Students take Cork scalp

Cork fell at the first hurdle in the Waterford Crystal Cup this afternoon, going down to a hungry UCC side at Pairc Ui Rinn.

Denis Walsh's experimental side failed to score in the entire second half as a goal from Clare's All-Ireland Under-21-winning star Darach Honan set UCC on their way to an impressive win.

Towering footballer Michael Cussen had his first taste of competitive action with the Cork hurlers, lining out at full-forward, but he had little influence on proceedings - particularly after only arriving back in Ireland in the past day from a trip to Thailand.

With the new compulsory helmet ruling in force for the first time, Cork had two players donning helmets for the first time - goalkeeper Martin Coleman and midfielder Graham Callinan.

Walsh's charges made the early running and as Ray Ryan and William Egan set the tone in defence and midfield respectively, the Rebels burst into a 1-7 to 0-4 half-time lead.

Half-forwards Cian McCarthy and Mark Harrington also caught some good ball during a strong opening.

The 11th minute goal saw Cussen get on the ball before it broke for Paudie O'Sullivan who pounced on it ahead of UCC defender Conor O'Sullivan to fire home.

But UCC took the game to Cork in the second half, with half-backs Eanna Martin, Kevin Hartnett and Joe Jordan increasing their influence on proceedings with some excellent catches and clearances.

The pacy Luke O'Farrell impressed in attack, scoring some superb individual points, and Tipperary man Shane Burke was another forward who came to the fore, landing three points from play.

In addition to that, the introduction of substitute Honan proved a masterstroke by the UCC management as they watched their rejigged side hit 1-5 without reply.

UCC, the reigning Fitzgibbon Cup champions, will be back in action next Sunday when they journey to Kilmallock to face Justin McCarthy's Limerick side in a mouth-watering Waterford Crystal Cup quarter-final.