Naughton says Cork camp optimistic again

THE Cork hurlers left Páirc Ui Chaoimh last Sunday feeling much better about themselves, enthusiastic about the league encounters ahead. After the reversal against Kilkenny, the onus was on improvement against Galway. They duly delivered, chiselling out a three-point victory to re-ignite hopes of a promising spring.

“Yeah, it’s back on for us”, admits attacker Cathal Naughton. “If we’d lost on Sunday we’d have been under a lot of pressure after losing to Kilkenny. Every league game is important. It’s very competitive this year so we were very happy to beat Galway”.

It was a vast improvement on Cork’s first-half showing in Nowlan Park when they retreated at the interval with an eight-point deficit.