Five-star Cork fastest out of the traps with emphatic win over Waterford

Cork ended with 5-22 on the board, Waterford with 1-27: no wonder the scoreboard at the Blackrock End went dark, given the pressure it was under to keep up

Shane Kingston of Cork shoots to score his side's third goal. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Cork 5-22 Waterford 1-27

A reverse Line of Duty finale at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday, with a slashing finish enlivening all that preceded it.

Cork and Waterford served up an entertaining NHL 1A encounter, with the home side coasting to victory on their goals. Cork ended with 5-22 on the board, hitting three of those goals in the final stages of the game.

Waterford had 1-27 to their account at the finish: no wonder the scoreboard at the Blackrock End went dark, given the pressure it was under to keep up.

“It was important,” was how Cork selector Diarmuid O’Sullivan described the win.

“We had a long winter and the players worked away on their own. Today we came together as a collective.

“The players used the ball well, but without the ball we worked incredibly hard. That’s been a focus for us. Can we improve on it? One hundred per cent we can, but it’s a start. We won’t get carried away.” 

In the white and blue camp manager Liam Cahill was frank in his assessment.

“It should have been a lot more comprehensive,” said Cahill of the final scoreline.

“I thought we were well beaten, only Cork took the foot off the gas with 10, 15 minutes to go. We were in big trouble.” 

That flurry of late goals may overshadow perceptions of the game, but Cahill’s snap judgement was a fair summary of proceedings overall.

Cork looked just a little sharper than their opponents, and were quicker into their stride. Once they hand-passed their way through the Waterford defence for Robbie O’Flynn’s goal just after the first water-break, they were in control.

Patrick Horgan’s free-taking was as reliable for Cork as Stephen Bennett’s was for Waterford, but the home side had an edge in Darragh Fitzgibbon’s work-rate around the middle, a better spread of scorers, and in Tim O’Mahony they had the most influential player on show - the wing-back ranged up and down the field, scoring himself and supplying a vital pass for that Cork goal.

Cork led 1-12 to 0-8 at the break but Jack O’Connor availed of dithering at the back by Waterford defenders on 42 minutes: his low finish past Billy Nolan made it 2-15 to 0-10.

Waterford responded well to that goal, outscoring Cork 0-8 to 0-3 afterwards, but they needed a goal to bridge the gap and Cork never looked like conceding one. The home side kept in front through Horgan’s accuracy and struck for those late goals to ensure victory.

Supply your own comparison to buses coming along: goals from Cork subs Shane Kingston (one) and Aaron Connolly (two) were answered by Stephen Bennett (one) for Waterford. The overall effect was to give that final scoreline an antic disposition it didn’t entirely deserve, but that’s the League for you. The entertainment doesn't necessarily come with a basis in logic.

Cork’s management team will cast a cold eye on the game this morning and detect some confusion in the Waterford defence late on which contributed to the late goals: Calum Lyons’ late dismissal on a red card surely contributed to his colleagues’ disorganisation at that stage. It doesn’t devalue the goals from a Cork perspective so much as broaden the context. 

The concession of 1-27 will also be a subject of discussion at training this week on Leeside.

However, Kieran Kingston and his colleagues will be buoyed by a serious performance from a panel with just four players over the age of 25; newcomers Shane Barrett and Billy Hennessy got through a lot of work while O’Mahony’s involvement as an attacking wing-back is another plus for the Rebels. So was Patrick Collins’ performance in goal, even if his confidence tipped close to nonchalance more than once.

For the visitors, the trip back through Youghal and Dungarvan was a long one, but Diarmuid O’Sullivan’s point applies to Waterford as much as Cork: it’s just the beginning.

Liam Cahill’s side came close to the 30-score mark over the course of the game, and the likes of Iarlaith Daly and Kieran Bennett showed up well in the half-back line: the latter hit three points from play.

Cahill himself made the sharpest point about how managers, in general, might view the League: “I’d be more anxious to be really competitive in the last two matches of the League than in our first two, but that’s not taking from today.

“Cork were well worthy of their victory and look to be well ahead of where a lot of other teams are at the moment.” 

That’s the League. Next week is a chance for those other teams to catch up.

Scorers for Cork: P. Horgan (0-12, 8 frees, 3 65s); A. Connolly (2-0); R. O’Flynn (1-1); J. O’Connor, S. Kingston (1-0 each); D. Fitzgibbon (0-3); S. Barrett, T. O’Mahony (1 free)(0-2); L. Meade, S. Harnedy (0-1 each).

Scorers for Waterford: S. Bennett (1-12, 6 frees, 1 65); A. Gleeson (0-5); K. Bennett (0-3); M. Kearney (0-2); I. Daly, J. Fagan, S. McNulty, M. Kiely, P. Curran (0-1 each).

CORK: P. Collins; N. O’Leary, D. Cahalane, S. O’Donoghue; T. O’Mahony, M. Coleman, N. Cashman; B. Hennessy, D. Fitzgibbon; R. O’Flynn, L. Meade, S. Harnedy; J. O’Connor, P. Horgan (c), S. Barrett.

Subs: A. Cadogan for O’Connor and S. Kingston for Harnedy (both 53); D. Meaney for Hennessy (58, inj); A. Connolly for Barrett (65); C. Cahalane for O’Flynn (66); J. O’Flynn for O’Mahony, R. Downey for D. Cahalane (both 70).

WATERFORD: B. Nolan; I. Kenny, C. Prunty (c), S. McNulty; M. O'Brien, I. Daly, K. Bennett; D. Lyons, C. Lyons; J. Fagan, C. Gleeson, N. Montgomery; S. Bennett, A. Gleeson, C. Dunford.

Subs: B. Power for Montgomery (HT); P. Hogan for M. O’Brien and M. Kearney for Dunford (both 46); S. Fives for Kenny and P. Curran for C. Gleeson (both 53); M. Kiely for Fagan (66).

Referee: S. Cleere (Kilkenny).