Rebels’ relief as they survive a late surge
Waterford scoring burst not enough to overcome Cork
CORK 1-21 WATERFORD 1-19
HEADING for the hour mark, it looked like all was finally well in Cork’s hurling world. Straight after halftime, they’d hit Waterford with one of those rat-a-tattat scoring bursts that showed the full range of the weapons in their arsenal.
From leading by one at halftime, they were suddenly five clear and in full flow.
Ciaran Joyce was such an influential figure at centre-back, Seamus Harnedy and Brian Hayes were making their presence felt in an attack that buzzed with movement and invention and Jack O’Connor looked back to the sort of form that made him an All-Star nomination in 2021.
When he torched through the heart of the Waterford defence to pick his spot in the bottom corner, it was part of another scoring run that pushed Cork into a 10point lead, 1-19 to 1-9.
Right then, it looked like manager Pat Ryan could finally relax after the pressure of a winless campaign up to that point. A three-point defeat to Clare and a single-point defeat by Kilkenny hardly constitute a crisis but the stakes are higher in this year’s Allianz Hurling League by virtue of the rejig that is coming in 2025.
If you don’t finish in the top three — or as the best fourth placed finisher across the top Division 1 groups — then you won’t make the cut for the seventeam top flight next year.
Cork’s problem right now is that they lack any sort of consistency. They aren’t just blowing hot and cold week to week but in-game, minute to minute.
Cork’s ability to keep their fans on the edge of the seat involved a final-quarter collapse that saw Waterford come within one puck of the ball from winning the match. That late goal never arrived though, leaving Cork captain Sean O’Donoghue to make sense of it all afterwards.
‘It’s great to get into a position where you are able to give up five or six points and still get a win. But it’s not ideal. When you’re winning by that much, you want to be pushing on.’
Instead, Conor Sheahan, Jamie Barron and Mikey Kiely inspired Waterford off the bench to the point where a run of seven unanswered points will leave Cork with as many questions as answers.
The 11 changes from the Kilkenny game was testament to the disruption caused by the overlap with college competition and the serious depth of talent at Cork’s disposal. Given that Waterford have an injury list that stretches into double figures, manager Davy Fitzgerald will take a lot of heart from how his team fought back when the match looked gone at different stages.
In the first half, Cork stretched their legs and eased into a 0-6 to 0-2 lead. With a quarter gone, it was already threatening to get away from Waterford.
Jack O’Connor was buzzing around to good effect, Rob Downey was on as a blood sub for Ciaran Joyce to score a cracking score off his stick on the run and Brian Hayes showed his athleticism to score. Throw in Patrick Horgan’s economy from frees and there was plenty for Pat Ryan to be happy about.
And then Waterford found a way to change the momentum of the game. Patrick Curran lit the fuse with a delightful bit of skill to lift the ball over the player running at him before collecting it the other side and finishing from the near sideline. Calum Lyons then went on a trademark rampaging run before scoring while another Jack Prendergast free also helped bring it back to just a point.
When Hayes and then Ciaran Joyce — back on the field after treatment — again pushed Cork ahead, Waterford levelled with a goal from Sean Walsh.
Neil Montgomery tried to find him with a pass in behind but when the ball broke as Walsh grappled with marker Damien Cahalane, he pulled to the net.
Making his debut in the Cork goal, Brian Saunderson was a little bit caught in no man’s land for the score, though he was very composed otherwise up to that point.
Cork turned then just a single point ahead, 0-11 to 1-7, before they hit a scoring streak that should have settled the match.
Jack O’Connor’s 49th minute goal electrified the stadium. He picked it up just inside the Waterford half and put the afterburners on. A player as fast as Calum Lyons could only get close enough to get a slap at him with the hurl but it wasn’t enough to halt O’Connor’s progress. He zoomed into space to fire the ball into the bottom corner off the turf from outside the 20 metre line.
It was a cracking finish that brought the crowd at Pairc Ui Chaoimh to life.
Now 1-17 to 1-8, Cork were really in the driving seat.
Cork’s options off the bench are such that Shane Kingston immediately came on for Lehane and they stretched the gap out to 10.
The concession of seven points in just over seven minutes though will give Pat Ryan plenty of food for thought. Mikey Kiely was only on the field when he made a super catch and nearly goaled and he brought a renewed focus to the Waterford attack.
Jamie Barron and Conor Sheehan too made big impacts off the bench to leave Cork hanging on and waiting for the final whistle. CORK: B Saunderson; C McCarthy, D Cahalane, S O’Donoghue (E Downey 29); G Millerick, C Joyce (R Downey 8-18), M Coleman; E Twomey (B Roche 8), T O’Connell; S Barrett, C Lehane (S Kingston 50), S Harnedy (L Meade 69); B Hayes, P Horgan (A Connolly 59), J O’Connor. Scorers: P Horgan 0-7 (6fs), J O’Connor 13, B Hayes 0-3, S Harnedy 0-2, T O’Connell, R Downey, E Downey, C Joyce, E Roche, A Connolly (f) 0-1 each. Yellow card: J O’Connor 1, S Barrett 31, M Coleman 33, A Connolly 70 WATERFORD: S O’Brien; C Ryan, M Fitzgerald, PJ Fanning; C Lyons, T Barron, B Nolan; P Leavey, D Lyons (M Power 61); P Curran (J Barron 46), J Prendergast, N Montgomery (C Sheehan 61); K Mahony (M Kiely 58), S Walsh (P Hogan 35-h-t), Padraig Fitzgerald (P Hogan 46). Scorers: J Prendergast 0-5 (4fs), C Lyons 0-4 (2fs), P Leavey 0-3, S Walsh 1-0, C Sheehan, J Barron 0-2 each, P Curran, M Kiely, B Nolan 0-1 each Yellow card: P Fitzgerald 16, D Lyons 31, P Curran 33 Referee: J Owens (Wexford)