Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling Quarter Final – Cork 5-18 Kerry 1-14

Cork test reserve strength

Cork 5-18 Kerry 1-14

By Fintan O’ Toole for the Irish Examiner newspaper

He bid farewell to the inter-county game in November 2000, three months after his Cork team had been defeated in the All-Ireland semi-final by Offaly. Twelve years on, Jimmy Barry-Murphy was back in the managerial cockpit, striding out onto the Páirc Uí Rinn pitch shortly before 3pm on Saturday. JBM’s second coming was a modest affair, with only 513 supporters turning out to greet him in the dreary conditions. His return to the Cork hot seat has generated an expectation of great championship days but the low-key Waterford Crystal Cup was where it began. The first day out was a success on the scoreboard as a Cork team, heavily populated with new faces, overwhelmed last year’s Christy Ring Cup champions Kerry and sets up a semi-final with Tipperary next week. Not that the new manager was doing cartwheels of celebration afterwards. The level of opposition must be factored into any analysis and the vibes emanating from the Cork setup were that the management and players are still in the process of getting acquainted.

Hurling has changed since Jimmy Barry-Murphy was last Cork manager. Looking towards the Kerry goalmouth he would have seen Bernard Rochford, the Cork substitute netminder in Barry-Murphy’s 1999 All-Ireland winning panel, patrolling that area for the Kingdom. The Cork squad has undergone a large overhaul as well with Saturday an opportunity for new players to impress. The likes of Darren Sweetnam, a former Irish U16 hockey international and Munster U19 rugby player, and Colm Spillane, still a student in St Colman’s College in Fermoy, were amongst those handed their debuts.

“That’s what we set out to do, give new lads a game,” reflected Barry-Murphy. “The result, the wides we hit and things like that doesn’t really worry us. It’s early days. For the first day out, the lads were fairly sharp. You have to keep the win in perspective. There’s a long road ahead yet.” A few yards down the sideline from Barry-Murphy was an old comrade from club and county days. Kerry manager John Meyler, delighted to be briefed afterwards that his son David had been part of a Sunderland side that defeated Stoke 1-0 at the Britannia Stadium, knows a thing or two about second comings. His team may have been beaten but he relished this opportunity to send his players into combat against Cork. “It was very useful for us. We’re not at Cork’s level, we never were, and it’ll take another five years of hard work and graft to try to get up to that. It’s a learning experience.”

And he welcomed the return of his opposing supremo. “Jimmy is a legend. He’s doing great work with Cork and I’m delighted he’s in charge. He’ll pull all the players together. The National League is going to be extremely hard this year since there are only five games but he’ll have the Cork lads hitting the ground running.” The game was a competitive affair in the first half. Cork lead 1-10 to 0-7 at the break with Patrick Horgan goaling yet Shane Brick and Shane Nolan ensured they never got too far away from Kerry in the opening 35 minutes. The second half was a different tale with the clinical finishing of Eoin Murphy, Ryan Clifford and Brian Corry raising green flags for Cork while the composed striking of Luke O’Farrell, Cathal Naughton and Cian McCarthy ensured the points flowed. Kerry kept ploughing away and Aidan Boyle’s goal was a late reward for the efforts.

Early days but Barry-Murphy already has injury concerns. Darren Sweetnam gave a fine display at midfield but his introduction in the 13th minute was prompted by Patrick Cronin’s withdrawal with a leg gash. In addition Barry-Murphy confirmed that Daniel Kearney will be sidelined for six weeks after fracturing his hand last Tuesday night in a Fitzgibbon Cup game. The old Cork guard have not disappeared either. After the game the team’s physical trainer and former Irish Olympian Dave Matthews went running laps around the pitch with Niall McCarthy, John Gardiner, Ben O’Connor and Brian Murphy. Goalkeeper Donal Óg Cusack and Martin Coleman jogged to a goalmouth and began peppering balls at each other. Their manager watched on in approval. “It’s great, I’m loving it and find it very enjoyable. The lads have been working very hard with their trainers and they’re very committed. It’s Tipperary next week and we’ll look forward to that.”

Scorers for Cork: P Horgan 1-3 (0-2f), B Corry 2-0, E Murphy 1-2, C McCarthy 0-5 (0-2 ’65), R Clifford 1-1, L O’Farrell, C Naughton 0-3 each, D Sweetnam 0-1.

Scorers for Kerry: S Brick 0-6 (0-6f), A Boyle 1-0, S Nolan, D Dineen, J Egan 0-2 each, M Boyle, A Royle 0-1 each.

