Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Waterford must deal with hype
CORK boss Kieran Kingston insists the pressure is all on Waterford tomorrow.
The Deise have reached the semi-final for the 12th time since 1998 though their only victory came in 2008 and they’ve beaten eliminated at this stage in each of the last two years.
Cork are very much surprise packets having come from nowhere to win Munster so Kingston says there’s little doubt as which side is under more pressure to deliver, with a crowd of 70,000 expected at Croke Park.
He said: “That speaks for itself. If you asked me six months ago would I sign up for where we are now, winning the Munster Championship with the
draw we had, we’d have been thrilled with that.
“In many people’s eyes, we’re probably in bonus territory and from our own perspective we’re probably slightly ahead of the curve in terms of where we thought we’d be.
“Waterford are in a totally different space to us. We’re going out the next day and there’s no pressure on the players, they can go out and express themselves.
“Waterford are very different. They’re in their third semi-final in a row, there’s huge expectation in Waterford to try to get to the final and that brings its own pressure.
“They’re probably glad they avoided Galway and got Cork, with Galway All-ireland favourites. That probably brings more pressure than we would feel we’re under.”