regains his fitness in time for the final but, if he does, it will be intriguing to see how Billy Morgan accommodates him as well as O’Connor and Goulding, who surely can’t be dropped after his three-point haul.

“Daniel Goulding came in and played very well,” said Corcoran. “In fairness, all the lads did very well. They upped the tempo. We were two points up at half-time and we felt we were physically fitter and the better football team.

“That’s how it worked out. They played very well in the second half. Forget about the games against Sligo and Louth. I was preaching all the time that we had done what we had to do against them. Perhaps they were better teams than they were given credit for.”

Players and management alike admitted afterwards to being peeved at the readiness of most of the pundits to write them off in the week leading up to this one, and they harnessed that sense of grievance to good effect.

The only question left now is who will join them? Their travails at the hands of Kerry have been well documented in recent years, but a win over their great rivals in the biggest game of all would be the ultimate redemption.

On the other hand, Cork’s track record against Dublin in the championship is a pretty good one and the presence of the Dubs in a first All-Ireland decider in a dozen years would allow the Rebels to slip under the radar before September 16.

Either way, the likelihood is that the winners of next week’s second semi-final will go into the final itself as heavy favourites, but then again, that hardly did Meath any favours yesterday, did it?

“There’s only one team can emerge from next week,” said Corcoran. “We have four weeks to prepare, the winners next week will have three. There’s a theory out there that a game every two weeks is the best way to go but we’ll be ready for the final. Thankfully, we don’t have to play the two of them. Whichever one of them wins, we’ll be ready for it.”