William Buckley stars on debut but tougher tests to come for Cork

William Buckley scored 1-4 for Cork on a wondrous debut against Waterford. Pic: ©INPHO/Tom Maher

AHL Division 1: Cork 3-25 Waterford 1-17 

The healing has started. The scorching of opposition has resumed.

From the wrong end of a 15-point hammering on July 20 to the right side of an almost 15-point hammering on January 25, the competitive reign of Ben O’Connor is off to a bright and familiar start.

There wasn’t much competitive about this League opener. A crowd of 20,464 filed curiously into Páirc Uí Chaoimh to see for themselves how Cork are going to go about treating a gaping wound. There wound up being very little to see, wounds or otherwise.

As a first step in rebuilding morale and momentum, Cork could not have had it handier. Not a single hard question was asked of them. There was nothing here to test the collective mental state.

Indeed, by game end, there was more intrigue over the worrying direction Waterford are headed in than the main prize direction Cork are looking to get back to.

Yes, the Ballygunner contingent was absent. But how many from the All-Ireland club champions are actually going to step up and will that number be anywhere near sufficient to plug the many deficiencies evident here?

Defensive resistance was non-existent. Only two of their starting six forwards were on the mark. It is no exaggeration to say their afternoon was done as early as the 12th minute and Cork already 0-10 to 0-1 clear.

Given the one-sided nature to proceedings - Cork’s 2-16 led 0-9 half-time and their lead peaked at 16 points on 56 minutes - we’ll not concern ourselves with match specifics. We’ll look instead through the winning line-up and who of the established and unestablished made an impression.

Full-back Dáire O’Leary was starting his first game since the spring of 2023. It was difficult to appraise his return to red. The reflexes of Patrick Collins behind him meant O’Leary’s assignment, Seán Walsh, did not raise a first half green flag. The relentless authority of Rob Downey and Mark Coleman in front of him meant meaningful examination of O’Leary’s No.3 credentials were scarce.

Tommy O’Connell’s work ethic at midfield complemented the more stylish contribution of Darragh Fitzgibbon. On 70 minutes, and deep inside their own half, there was the pair of them combining to overturn Mark Fitzgerald.

Brian Roche was enjoying first starting involvement since last May's Munster win over the Déise. He was the last of the six forwards onto the scoresheet on 34 minutes. That was no reflection of his contribution. He carried with menace. It was he who won the first-half penalty when drawing a black card foul from the aforementioned Fitzgerald.

Deccie Dalton dispatched the penalty. Part of his first-half 1-4. He also assisted the opening goal scrambled home by Alan Connolly. If he wasn’t part of the conversation for inside championship consideration, he is now.

Ben O’Connor cut a slightly bemused figure when asked post-match by a fellow press box member how long Dalton at full-forward had been in the works.

“Deccie has played full-forward for Fr O’Neill’s, he has played full-forward for Cork before. It isn’t any great thought on our behalf. Deccie can play anywhere. Deccie could be in goals, he’s that good of a hurler. He has good touch, good movement, and a good head. Today we saw him inside and he played well in there until he got injured,” O’Connor said of Dalton’s 41st minute departure.

Beside him in the inside line was a red helmet-wearing Barrs man clipping 1-4 from play. But no, it wasn’t Brian Hayes causing usual wreck. A wondrous debut for William Buckley.

Hugh O’Connor, off the bench, will also harbour happy memories of his first Cork outing. He pointed with his first touch and later assisted a Mark Coleman minor. Another sub, Alan Walsh, was involved in Buckley’s 46th minute major. It represented an immediate reply to Shane Bennett’s converted penalty following Downey’s black card foul on 13-point contributor Reuben Halloran.

If there was little by way of a contest, the various auditions playing out all over the field kept this latest Cork League crowd of 20,000-plus engaged.

“We were lucky enough that we had nine or 10 of the more experienced fellas, and we were able to fire in the few younger fellas to help them out. Not that they needed any help out there today,” said O'Connor.

To compound a dreadful outing on Leeside, Waterford’s Seán Walsh saw straight red in injury-time for an off the ball incident.

For Cork, a fourth successive double-digit League victory. A return to emphatic winning ways. The first step in turning the page from traumatic 2025 finish to starting afresh in 2026.

Scorers for Cork: D Dalton (1-0 pen), W Buckley (1-4 each); A Connolly (1-2, 0-1 free); D Healy (0-4); D Fitzgibbon (0-1 free), S Barrett (0-3 each); M Coleman (0-2); T O’Connell, B Roche, H O’Connor (0-1 each).

Scorers for Waterford: R Halloran (0-13, 0-8 frees, 0-2 ‘65s); Shane Bennett (1-0, 1-0 pen); J Barron (0-2); D Lyons, C Lyons (0-1 each).

CORK: P Collins; N O’Leary, D O’Leary, S O’Donoghue, C O’Brien, R Downey, M Coleman; T O’Connell, D Fitzgibbon; B Roche, S Barrett, D Healy; A Connolly, D Dalton, W Buckley.

Subs: A Walsh for Dalton (41, inj); H O’Connor for Barrett (48); E Roche for D O’Leary (50); M Mullins for Downey (54); R O’Flynn for Healy (61).

WATERFORD: B Nolan; C Prunty, C Keane, D Lalor; I Daly, M Fitzgerald, Shane Bennett; D Lyons, S Mackey; R Halloran, J Barron, J Fagan; J Power, S Walsh, C Treen.

Subs: J Booth for Fagan (8 mins, inj); B Lynch for Lalor (20); C Lyons for J Power (41); M Kiely for Booth (51); M Power for Daly (58).

REFEREE: J Murphy (Limerick).

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