Can Waterford and Cork serve up another classic

The last weekend of May in recent years has come to mean one thing. Munster Championship Hurling is upon us.

 

Waterford drew one of the short straws last October when the draws were made which means that the county are going to be involved in the opening game of the championship.

 

Travelling to Semple Stadium is something that will not worry Waterford. Neither will the fact that the side Waterford are playing is Cork. After all in the past two decades, Waterford has played some of their best hurling at the Temple that is the Home of Hurling and many of these games happened to be against Cork.

 

Many people this year are of the view that Kilkenny are the favourites to win this year's All-Ireland Hurling Championship. I am not going to go against such views. Over the past fifteen years or so, they have proven to be the best side. Players have come into the black and amber jersey and players have gone, but they are still there year in - year out challenging for the Liam McCarthy Cup.

 

Last year they had a blip. They went out of the championship earlier than most would have expected in Leinster and then again on the scenic route to Croke Park.

 

But every team is entitled to such a blip every so often and as we saw already this year, they could well be back to where they believe they belong by winning the League Final against Tipperary.

 

Outside of Kilkenny, many are making Tipperary and Clare the favourites to challenge Kilkenny this year.

 

As much as I would love to say I think it will be Waterford that will challenge hardest, I can't as i feel it will be Cork that will challenge hardest.

 

The Rebels last year may have lost their place in the top flight for this years National Hurling League, just as Waterford did this year for next years league, Cork ended the year playing in Croke Park in an All-Ireland Final and Waterford will have to believe that they can do the same this year.

 

Cork it could be argued were somewhat unlucky not to win the two championship deciders against Clare. In the drawn game they were within seconds of winning the game and in the replay they would have won but for some poor marking which resulted in Clare getting some crucial scores some of which resulted in green flags.

 

Cork down the years has produced some top quality goalkeepers. Many will remember how good Ger Cunningham was. After he left Donal Óg Cusack quickly established himself and when injury forced him to take almost a year away from the game, Anthony Nash came in and established himself so much so that when the Cloyne man was ready to play again, he could not win his place back.

 

He will start between the posts on Sunday for Cork and could prove to be a match winner on either of the field.

 

It appears that Eoin Cadogan is not going to start on Sunday and if this proves to be the way, then who will come in for him and will the team he reshaped as a result. Maybe we could see Aidan Walsh on his return to the Cork Panel win a place.

 

Elsewhere in the backs Shane O'Neill, Stephen McDonnell, William Egan, Christopher Joyce and Damien Cahillane could all feature.

 

In the middle of the field and in attack Cork have plenty of options open to them with Pa Cronin, Daniel Kearney, Lorcan McLaughlin, Patrick Horgan, Conor Lehane, Luke O'Farrell, Jamie Coughlan, Cian McCarthy, Seamus Harnedy, Cathal Naughton who often spare his best performances for when playing Waterford and Paudie O'Sullivan who returns to the Cork panel this year after missing out last year after he picked up a serious injury while playing club hurling would cause most defences problems.

 

Heading into this weekend's game lady luck has not shunned on Waterford when it comes to some players availability.

 

Shane O'Sullivan during the week announced that he would not be appealing his sending off against Dublin in the league.

 

Most would agree that his sending off that day looked harsh and would not have got shown a straight red card in other years but the rules changed for 2014 when it comes to connecting with the helmet and going on available television pictures it would be hard to see the Ballygunner man win his case, even if the contact was minimal.

 

Stephen Daniels is still not available after a year out from the game and he will prove to be a loss. So too will Philip Mahony prove to be a major loss. He had a great opening to the year, but an injury while playing with Ballygunner against Ardmore rules him out of contention for some while to come.

 

At the other end of the field Maurice Shanahan and Stephen Molumphy are also going to be a loss. Jamie Barron is another loss.

 

The Ballyduff Upper man missed all of last year due to work commitments and many were looking forward to see him return to the side this year as many believe of the players that missed out last year from the 2012 panel he was the biggest loss.

