Cahalane believes Munster loss to Waterford was 'turning point in our season'

Waterford were so shell shocked by the beating and the outcome that nobody turned up for the post match press conference.

Mon, 07 Aug, 2023 - 07:56

Paul Keane

They won't want to hear it now but it turns out that Waterford may have created a monster back in late April when they beat Cork in the Munster championship.

That quarter-final win, Waterford's first from over a dozen attempts against Cork since being restored to the top grade, came in Cork's back yard too, at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

Afterwards, according to Meabh Cahalane, the air was thick with tension in the Cork dressing-room. A quiet sort of fury gnawed away at them all summer.

"They really hit us that day in Pairc Ui Chaoimh," said Cahalane of the Deise. "They outworked us, the intensity they brought was huge, they really beat us all over the field that day. I think we kind of looked at ourselves collectively and individually and without anybody saying too much, training the next week went up a level.

"We have leaders all over the panel and I felt that training just went up that step afterwards, we felt we had something to prove. I definitely think that could have been a turning point in our season."

Cork certainly extracted revenge at Croke Park and Waterford were so shell shocked by the beating and the outcome that nobody turned up for the post match press conference.

What could Sean Power or any of his management team have said anyhow? It would have been a tough one to explain away. Perhaps things would have been different if Beth Carton had struck that Waterford penalty to the net late in the first-half but Cork always looked to have the game in the palm of their hand.

"Something we kind of focused on this year was playing the game in quarters," said Laura Tracey, another member of a Cork defence that held Waterford to just four points from play overall. "We went out and just played the first 15 minutes. Once the first 15 was over it was kind of like the start of a new game again. So play the next 15 and then it's half-time.

"We broke it into quarters and that kind of gave us a focus. Run your ass off and work your hardest for 15 minutes and see where that takes you. Then start all over again.

"That's something we focused on this year. We were gunning to get going though. As in, we had trained so hard all year and these are the places where you want to play. These are the places you want to be. I think everybody was looking forward to today, as much as people were probably nervous as well. But we were waiting for the ball to be thrown in since Friday night I think."

Every All-Ireland final win is sweet but this one will surely go down as extra special for Cork who beat the holders, Kilkenny, their great rivals, Galway, and then their neighbours, Waterford. They'd had a bone to pick with all three of those.

"I think today, when the final whistle went, it was probably one of my favourite sporting memories," said Cahalane. "I suppose a lot of us who would have played underage together, we'd be the so-called older players in the group now so that's just extra special. I'm just delighted."