CORK: A Nash (Kanturk); D Cahalane (St Finbarr’s), E Dillon (Milford), C O’Sullivan (Sarsfields); C Joyce (Na Piarsaigh), R Cashman (Kilbrittain), T Kenny (Grenagh); C Naughton (Newtownshandrum), C McCarthy (Sarsfields); B Corry (Ballymartle), P Cronin (Bishopstown), L O’Farrell (Midleton); P Horgan (Glen Rovers), E Murphy (Erin’s Own), R Clifford (Newtownshandrum). Subs: D Sweetnam (Sam Maguires) for Cronin (inj) (13), C Spillane (Castlelyons) for Cahalane (45), D O’Mahony (Carrigtwohill) for Horgan (52), P O’Brien (Killeagh) for O’Sullivan (53), K Buckley (Na Piarsaigh) for Joyce (53).

KERRY: B Rochford (Killeagh); R Horgan (St Brendan’s), T Murnane (Kilmoyley), J Godley (Kilmoyley); P Costello (Ballyduff), M Lynch (Crotta O’Neills), L Boyle (Ballyduff); D Dineen (St Brendan’s), J Griffin (Lixnaw); S Brick (Kilmoyley), D O’Connell (Abbeydorney), J Egan (St Brendan’s); S Nolan (Crotta O’Neills), A Boyle (Ballyduff), M Boyle (Ballyduff). Subs: PJ Connolly (Ballyduff) for O’Connell (45), C Harris (Ballincollig) for L Boyle (52), J Fitzgerald (Causeway) for Godley (58), J Casey (Ballyheigue) for Lynch (60), A Royle (Kilmoyley) for M Boyle (62).

Referee: Michael Wadding (Waterford)

For the Record

Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling 2012

Preliminary Round

Sunday January 22^nd

@ Dolla                                              Tipperary 2-24 Limerick Institute of Technology 1-16

Sunday January 29^th

@ Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney       Kerry 1-20 IT Tralee 1-15

@ Sixmilebridge                               Clare 3-25 WIT 0-5

Quarter-Finals (Extra time)

Saturday February 4^th

@ MacDonagh Park Nenagh          Tipperary v University of Limerick               @ 2:00pm

@ Pairc Ui Rinn                                Cork v Kerry                                                   @ 3:00pm

@ Sixmilebridge                               Limerick v Clare                                            @ 7:00pm

Sunday February 5^th

@ WIT Sportsgrounds                      Waterford v UCC                                          @ 2:00pm

Semi-Finals (Extra time)
Sunday February 12^th

@ TBC                                               Cork or Kerry v UL or Tipperary
@ TBC                                               Limerick or Clare v Waterford or UCC

Final (Extra time)

Sunday February 19^th

Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling – Odds and Ends

Cork have won four of their eight matches played in the Waterford Crystal Cup since 2007 with three victory over third level colleges teams and a one-point victory over Waterford in the 2007 semi-final.

Tipperary won their first 6 home matches in the Waterford Crystal Cup from 2006 to 2009 before losing their first round matches in 2010 (v Clare at Borrisoleigh) and in 2011 (v WIT at Clonmel).

Tipperary hold the record for the longest winning streak in the Waterford Crystal Cup since the competition began under that guise in 2006 when they won 10 consecutive matches between 2007 and 2009.

The University of Limerick is the only third level college to have a winning record in the Waterford Crystal Cup since 2006 – winning 7 games and losing 6.

39 players scored in the three matches played in the preliminary round.

Waterford have won 11 of their last 13 matches in the Waterford Crystal Cup, including a current winning streak of 7 matches.

Clare are the only team who have won at least one game each year since the Waterford Crystal Cup competition began in 2006.

The record of the Third Level Colleges in the Waterford Crystal Cup since 2006 is Won 18, Lost 37, a 33% success rate. Since the Third Level Colleges entered the McGrath Cup (Senior Football) in 2005, their success rate is 32%.

Limerick won the first Waterford Crystal Cup title in 2006, winning four matches in the process. Since then, in three appearances in the competition they have failed to win a game.

IT Tralee is the only team not to win a game in the Waterford Crystal Cup since 2006, losing their first match in the last 5 seasons.

None of the five teams who take part in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship have a losing record in the Waterford Crystal Cup since 2006.

Waterford Crystal Cup

Waterford Crystal began their sponsorship of the Munster pre-season hurling competition in 2006. Prior to this, the competition was played in different formats dating back to the early 1990’s and was most popularly known as the South Eastern Hurling League which also included county teams from Leinster.

Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling Roll Of Honour

Waterford (2) – 2010, 2011

Tipperary (2) – 2007, 2008

Clare (1) – 2009

Limerick (1) – 2006

Waterford Crystal Cup – 2012 Scorers