Exciting times for Waterford, says Kevin Moran

For all intents and purposes, it looked like Waterford were smarter cookies than Cork in both the mocks (Division 1 final) and exam (Munster semi-final) last year. As if Cork hadn’t learned from the trial run.

Kevin Moran wouldn’t paint it that way. As they cross swords again in Páirc Uí Rinn this Saturday, the Waterford captain says Cork weren’t tactically naive. “I think that’s unfair on Cork. I suppose they had their own way of playing, which at the time they thought might work. When you are in a game like that, sometimes you try and focus on what you are naturally good at and obviously carrying out a game-plan without hamstringing yourself over it and really focusing too much on it.

“There is a fine balance there, really. After that, it’s very hard to see what other teams are doing and see the naivety or how successful other teams are in their actual game-plan when they are playing. I think it’s more of a thing you’d notice more on the outside looking in.”