Horgan says it’s too early to pass judgement

Allianz HL Division 1A: Cork v Clare

That’s not out of arrogance or talking down the Waterford side they drew with in Dungarvan. It’s all to do with the weather.

“I don’t think we ever played a game in conditions like it. There were pools of water, freezing cold . . . I know the Waterford manager Michael Ryan was saying in the papers during the week that it might have been as well not to play it — I was one of the lads out there, I couldn’t agree more!

“Seriously, though, it was one of those games where you learned nothing about how you’re going or how the opposition are going. It was just a case of ‘we’ll just get through this’ and build it up again in training during the week. You certainly wouldn’t be saying after the game that we are at this level or Waterford are at that level, the weather was just too bad to play. Both of us were happy with a point.”

Cork’s league opener was a very different story, however. The Rebels scorched past a sluggish Tipp, but again Horgan warns about reading too much into results.

“They weren’t at the races when they came down to Páirc Uí Rinn, maybe, but they weren’t bad at all against Kilkenny last weekend. That was a very big game for them and they came through it.

“We were delighted with the win but the Tipp game is ancient history at this stage. It’s all about Clare.”

Last week Davy Fitzgerald’s Banner side overcame Galway by two points in Ennis, a good result for a young team.

“You don’t beat Galway too easily,” says Horgan. “I know they were at home last week but its a good sign for Clare.

“I couldn’t say we know that much about Clare, because the night we played them in Sixmilebridge was a bit of a washout — that was the night there was an oil spill on the motorway outside Limerick, and a load of us were late for the game.

“We’ve prepared we’ll though. Training has been excellent, and that’s been coming through in our performances as well, I think. If we win tonight we’ll have five points on the board from three games. That’d be excellent going.”