Munster SFC Q-Final – Waterford v Cork

Classy Cork in total control

From the Irish Times newspaper

MUNSTER SFC FIRST ROUND

Cork 2-18 Waterford 1-7 : THERE WAS never even a doubt about the outcome at Dungarvan yesterday with Cork the undisputed masters as they cruised to victory over outclassed Waterford in a disappointingly one-sided game in front of an attendance of 3,504.

Except for a brief spell early on, Waterford were always playing catch-up and, when Cork’s top forward Donncha O’Connor fisted Paul O’Flynn’s pinpoint pass to the net in the sixth minute, there was an inevitability about the outcome.

That goal eased Cork into a four -point lead, 1-2 to 0-1 and, with Nicholas Murphy dominating at midfield, and behind him attacking wing back John Miskella also playing superbly, Cork were forcing virtually all of the pace.

Waterford opened the scoring through a Brian Wall free after three minutes, but Cork steadily eased clear with magnificent points from Miskella, James Masters (two), and O’Connor and they led 1-10 to 0-3 at the interval.

Waterford restarted with Gary Hurney at full forward, but Cork’s defence remained rock-solid.

Within 10 minutes of the restart, Cork had extended their lead to an unassailable 15 points.

O’Connor (a free) and Miskella tacked on further points before their second goal on 40 minutes killed the game. A score of real quality it was too, Masters’ deft cross being met beautifully on the volley by Paul Kerrigan who gave goalkeeper Tom Wall no chance.

Waterford’s goal came from a quickly taken free by Shane Walsh after 55 minutes.

CORK : A Quirke; R Carey, M Shields (0-1) , A Lynch; J Miskella (0-3) , G Canty, G Spillane; A O’Connor, N Murphy; P O’Flynn (0-1) , P O’Neill, P Kerrigan (1-2); D Goulding (0-2), J Masters (0-2), D O’Connor (1-5). Subs : F Gould for A O’Connor, K OConnor for Lynch, N O’Leary for Spillane, J Hayes for O’Connor C O’Neill (0-2) for Masters.

WATERFORD : T Wall; S Briggs, T O’Gorman, E Rockett; W Hennessy (0-1), M O’Gorman (0-1) , T Grey; S O’Hare (0-1), S Walsh (1-0), B Wall (0-2, two frees), G Hurney (0-1) , G Power; L Lawlor, L O’Lionain, P Hurney. Subs: S Cunningham (0-1) for Power, P Ogle for Grey, Maurice O’Gorman for P Hurney.

Referee: Rory Hickey (Clare).

Clinical Rebels power past Déise

Waterford 1-7 Cork 2-18

By Michael Moynihan of the Irish Examiner newspaper

Monday, May 25, 2009

NO SURPRISES in the sunshine of Fraher Field yesterday, with Cork running out comfortable winners over Waterford in this Munster SFC clash to set up their expected clash with Kerry in the Munster semi-final.

The 3,504 supporters – many from Cork – who were in Dungarvan enjoyed the summer sun but a strong breeze blew towards the scoreboard end of the ground, helping Cork in the first half, and Waterford opted to withdraw players when they faced the wind. It didn’t work as a tactic – Déise scoring forward Liam O Lionnain and his marker Ray Carey tussled behind the Waterford 45-metre line more than once, and Cork had time and space in which to build attacks, enjoying the luxury of several short kick-outs to unmarked defenders.

After an initial burst from Waterford in which they notched a point from a Brian Wall free and two wides, Cork settled down to dominate the middle third of the field with Nicholas Murphy very prominent. They were on the scoreboard through Paul O’Flynn and Donncha O’Connor (free) before the critical event of the first half.

In the 10th minute, Daniel Goulding found Paul O’Flynn with a neat pass, and Donncha O’Connor’s crossfield run, opening up the space, gave O’Flynn plenty of open ground ahead of him. The Ballyclough man made ground before timing his handpass across the square, where O’Connor rose to flick home, but Waterford full-back Thomas O’Gorman got the final touch, turning the ball into his own net as he tried to put it wide.

The Leesiders weren’t long pressing home their advantage, going on a streak of eight unanswered points as Waterford struggled to break out of their own half; Cork wrapped up their scoring spree with a long-distance point from full-back Michael Shields, which underlined the freedom the defenders in red enjoyed.

