Cork vs Waterford National League Semi Final

[megatron]

1. D. og Cusack

2. B. Murphy
3. D. O Sullivan
4. C. O Connor

5. K. Hartnett
6. R. Curran
7. S. O hAlipin

8. T. Kenny
9. J. O Connor

10. P. Cronin
11. N. McCarthy
12. K. Murphy (erins own)

13. J. Deane
14. N. Ronan
15. C. Naughton

[stevetharlear]

Should have enough there to gain revenge on the enemy.

Another semi, more Waterford weeping and gnashing of teeth... touch wood.

[anpuca]

Don't know about that, I think Cork are a little surprised to find themselves in this position, none of their performances to date have been very convincing, early days though I suppose.

Saw Tipp and Waterford last week, very good second half and I was actually a little sorry for Tipp (not really, the pricks) not to get something out of it.

Anyway the league if worth feck all to the Deise this year, it’s shit or burst time for them, only an All-Ireland title will do and I wouldn’t be grudge them it one bit, but not at the expense of Cork of course.

[RonnyB]

Everyone goes on about not begrudging Waterford an All Ireland but I dont think they've ever been good enough to win one. I mean they hav'nt even been in the final since they came to the fore in '98. 2004 & 2005 were the years for them & yet they bottled it in Croke Park.

As for Sunday, its a nice mixture of new faces & established players in the Cork team. I think the panel seems a little stronger than it has been in recent years whether they are good enough to win the AI is another matter.

[fanaithe na bride abu]

No Waterford are just not good enough to win the All Ireland, as RonnyB said they have thrown away every chance they had. Unlike the rest of ye i dont want to see them winning it. There is just something about there fans that just gets my wick up. So heres to knocking them off their perch on Sunday

[anpuca]

Panel certainly is wider and that is a good thing, weather it is stronger or not remains to be seen. I hope the little bit of fuss currently in the camp gets sorted out before the summer, it’s probably due to Gerald Mac. Stamping his authority on the team and changing the style of play.

Who's heading up go Durlas? Should be a lovely day if the weather holds. Also Cill Chainnigh V Loch Garman will be interesting, Loch Garman looked fairly handy last Sunday against Galway.

[Rebelred]

I'm heading up alright, want to watch the first game aswell as I can see Wexford giving KK a good rattle.
Think Waterford will win this one on sunday, good to see Jerry back in the middle though.Hero is going to have to try nail down a half forward spot for himself if he's to make the team I'd say.

[fanaithe na bride abu]

Well i for one am heading up, should be a good day of hurling, hopefully with the weather holding up, it will signal the start of summer hurling


Who's heading up go Durlas? Should be a lovely day if the weather holds. Also Cill Chainnigh V Loch Garman will be interesting, Loch Garman looked fairly handy last Sunday against Galway.

[megatron]

i dont think waterford will ever win a munster title let alone an all ireland again, and fuck em their arrogant and jealous little shits and their shit sick of losing to us in the all ireland series,

on the team above great to see jerry back timmy still out injured,
and fairplay to kevin hartnett too i think hes the most consistant player in the panel this year too

[megatron]

one change on the cork team eoughan murphy in for cathal naughton

[numnuts]

how is kieran murphy holding down a place on that team?

[Langer Dan]

No Niall Fitz?

Mockery, etc.

[Rebelred]

how is kieran murphy holding down a place on that team?

because he's actually a decent hurler. Whether or not he can cut it in the championship is another thing, but Timmy Mac is bound to come under a bit of pressure now with Pa Cronin playing well. Plus its only the league so still no harm in trying out guys like Murphy and Hartnett (who has had a very good league). The more options we have come summer time, the better

[Langer Dan]

because he's actually a decent hurler. Whether or not he can cut it in the championship is another thing, but Timmy Mac is bound to come under a bit of pressure now with Pa Cronin playing well. Plus its only the league so still no harm in trying out guys like Murphy and Hartnett (who has had a very good league). The more options we have come summer time, the better

that and the fact Bowen is a selector, how else do you explain O'Connor in , instead of Sherlock?

[Rebelred]

that and the fact Bowen is a selector, how else do you explain O'Connor in , instead of Sherlock?

or Eoghan Murphy Corner forward aswell

[cheekylady]

ah come here lads, bowen is only one selector, he doesnt have the final say.

[BlueSkies]

I always get sunburnt in Thurles, can't wait.

[megatron]

ah come here lads, bowen is only one selector, he doesnt have the final say.

well actually, how many erins own players on the panel? answer 5

erins own 5 (pat fitzgerald, cian o connor, kieran murphy, peter kelly, eoughan murphy)

cloyne has 3 (donal og cusack, diarmuid sullivan, paudie o sullivan)

newtownshandrum 3 (ben & jerry o connor, cathal naughton)

Na Piarsaigh has 2 (sean og o halipin, john gardiner)

bishopstown 2 (pa cronin, shane o neill)

so bowen certainly have a say ........ unfortunately

[megatron]

by the way the 5 erins own lads are good enough to be on the panel all im say is bowen certainly has a bit of pull there for his club

[stevetharlear]

by the way the 5 erins own lads are good enough to be on the panel all im say is bowen certainly has a bit of pull there for his club

Nice bit of political manouvering there megatron!!;)

Think that this is the start of the Hurling year this weekend. Even though as was rightly pointed out we're prob lucky to get to this stage without actually hurling, it's still a semi of a competition that Cork would love to win, and 2 good competitive matches against Waterford and then KK/Wex would be brilliant coming up towards the Clare match.

