It’s Waterford V Cork – Part 2 in 2015

Just five weeks ago, Waterford and Cork travelled to Thurles to contest the 2015 Allianz National Hurling League Final.

It was a game that the experts were hoping that Waterford would win, but I guess deep down few could actually see Waterford win. It was one of those games where the heart and the head were saying different things.

And to be honest, heading into that May Bank Holiday Weekend, it was easy to see why so many heads were saying that Cork would win. It was a Division 1A team, one that had won Division 1B twelve months earlier, against the current Division 1B winners, the side that had replaced Cork in the competition for 2015 after getting relegated at the end of 2014.

Also history was on the side of Cork going into that final, as no side outside the top division had won the hurling league since Offaly did so in the early 90’s.

Heading into the final I was very optimistic that Waterford would win that game.

To reach the final Waterford had used up a lot of luck. Clare and Kilkenny missed out on the quarter final spots from Division 1A went in Waterford’s favour. (Cork and Tipperary were always going to qualify). Having won Division 1B and getting paired with Galway in the quarter finals was another slice of luck. The Tribesmen are often an average team or a poor team. When they visited Walsh Park they were a very poor team.

In the semi finals Waterford also had luck. At the very end of the game with Tipperary and Nolan Park it looked as if the Premier County had won a late ’65 even if had to be struck from the sideline, you would have to favour Seamus Callanan, a reliable striker of the ball to split the posts.

However, the luck for Waterford was that the ball struck the corner flag and went over the end-line and the umpire signalled a ’65 but was overruled by the referee who in accordance with the rules ordered that a sideline be taken instead. Why, I don’t know. The rules say that the ball has to be fully over the line for a sideline, wide or ‘65/45 to be registered and the ball did not cross the sideline in full but did cross the end-line in full. The G.A.A. has many rules like this. Had the flag as the rules allow, was placed a little behind the line, there would be no confusion however, as the ball would have crossed the sideline.

However, what happened in Nolan Park is now History. Waterford won the game and went on to meet Cork who came from 12 points down against Dublin in the first game at the Kilkenny Venue to book a place at the Semple Stadium decider.

As I pointed out above I was optimistic that Waterford would beat Cork in the League Final, as there is a belief now a-days that anytime a Waterford team take to the field to play opposition from Cork in a hurling game, there is a belief that Waterford can win.

Waterford as I say might have used up a little luck along the way to reached the final, but that can be a good thing. Waterford were winning games, just as Jimmy was winning matches a few years ago, but a lot of the time, you need luck and when you are winning games it breaths confidence.

Heading into this weekends game I am less optimistic. I am not however saying that Waterford will loose.

I have asked many people with the last few weeks how hard did Cork try in the League Final, or was it well and truly a case as many say that Waterford did not let them play as they can.

Waterford that day were good and were well worth their 1-24 to 0-17 win, but I can’t see Cork play as poor again as they did that day.

Heading into the league final Waterford manager Derek McGrath told the Waterford supporters and hurling supporters in general that there would be no shadow boxing in that game, with this game in mind. And there was no shadow boxing which was great to see.

However, I wonder has Waterford shown Cork a glimpse of the cards they are playing with ahead of the championship. We all know what that they say about the Cork lads are, and how cute they are. A word is often put after cute to describe Cork people, but we won’t use it here.  

While most sides that Waterford have played this year have found it hard to come up with a system to counter the one used by Derek McGrath and Waterford, but I cant but think Jimmy Barry Murphy, one of the all time greats, and his backroom team have somehow come up with something that they hope that will work.

I for one also can’t stop thinking back almost twelve months. The two sides be it with some different players involved clashed at the same venue. Waterford were well in control it appeared in the second half, but a Bill Cooper goal finishing to the net after Stephen O’Keeffe had made an outstanding save turned the game and Cork finished the game the stronger of the two sides to earn a draw.

Many in Waterford quiet rightly spoke in the week after the game how well Waterford had played and expected much the same again in the replay. Few however were talking about how poor Cork were in the drawn game. in the replay, we saw a much different Cork side. We saw a side that went ever so close to winning the All-Ireland Final the previous September. We saw a Cork side that went out and beat Waterford by 14 points, recording a double score win on the day.