Waterford had to rely on the odd individual flash for consolation, and good work by Gary Hurney forced an opening, but his strong shot was saved well by Alan Quirke. By contrast, any time Cork sallied upfield they looked likely to score, and Kerry boss Jack O’Connor, sitting in the stand, will have noted the Cork penchant playing diagonal balls into the left corner for Donncha O’Connor to feast upon.

Sean O’Hare’s point for Waterford on the half-time whistle left the score 1-10 to 0-3, but the game swiftly deteriorated as a competitive spectacle. Having established a match-winning double-digit lead, Cork seemed happy to keep Waterford contained, adding a Miskella point on 49 minutes. It was immediately followed by a long Masters delivery which was nudged over the line by Paul Kerrigan for an untidy goal: Cork 15 ahead.

Waterford didn’t die – quick thinking by Shane Walsh produced a goal from a free reducing the difference to 12 points with quarter of an hour left, and Alan Quirke had to look lively soon after to save from O Lionnain.

Cork finished the game 14 points ahead, and apart from a couple of injury worries, manager Conor Counihan’s main headache will selecting a team to face Kerry.

His defence looks settled, but Colm O’Neill looked classy when introduced in the second half, and Michael Cussen may also come into the reckoning.

However, Alan O’Connor left before half-time with an injury, and O’Neill also took a knock and left the action before full-time: Counihan admitted after the game that with only two weeks to go until his side face Kerry, they have little enough time to get everyone fit. For Waterford it’s back to the drawing board, though manager John Kiely remains optimistic ahead of Waterford’s next outing is on July 4.

Scorers for Waterford: S. Walsh 1-0 (f), B. Wall 0-2 (fs), W. Hennessy, S. Cunningham, M. O’Gorman, G. Hurney and S. O’Hare o-1 each.

Scorers for Cork: D. O’Connor 0-5 (03 fs), P. Kerrigan 1-2, T. O’Gorman 1-0 (OG), J. Miskella 0-3, D. Goulding, C. O’Neill and J. Masters 0-2 each; P. O’Flynn and M. Shields 0-1 each.

WATERFORD: T. Wall, S. Briggs, T. O’Gorman, E. Rockett, W. Hennessy, M. O’Gorman (c), T. Grey, S. O’Hare, G. Hurney, B. Wall, S. Walsh, G. Power, L. Lawlor, L O Lionnain, P. Hurney.

Subs: P. Ogle for Grey, S. Cunningham for Power (50); M. O’Gorman for P. Hurney (61).

CORK: A. Quirke, R. Carey, M. Shields, A. Lynch, J. Miskella, G. Canty (c), G. Spillane, A. O’Connor, N. Murphy, P. O’Flynn, P. O’Neill, P. Kerrigan, D. Goulding, J. Masters, D. O’Connor.

Subs: F. Goold for A. O’Connor (34); K O’Connor for Lynch (49); N. O’Leary for Spillane and J. Hayes for D. O’Connor (52); C. O’Neill for Masters (60).

Referee: R. Hickey (Clare).

* A minute’s silence was observed before the game in memory of Michael Curran, former chairman of Dungarvan GAA club.

Cork 2-18 Waterford 1-7

Rebels start well against Waterford

From the GAA.ie web site

Sunday, 24 May

Cork enjoyed a solid if not spectacular start to their championship campaign as they had 14 points to spare over Waterford at Fraher Field on Sunday afternoon.

Conor Counihan’s side led from start to finish, but will know that things will be far more difficult when they travel to Killarney to play Kerry in two weeks’ time.

Nonetheless, they did what was required of them, and showed no signs of complacency, with Paul Kerrigan, John Miskella and Nicholas Murphy very impressive.

Playing with the wind in the opening period, Cork found things to be going mainly their own way as they had built up a 1-10 to 0-3 lead by the break.

They were totally dominant as they won all of their own kick-outs and pressured Waterford well when the Déise were in possession, while up front they proved far sharper than their hosts, Donncha O’Connor the star man as he had 1-4 next to his name by the interval.

The goal came in the 12th minute, by which stage Cork led 0-2 to 0-1, Paul O’Flynn put through on goal after a very good passing move and having the presence of mind to handpass across to O’Connor, who flung himself at the ball and directed it low past Tom Wall.

A feature of Cork’s scoring was how many assists for points were coming from accurate kicked passes, Kerrigan the best exponent of this as he was involved in countless scores. His Nemo Rangers club-mate James Masters proved to be a beneficiary of this as well as O’Connor as he picked off two great scores in quick succession.

