Cork Advance Against Poor Waterford Side

There can be no disputing that the best team playing at Semple Stadium today advanced to this year’s Munster Senior Hurling Final and a meeting with Clare as Cork for the second game in a row put in a very solid seventy minutes of hurling and in the process wrapped up for the second game in a row an excellent tally on the scoreboard at the end of what was in all honesty a very disappointing game of hurling.

The winners who finished the game with fourteen players after Colm Spillane was sent off inside the last ten minutes of this game after he collected a second yellow card. In the eight or so minutes of the seventy minutes that remained and in the five which were added on you could be forgiven for thinking that it was the winners that had an extra man on the field in the closing minutes.

While some appeared after the game to blame referee Barry Kelly for the loss for Waterford for not awarding a penalty for a second half foul on Maurice Shanahan, it should also be noted that Waterford were very lucky not to have two players sent off for dangerous tattles.

At the break the sides went to the dressing rooms all square locked at ten points each on the score board. Cork however were marginally the better of the two sides in the opening thirty five minutes and would have gone in at the break in front but for two Stephen O’Keeffe saves late on in the half, the second of which is bound to be a contender for save of the year, even at this early stage of championship 2017.

Cork opened the scoring on two minutes when from an Anthony Nash restart after a Kevin Moran effort went wide, the sliotar was worked to Patrick Horgan who landed it over the head of Stephen O’Keeffe.

Darragh Fitzgibbon extended the Rebels lead on four minutes but a minute later Stephen Bennett registered his sides first score of the game when he pounced on a breaking ball.

Waterford drew level on seven minutes when Pauric Mahony who was Waterford’s most industrious forward in the opening half when he shot over from play and a minute later Maurice Shanahan found Stephen Bennett who hit his second score of the game.

Seamus Harnedy levelled matters for the second time on nine minutes and a minute later the 2016 Young and Adult Hurler of the Year Austin Gleeson with a brilliant piece of skill pointed to give Waterford the lead once more.

Mark Coleman levelled matters once more on thirteen minutes, but Cork quickly went two in front with a brace of scores from the impressive Conor Lehane who was a reported injury doubt for Cork before this game.

Pauric Mahony and Patrick Horgan swapped scores before Mark Ellis Pointed for Cork to give the Rebels a three point advantage with eighteen minutes played. Points from Pauric Mahony and Shane Bennett quickly followed to leave just one between the sides with twenty two minutes showing on the clock.

Horgan pointed for Cork again with ten minutes of the first half remaining only for Pauric Mahony to point from a free following a foul on Stephen Bennett by Colm Spillane.

Six minutes from the break Jamie Barron was booked for Waterford after he fouled Seamus Harnedy and from the resulting free Horgan made no mistake in putting the sliotar over the Waterford crossbar to go two points in front.

Tadhg De Búrca helped set up Jamie Barron on thirty three minutes and a minute later Kevin Moran equalised once more, but Cork could have had at least one goal just before this as Stephen O’Keeffe does well keep efforts from Alan Cadogan and then Seamus Harnedy out of the Waterford net.

Cork began the second half with a point inside ten seconds from a Bill Cooper effort put Waterford cancelled the Youghal man’s effort out with an Austin Gleeson effort.

Points from Patrick Horgan from a sixty five and then Conor Lehane from play gave Cork a 0-13 to 0-11 lead on thirty nine minutes and from here, Cork never fell behind.

Horgan followed up with a brace to open a four point lead with forty two minutes played after which Pauric Mahony put over from the middle of the field.

Waterford at this point were fortunate not to have had their numbers cut when Stephen Bennett sent off when he grabbed the helmet of Damien Cahalane and pull him backwards which went unspotted by the officials. Had one of the officials spotted it, the Ballysaggart man would have been sent to the line.

The game’s only goal came on forty six minutes when Maurice Shanahan got lucky with a break and as his older brother Dan did many times in the past the big Lismore man blasted to the net to level matters 1-12 to 0-15.

The goal failed to ignite the Waterford attack as Patrick Horgan on forty seven minutes, Conor Lehane on fifty two and Alan Cadogan a minute later all landed points for the eventual winners. In fact after the big Lismore man beat Anthony Nash, the side in White and Blue managed just three further scores.