 

Shanahan last year was possibly Waterford's best player. Against Clare he was the difference between the sides but when changes were made for the second half he was not as effective. In the game against Offaly his scores in no small part helped Waterford to advance. This year many were looking forward to see how he would have improved over the winter but Injuries over the past few months have restricted the amount of time he has had on the field of play.

 

Despite these losses however, Derek McGrath just like Jimmy Barry-Murphy will have fifteen players on the field against Cork and last night (Tuesday) named a strong side.

 

Stephen O'Keeffe is again between the posts for Waterford. The Ballygunner man is one of the best in the country right now and could well be a main stay in the team for a number of years to come.

 

In front of him Liam Lawlor returns to the team having missed the early part of the year due to injury. After Sean Cullinane retired Waterford tried a number of players in the full back position but could nail the number three shirt to his back. The Fourmilewater man over the past few years has proven to be out best suited to the position and could well be there for some time to come.

 

Either side of him will be Noel Connors and Tadhg de Búrca. The Passage man has established himself as one of the best corner backs around in recent years, while the Clashmore man since he came into the team earlier this year has quickly settled into the team and is keeping his place in the team ahead of more experienced players.

 

Michael Walsh is again at centre back and will have Barry Coughlan and Jamie Nagle either side of him.

 

Some are of the opinion that Kevin Moran should be our centre back this year and some believe that we could see him there yet with possibly other switches in the team involving Barry Coughlan who many see as a player most suited to the full back line swapping with de Búrca who plays his club hurling in the half back line.

 

In the middle of the field there is a De La Salle pairing named of Kevin Moran and Eddie Barrett. This will be Barrett's first championship start for Waterford, one that is well earned as he has really proven himself to be a quality player since coming into the Waterford set up.

 

In attack Pauric Mahony who in the Spring was almost unstoppable starts at centre forward and inside him Shane Walsh will be on the edge of the Cork square.

 

Colin Dunford and Austin Gleeson are named in the team for a championship game for the first time and are both set to start in the half forward line while Brian O'Sullivan and Jake Dillon make up the remainder of the team and are set to start in the corners but maybe we could see some movement amongst the forwards before the game starts.

 

If things were not to go right for Waterford on the day, then Derek McGrath will have a number of options open to him.

 

On the bench he will have the likes of Ian O'Regan, Shane Five who many would have expected to start the game, Richie Foley, Ray Barry, Gavin O'Brien and Seamus Prendergast could all be available to the management in a bid to shake things up.

 

Goals at either end of the field have proven to be a problem for Waterford all year. At one end of the field a large amount have gone in, but maybe with Liam Lawlor back in the side, the back line might be a bit tighter now.

 

At the other end of the field its scoring goals that have proved to be the problem. Not only have Waterford not scored many goals in competitive games, they did not create many goal scoring chances.

 

Six goals were scored in a recent challenge game with Offaly which will give the team confidence they can rattle the Cork net on Sunday, but there is a major difference between scoring in challenge games which are often played minus the services of established players and championship games.

 

Many will be privately thinking Waterford have little hope of beating Cork, but you cant go into any game like that. You always have to believe that you can win.

 

Waterford and Cork have the habit of bringing the best out of each other and although many of the players that were involved in the 'classics' between the sides over the past decade will not be in action this weekend, the players that will be on the field will have seen these games and the players will want to show that they can do what those before them could do.

 

Waterford will believe they can win this weekends game. Not believing they can win would be giving up before the game starts. The fact that Cork will be favourites should be a plus for Waterford. All Waterford teams seem to play at their best when they are the underdog. Hopefully this time will be no different.

 

The winners will be pitted with All-Ireland Champions Clare in the semi final in a few weeks time and they will go into that game as the underdog.

 

Can Waterford beat Cork? That's a silly question to ask. Of course they can. Will Waterford beat Cork? The answer to that I can't be so confident about. The Heart is saying they can, but the head is saying something else. We will have to wait a few more days to see which is correct.