The Rebels’ dogged defending ensured that Waterford scoring chances were at a premium and, when the defence was breached, Alan Quirke was in fine form, as he showed when he saved well from Gary Hurney in the 26th minute.

It was a similar story upon the resumption, though the tempo had dropped somewhat. Kerrigan was on hand to get Cork’s second goal on 50 minutes when he finished soccer-style after a Masters point attempt fell short. And though this was quickly cancelled out when Waterford’s Shane Walsh beat Quirke with a quickly-taken free from the 20-metre line, it did not prompt a Waterford fightback.

The game became scrappier as Cork emptied their bench, though one of the subs, Colm O’Neill, who captained the county’s U21 side to All-Ireland victory recently, did score two points, and the final margin of 14 did not flatter them.

SCORERS:

CORK: D O’Connor 1-5 (0-2f), P Kerrigan 1-2, J Miskella 0-3, J Masters, D Goulding, C O’Neill 0-2 each, M Shields, P O’Flynn 0-1 each.

WATERFORD: S Walsh 1-0 (f), B Wall 0-2f, S O’Hare, W Hennessy, S Cunningham, M O’Gorman, G Hurney 0-1 each.

CORK: A Quirke; R Carey, M Shields, A Lynch; J Miskella, G Canty, G Spillane; A O’Connor, N Murphy; P O’Flynn, P O’Neill, P Kerrigan; D Goulding, J Masters, D O’Connor.
SUBS: F Goold for A O’Connor (35, inj).

WATERFORD: T Wall; S Briggs, T O’Gorman, E Rockett; W Hennessy, M O’Gorman, T Grey; S O’Hare, S Walsh; G Power, G Hurney, B Wall; L Lawlor, L Ó Lionáin, P Hurney.

REFEREE: R Hickey (Clare).

Cork 2-18 Waterford 1-07

From the RTE.ie web site

Sunday, 24 May 2009 19:20
Cork set up a Munster SFC semi-final showdown with arch rivals Kerry as Donnacha O’Connor shot 1-05 in Dungarvan this afternoon.

The reigning Munster and NFL Division 2 champions had too much power for a gallant Waterford side that netted through a close range free from Shane Walsh.

Wind-backed Cork led by 1-10 to 0-03 at half-time, with O’Connor
linking with debutant Paul O’Flynn for his 11th minute goal.

Paul Kerrigan crowned his first SFC start with a ‘soccer style’ goal,
sending the Rebel fans in the 3,504 attendance home happy.

Cork were very heavy favourites to progress from this quarter-final encounter – rated 1/500 to win by some bookmakers – and while they took a while to warm to the task, Conor Counihan’s men were soon in the ascendancy.

Waterford had dual players Shane Walsh and Gary Hurney back in their starting line-up and they ensured there was little between the sides in the opening exchanges.

But once the Rebels adjusted to the conditions, which were sunny but with a strong wind behind them, the scores began to follow.

Brian Wall knocked over a free to put the Deise in front but O’Connor was quick to reply and Championship newcomer O’Flynn then pointed from play.

A slick passing move ended with O’Flynn flinging the ball across for the inrishing O’Connor to direct it beyond the reach of goalkeeper Tom Wall and Cork were beginning to simmer.

Wall and O’Connor exchanged frees, with the Corkman using the wind to good effect. Still, by the midpoint of the half, the pre-match favourites were only ahead by 1-03 to 0-02.

They put on a spurt in the ensuing minutes with two long range points from James Masters, another from Daniel Goulding and two well-executed efforts from defenders John Miskella and Michael Shields.

The Cork defence was rock solid, with goalkeeper Alan Quirke doing well to deny Hurney before the break.

Waterford added two more points to their tally before the half-time whistle. Wall and Sean O’Hare were both on target, but O’Connor was the man grabbing the headlines with 1-04 of Cork’s 1-10 first half total.

The intensity dropped on the resumption courtesy of 13 scoreless
minutes, save for a fifth point of the day for Ballydesmond clubman O’Connor.

Cork registered their second goal on 50 minutes when Kerrigan
sidefooted the ball to the net after Masters had played a high ball
in. Wayne Hennessy, a tireless worker in defence for Waterford and arguably their best player, raided forward for a well-deserved point.

And Waterford had more joy when Walsh planted a 20-metre free past Quirke and into the back of the Cork net for the hosts’ only goal.

