Cork’s midfield men likely to decide it

WHERE to start with these two? Look back over the last hurling decade, and while it’s been dominated by the crushing brilliance of Kilkenny, the best games have been between Cork and Waterford.

Nine meetings between 2002 and 2007, the spoils divided at four each, one draw. And what games; thrillers every time, not least the last two Munster finals they played in – 2003 (Cork 3-16 Waterford 3-12), 2004 (Waterford 3-16 Cork 1-21).

Huge scores, 3-16 a popular number; in the drawn All-Ireland quarter-final of 2007 it was 3-16 apiece, before Waterford went on to confirm their superiority in Munster in a replay (2-17 to 0-20).