No room for distractions as Cork think positive

The all-too-familiar criticism surrounding Cork hurling’s underage plight was yet again dragged front and centre in the wake of the county’s Munster semi-final defeat to Waterford earlier this month.

It was the very discussion which took place following the league final defeat at the beginning of May and, indeed, last year’s All-Ireland semi-final hammering at the hands of Tipperary.

And reference, no doubt, will again be made to the county’s abysmal underage record since the turn of the millennium if the Cork U21’s come up short against Waterford in this evening’s Munster semi-final — the Rebels have never lost an U21 fixture at home to the Déise.