Dogged Déise pass tough Cork test
The throw-in was delayed by 15 minutes to admit a fine crowd of approximately 6,000, and they weren’t disappointed with the fare.
Waterford exploited the wind early yesterday, jumping into a three-point lead with Richie Foley (two frees) and Shane Walsh points in the opening three minutes. However, Cork settled, and with Donal Óg Cusack hitting low puck-outs into the breeze to his midfielders, Pa Cronin and Lorcan McLoughlin, the visitors began to dominate the centre.
Cronin and Luke O’Farrell narrowed the gap with points and then the scores began to flow in earnest — on nine minutes Waterford were six-three ahead, availing of the breeze to bypass midfield and the Cork half-backs.
Cork reeled them in again with scores from Patrick Horgan (two frees), Cian McCarthy and William Egan, and the sides were level, seven points each, by the 20th minute.
Waterford went three up thanks to Kevin Moran, John Mullane and Foley (free) but Cork came again, with Horgan and O’Farrell points, and by the break, it was 11-10 in favour of the hosts, Mullane’s late point giving them an edge.
It didn’t look too healthy a lead as they turned to face the breeze, but Deise boss Davy Fitzgerald wasn’t overly worried at that point.
“No, the lads have great character,” he said afterwards. “We were in trouble in midfield, we weren’t getting to the breaks. It was Ken (McGrath)’s first game back, and I don’t want to be too hard on him, and Richie (Foley) was at sea, but we talked about it at half-time and we rectified it in the second half.
“We were in control for large parts of the first half but if you give Cork loose ball, you’ll be in trouble.”
With Stephen Molumphy swapping places with McGrath, Waterford enjoyed more parity in midfield after the break, but the pace dropped a little generally after John Gardiner levelled the game with a 36th-minute 65.
Neither side could establish a decisive lead, swapping points instead. They each had a sniff of goal, with Waterford’s Maurice Shanahan having the best chance on 52 minutes as he bore down on Donal Óg Cusack, but that was snuffed out by a smart Brian Murphy block.
The sides were level with five minutes left, thanks to the impressive Shane Walsh’s fifth point from play. Cork had thrown Jerry O’Connor into the fray and he put Cork one ahead from halfway with three minutes left.
Waterford looked as though they’d be left to rue 16 wides they’d racked up during the game, particularly when Richie Foley was wide from long range after O’Connor’s score.
However, Foley showed plenty of character with a long-distance free to equalise yet again, and De La Salle clubmates Mullane and Moran combined in the right corner as the game approached injury time, with the latter putting Waterford ahead with a neat point.
“Kevin is well able to move forward,” said Fitzgerald. “You have elements who think he’s better at the back and others want him up front but he’s well able to do any of them, which is good.”
William Egan had a late — and difficult — shot, from wide on the left, to level matters for Cork, but his shot drifted past the posts.
“We had a chance to equalise and the way the other results went, another draw would have been good for us,” said Cork boss Denis Walsh.
“The full-forward line got ample possession, we just didn’t execute it. Fellas were taking two or three touches on the ball and at this level the ball is gone.”
Walsh accepted that Cork’s league campaign now hinges on their next outing, against All-Ireland champions Tipperary.
“Galway beating Kilkenny might change things, depending on how the other teams react, but our game against Tipperary will decide our league for us. If we get a result there, we’re back in it, if not, that’s it.”
His opposite number pointed to an equally different rendezvous.
“We’ve Kilkenny next, it doesn’t get easy,” said Fitzgerald. “I don’t know what it is — we met Tipp after they’d had two defeats, now Kilkenny after a defeat. They’ll probably be at their best but we’re happy with the challenge. We’ve work to do, but it’s mid-March. That puts it in perspective.”
Scorers for Waterford: R. Foley (0-5 fs) and S. Walsh 0-5 each; J. Mullane 0-3; K. Moran 0-2; P. Mahoney, S. Prendergast and M. Shanahan 0-1.
Scorers for Cork: P. Horgan 0-6 (0-4 fs); L. O’Farrell 0-3; P. Cronin, L. McLoughlin, C. McCarthy, W. Egan, J. Gardiner (65), B. Murphy, N. McCarthy and J. O’Connor 0-1.
Subs for Waterford: 22 E. Kelly for McGrath, 46; T. 23 Ryan for P. Mahoney, 65.
Subs for Cork: 18 R. Curran for C. O’Sullivan, 56; 21 J. O’Connor for McLoughlin, 59; 25 B. O’Connor for P. O’Sullivan, 64; 22 C. Naughton for N. McCarthy, 65; 26 M. Cussen for O’Farrell, 69.
Referee: Barry Kelly (Westmeath).
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