[megatron]

Think that this is the start of the Hurling year this weekend. Even though as was rightly pointed out we're prob lucky to get to this stage without actually hurling, it's still a semi of a competition that Cork would love to win, and 2 good competitive matches against Waterford and then KK/Wex would be brilliant coming up towards the Clare match.


ya if we get over the scum kk/wex will be great for us, training is great too great buzz in the camp at the moment even though the music is a bit of a distraction from funderland but all good in the camp

[Rebelred]

ya if we get over the scum kk/wex will be great for us, training is great too great buzz in the camp at the moment even though the music is a bit of a distraction from funderland but all good in the camp

Getting two games of this quality before the championship would be great preparation for the Banner. It'll also allow the selectors a chance to test out players in the problem positions of the forward line. I think it's fair to say we have more options this year, with Naughton, Eoghan Murphy,Pa Cronin and maybe Paudie Sull (after the leaving cert) aswell

[anpuca]

Glad to hear about the great atmosphere in training, looking forward to some good hurling this Sunday.
Has anyone seen the redevelopment in Semple? I hear some of it is still a bit of a building site.

training is great too great buzz in the camp at the moment even though the music is a bit of a distraction from funderland but all good in the camp

[Rebelred]

what matches are TG4 showing sunday?

[anpuca]

what matches are TG4 showing sunday?

Maigh Eo and Gaillimh live from Croker, Corcaigh agus Port Láirge live from Semple, with updates from the other matches.

[anpuca]

C Hennessy

E Murphy,
D Prendergast,
J Murray;

T Browne,
K McGrath,
A Kearney;

M Walsh,
S Molumphy;

E Kelly,
S Prendergast,
S Walsh;

J Mullane,
D Shanahan,
J Kennedy.

[Rebelred]

Maigh Eo and Gaillimh live from Croker, Corcaigh agus Port Láirge live from Semple, with updates from the other matches.

good balance, keeps everyone happy. doesnt beat being there though :) I have worked out the possible dates for all the cork matches for the summer. Munster final is a week later than normal this year because of the changes to the football championship. The munster football final in on 1st July, all things going well, in Killarney, Cork V Kerry.
Hurling final a week later 8th July. I think this will be the toughest run Cork have had to get to a munster final in a long time. To beat Clare and Waterford is going to require two very good performances back to back. Fingers crossed though

[megatron]

Cork 1-16 Waterford 1-19

fuck mullane and eoin kelly ye scummy cunts fuckers have no respect kilkenny will hammer ye fuckin cheats

[Langer Dan]

Cork 1-16 Waterford 1-19

fuck mullane and eoin kelly ye scummy cunts fuckers have no respect kilkenny will hammer ye fuckin cheats

they're a filthy shower alright.

The ref was hopeless, Kelly should have walked. Mullane is as always a complete tinker.

The high ball, in quick just didnt work yesterday. Bring back the running game!

[cartoon]

A mixture of the running game and the high ball would be ideal to keep defenders guessing. Donal Óg kept pucking the ball down on Pa Cronin who to be fair caugh a few beauties but the slightly smaller Waterford man marking him would wait a few yards away until the ball was almost landed and he would run and jump. When he caught it he had the momentum to carry him away from Cronin giving him the space and time to launch a counter attack immediately. Cronin was just jumping on the spot giving the back a split second extra to follow Cronin's next move.

The long puck out going either left or right is a bit too predictable.

I have to say that Ronan Curran is emerging as the most consistent half back in the last decade. He is incredibly reliable, has a superb touch and muscles his way out of impossible situations. Seán Óg was in good form as well and when he surges forward it really gees up the crowd. Harnett didnt do too badly on the other wing either and it's good to have another option to Gardiner. I'd like to see Seán Óg having a pop from midfield when he finds himself in open space though. That was the difference between Cork/Waterford and Kilkenny - the Cats are distressingly acurate from way out.

Ben O'Connor got some beauties and I think Pa Cronin has a good chance of starting. The players' first touches seem to be better than the final last year in what seemed like similar conditions. Gardiner's free taking is essential as well - the size of his puck is awsome. Sometimes though the Cork forwards seemed to take forever to strike the ball towards goal, one thing I noticed about players like Larkin for KK is how little time they spend striking. As soon as they get it it's gone again minimising the chance of a block down.

I wouldnt be too worried about the loss but I dont like the idea of Waterford getting to used to beating us either. I thought Sully was solid for most of the match but at the end he pissed me off by not marshalling Shanahan to the sideline when a hoepful ball was pucked down the line into space. When Shanahan collected the ball and turned, he looked surprised that Sully was still just trotting towards him 20 yards off the pace.