I am not saying we are going to see the same thing happen this time around. I cant see Cork winning by double scores tomorrow in Thurles. I suppose what I am saying however is that we will see a better Cork side on Sunday afternoon than the one we say in the League Final. Will they turn around the 10 points they lost by in May? I don’t know.

Waterford as we all know are planning without Pauric Mahony for this game with some weeks now after picking up an injury while playing with Ballygunner against Ballyduff Upper in the Club Championship recently and it will be interesting to see how they will fair without his presence on the field as he was instrumental in all Waterford did in the league and was the sides top scorer.

Normally, Waterford would have a ready made replacement to take over the free duties from Mahony in Maurice Shanahan, but while the big Lismore man is named in the team to start against Cork it remains to be seen if in-fact he will play any part in the game as he sustained a leg injury while playing for Lismore in the Club Championship against Cappoquin recently.

The Lismore man was rated as 50/50 at starting all along, but during the week the odds were 60/40 that he will start and hopefully by 4pm on Sunday he will be 100% fit and that he can get through the full 70 plus minutes of the game.

Cork too have injury worries as Lorcán McLoughlin is ruled out with a number of weeks and will be a loss to Cork, but the good news for Cork is that Brian Murphy has answered the call from Jimmy Barry-Murphy and is set to start at Corner Back. There is some that are saying that the Bride Rovers man may be short of the required fitness for a game of this size, but something tells me that the 32 year old had come out of retirement much sooner than it was announced and that he will be rearing to go on Sunday afternoon.

Down the years, there have been some great battles between Waterford and Cork in the Championship and I expect this latest clash to be an interesting one as well.

The last five games between the two see Cork lead 2 wins to 1 with two draws as well, one of the games, the 2010 Munster Final which was won after extra time.

If we are to go on stats from these past five games, we are in for a high scoring game. in the last five meetings between the two Cork have averaged 22.2 points a game, Waterford an average of 19.4 points per game, but remember, the two sides have changed a lot over the past five games, so stats may be of no use to predicting a winner.

Stats from the last five championship games between the two have been examined. Here are some more. It has been a great rivalry over the past 17 years from when the sides met in the 1998 League Final at Thurles, and the sides have met on 15 occasions in the Championship since then, Cork have won seven times, Waterford have won five and there have been three draws.

If you are a regular reader of what appears on here, you will know that I have a belief that when two sides meet in close proximity, I often favour the side that lost the first day to win the second day.

When it comes to Inter County Senior Hurling I don’t think you can think along the same line. Every team is fairly evenly matched, and games can be won and loss by the smallest of mistakes.

I think it was former Liverpool Captain, Scotland International and Match of the Day pundit Alan Hansen that once said that you win nothing with kids. Alex Ferguson (unfortunately) showed him to be wrong shortly after he said it, and in hurling former Waterford Manager Davy Fitzgerald helped Clare win and All-Ireland in 2013 with what was a young team, and back in the late 1990’s current Cork Manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy won his first Senior All-Ireland as a Manager with what was a fairly young team.

Can Derek McGrath with a young Waterford team guide his charges to top honours? He has already won the league this year so is on the right road. However, league and championship are totally different.

Cork might be going into tomorrow’s game as the bookies favourites to win, but Waterford will have to believe that they can not for the first time prove the bookies wrong.

Cork will improve on their league final showing. But by how much can they improve? We know that both sides are without two big names. We wait to see what roll two more big names – Maurice Shanahan and Alan Cadogan who picked up an injury in the league final and who had to retire very early in the game will play in this game.

Waterford so far are without doubt the team of the year. Confidence is on a high right now. A win over the rebels would set up a Munster Final clash with either Tipperary (hopefully) or Limerick in the Munster Final next months and would help improve Waterford’s grade for the year to now by a grade or two.

So will be the happier supporters heading through Liberty Square tomorrow evening. Do you really need to ask? It’s Waterford for me, but I think it will be a much closer game than most are expecting. Maybe an extra payday for the Munster Council could not be ruled out again this year.