Waterford however were again fortunate not to have their numbers cut by this stage as in the build up to Horgan’s point from a free Barry Coughlan dragged down Conor Lehane. Barry Kelly issued the Ballygunner Man a yellow card but on another day or maybe with a different referee, the card colour could have been red.

A point from Brian O’Halloran on fifty six minutes left two between the sides once more but it was quickly cancelled out with efforts from Michael Cahalane and Patrick Horgan to open up a 0-20 to 1-13 lead for Cork with twelve minutes still to play.

Darragh Fives was booked only seconds after coming on for his brother Shane on sixty one minutes with Seamus Harnedy yellow carded for the same incident. A minute later Maurice Shanahan went to ground inside the Cork box but the Westmeath official waved play on. Seconds later Colm Spillane was ordered off by Barry Kelly after he picked up his second yellow of the game for a foul on Thomas Ryan.

Harnedy pointed on sixty four minutes to open up a five point lead, which was followed by an effort for Waterford from Jamie Barron.

Points from Horgan and then Luke O’Farrell on seventy minutes sealed the win for Cork, and while Maurice Shanahan would hit a stoppage time point for Waterford it proved to be but a mere consolation score for Waterford.

This game might not have reached the heights of the battles between these two sides for a decade in the last decade but for now Cork won’t mind too much as they are back in the Munster Final next month against Clare where they will be seeking revenge for their All-Ireland defeat in 2013.

For Waterford it’s the qualifiers, and with the likes of Tipperary, Kilkenny, Dublin and Limerick in the draw, Waterford will know that as the draw progresses, there will be no easy draw if Waterford are to have a date in Croke Park later this year.

Down the years Waterford have played some of their best hurling in at the Home of Hurling, that is Semple Stadium, but today Waterford never looked like a side that had a chance of appearing in the third Munster Final in a row, as the eleven weeks without a competitive game and even a long layoff without any competitive games in the club championship showed as Waterford were very flat.

Cork in 1999 fielded what was a very young team in the championship with some experienced players thrown in. This year the Cork Management team are doing much the same and no doubt there will be questions asked in some hurling homes, not just in Cork but right around the country, will this present Cork side go on to be as successful as the side put together for the 1999 championship and the championships that followed for almost a decade.

Cork: Anthony Nash; Stephen McDonnell, Damien Cahalane, Colm Spillane; Christopher Joyce, Mark Ellis, Mark Coleman; Bill Cooper, Darragh Fitzgibbon; Luke Meade, Conor Lehane, Seamus Harnedy; Alan Cadogan, Patrick Horgan, Shane Kingston. Subs: Michael Cahalane for Shane Kingston (55), Daniel Kearney for Darragh Fitzgibbon (60), Luke O’Farrell for Luke Meade (60), Brian Lawton for Conor Lehane (68), Dean Brosnan for Alan Cadogan (72).

Scorers: Patrick Horgan 0-10 (0-7f, 0-1 ’65), Conor Lehane 0-4, Seamus Harnedy 0-2, Mark Ellis, Mark Coleman (0-1 sideline), Bill Cooper, Darragh Fitzgibbon, Alan Cadogan, Michael Cahalane, Luke O’Farrell 0-1 each.

Waterford: Stephen O’Keeffe; Shane Fives, Barry Coughlan, Noel Connors; Conor Gleeson, Tadhg de Búrca, Philip Mahony; Jamie Barron, Kevin Moran; Stephen Bennett, Pauric Mahony, Michael Walsh; Austin Gleeson, Maurice Shanahan, Shane Bennett. Subs: Thomas Ryan for Stephen Bennett (46), Brian O’Halloran for Shane Bennett (54), Darragh Fives for Shane Fives (58), Jake Dillon for Austin Gleeson (63), Patrick Curran for Michael Walsh (66).

Scorers: Pauric Mahony 0-5 (0-1f), Maurice Shanahan 1-1 (0-1f), Stephen Bennett, Austin Gleeson, Jamie Barron 0-2 each, Brian O’Halloran, Shane Bennett, Kevin Moran 0-1 each.

Referee: Barry Kelly (Westmeath)