I don't know if Sully had decided to play territory (which would have been a weird decision with W/fd two points up in injury time) but Shanahan was his man and there was nobody else out on the wing. These games between Cork and Waterford always come down to the last five or ten minutes and Waterford are getting good at winning that period.

If I was Gerald MacCarthy this attitude is what I would be most worried about going into the championship.

[northmallexile]

Anyone care to guess whether having only two men in the full-forward line half the time yesterday was a tactical ploy or just incoherence caused by the absence of Deano? Either way, they were playing way too deep.

Having been at the game, I don't get how people are blaming the ref for yesterday's defeat. Every so often, losing a game is down to the other side simply playing better on the day, and the ref has nothing to do with it. Such was the case yesterday. We'll accept it, we'll move on and we'll remember that September shouts are always the loudest. Let's leave the whinging to the small-time counties.

[Rebelred]

I wouldnt be too worried about the result last sunday, at this stage its performance we should be looking at. In general I thought we played well without ever excelling. Bens sharpness was a great bonus and I think Deane would have been worth 3 points in that full forward line, where Eoin Murphy isn't up to it yet.
Waterford were the hungrier side as we all thought they would be. If we beat Clare we'll face them again in mid june, with a championship game under our belts and hopefully a settled injury free line-up. It'll be a different game altogether

[megatron]

I wouldnt be too worried about the result last sunday, at this stage its performance we should be looking at. In general I thought we played well without ever excelling. Bens sharpness was a great bonus and I think Deane would have been worth 3 points in that full forward line, where Eoin Murphy isn't up to it yet.
Waterford were the hungrier side as we all thought they would be. If we beat Clare we'll face them again in mid june, with a championship game under our belts and hopefully a settled injury free line-up. It'll be a different game altogether

spot on about joe deane leave the scum celebrate their league win kilkenny will hurl them off the field, come championship if we get over clare itll be a much different game, first all john gaa i think will start, ben o connor will be much sharper, remember it was his first game back, then in the last 20 mins u have the likes of cathal naughton to come off the bench i think he's a real danger when he comes off the bench, we'll send them scummy feckers back to the south east hopefully bruised and fucked up

[Rebelred]

spot on about joe deane leave the scum celebrate their league win kilkenny will hurl them off the field, come championship if we get over clare itll be a much different game, first all john gaa i think will start, ben o connor will be much sharper, remember it was his first game back, then in the last 20 mins u have the likes of cathal naughton to come off the bench i think he's a real danger when he comes off the bench, we'll send them scummy feckers back to the south east hopefully bruised and fucked up

Naughton is one of the most natural strikers of a sliothar I've seen. His technique is perfect.
Pa Cronin has done well throughout the league aswell, I'd like to see him in there for the championship.Ronan is out for a month apparently so hopefully he'll be fit and available for the Clare match.

[cheekylady]

yes naughton is good, but i dont think he is up to inter county standard yet, definitely not to start anyway.

Did anyone else see Eoin Kellys cowardly pull on Sean Óg from behind? How that man spent 70 mins on the pitch i will never know

Ohhh cant wait till we meet them again in June and hammer em literally off the field, that is after Kilkenny beating 20 different kinds of shyte out of them first.

[Naked Giant Attack]

I was in the town end on Sunday and while it’s fair to say the Cork support wasn’t as vocal as Waterford’s that’s always going to be the case when they’re the under dog. And by under dog I don’t mean in this particular match but because of their absolute hunger for success and lack of it.

It’s like the Munster fans before the Heineken Cup last year. If we fold for the next few years we know it won’t be long before there’s a good Cork team again but when Justin McCarthy leaves W’ford and the current string of decent players like Shanahan, McGrath and Mullane eventually retire the future won’t be so certain. Those players are all hitting late twenties even though some of Waterford’s youngsters are coming through they’ll need stars.

A bunch of teenage Waterford fans were mouthing off at Seán Óg (about how useless he is!) when a Cork fella in his fifties below them (swallow tattoo on his arm mind) turned around to them and let this out:

”HERE BOYS! It’s about this height lah (lower his hand to his knee)…it’s called the Liam McCarthy Cup…did ye ever see it no?! Ye wouldn’t know anything about it would ye?! NINETEEN FIFTY FUCKING NINE LADS! It’s a lonnnnnng time ago isn’t it?
None of ye were around for it so ye haven’t a fucking clue what it takes or what it’s like to go all the way. We’ve had 34 wins since then in hurling and football so shut yer fucking holes now and go and win the league and we’ll see ye in the championship with a full squad.”

They didn’t utter another word. The next play was a bad Waterford wide from an easy free. Cue much cheering from the Cork crowd!!

While I wouldn't be too worried about the result I think Kilkenny look sublime in every sense. Admittedly Wexford were pathetic and lacked any sort of first touch or coordination but KK's forwards are unstoppable and their backs surround and isolate attackers so quick they are virtually impossible to penetrate.