A Deise comeback never looked on the cards and two late points from substitute Colm O’Neill, the captain of Cork’s 2009
All-Ireland-winning side and recently-announced Cadbury Hero of the Future, pushed the winning margin out to 14 points.

So a satisfying first day out in the 2009 Championship for Cork, but Counihan and his players know full well that improvements will be needed if they are to retain their Munster title and make it a summer to remember.

Scorers: Cork: D O’Connor 1-05 (0-02f), P Kerrigan 1-02, J Miskella
0-03, J Masters, D Goulding, C O’Neill 0-02 each, M Shields, P O’Flynn 0-01 each
Waterford: S Walsh 1-00 (1-00f), B Wall 0-02 (0-02f), S O’Hare, W
Hennessy, S Cunningham, M O’Gorman, G Hurney 0-01 each.

CORK: A Quirke; R Carey, M Shields, A Lynch; J Miskella, G Canty, G Spillane; A O’Connor, N Murphy; P O’Flynn, P O’Neill, P Kerrigan; D Goulding, J Masters, D O’Connor.

Subs used: F Gould for A O’Connor (35 mins)

WATERFORD: T Wall; S Briggs, T O’Gorman, E Rockett; W Hennessy, M O’Gorman, T Grey; S O’Hare, S Walsh; G Power, G Hurney, B Wall; L Lawlor, L Ó Lionnáin, P Hurney.

O’Connor leads Cork slaughter of Decies

By Cliona Foley of the Irish Independent newspaper

Monday May 25 2009

THREE words here: lambs, ritual and slaughter.

In the opening 10 minutes, Waterford actually looked intent on defeating the naysayers, scoring first, kicking three wides and dropping another chance short.

Shane Hurney and Liam O’Lionnain both forced excellent saves out of Alan Quirke in either half and, for a side whose preparations were apparently undermined by local hurling fixtures, they were as game as ever.

Yet, while they beat the pessimistic spread-betting forecast by a point, whatever way you look at it, a 14-point defeat still tells a story. And it says something about Cork’s superiority that they actually played the last five minutes a man down, taking the precaution of hauling off injured players even though they had already used up all their substitutes.

Their first injured to be called ashore despite the absence of cover was Paul Kerrigan and they actually put him back in when Colm O’Neill got a knock, proving Cork manager Conor Counihan already had their semi-final with Kerry in a fortnight’s time in his sights.

Kingdom boss Jack O’Connor was among yesterday’s 3,504 crowd at sunny Dungarvan but, like Counihan, it’s hard to know exactly what he’ll have learned.

Cork’s own ‘twin towers’ of Nicholas Murphy and Alan O’Connor completely dominated midfield before O’Connor was lost to injury.

Their full-forward line, who scored 1-7 from play, mixed brilliance with some skittishness.

Donnacha O’Connor looked particularly lethal, scoring 1-4 (1f) by half-time before Maurice O’Gorman came back to contain him and Cork could actually afford to call both himself and James Masters ashore before the final quarter.

Players of the calibre of U-21 star Colm O’Neill proved able replacements and while Wayne Hennessy kept Paul Kerrigan scoreless until a flukey second-half goal, the flying Nemo half-forward caused all kinds of trouble with some sublime foot-passing of a quality which is far too rare in the modern game.

Defensively, Cork got caught on the counter-attack too often in the second-half but by then their focus had waned and they had already lost Anthony Lynch to injury.

Selfless

But their victory never looked in doubt after a Nicholas Murphy hand-pass split the defence after 11 minutes and Paul O’Flynn selflessly off-loaded for O’Connor to punch a goal, though a defender may have got the last touch.

They led 1-10 to 0-3 by half-time and if there could be any talking point in such a one-sided first-half it was whether Waterford’s decision to sacrifice an attacker (Liam Lawlor) to defence had backfired badly.

Full-forward O’Lionnain also played very deep and thrived more when thrown forward later. Lawlor’s direct marker, wing-back John Miskella, scored three points from play and Cork full-back Michael Shields also contributed a point as Cork’s unfettered defenders roamed forward at will.

Decies boss John ‘Jackson’ Kiely reasoned that he played Lawlor as a sweeper because “he’s so composed between the two lines of defence,” but it definitely left them too short of options in attack.

Kiely admitted his side had little preparation “because they had to give three weeks to club hurling” but their greatest disgust was the uncharacteristic concession of two sloppy goals.

The second came 15 minutes into the second half when Masters’ attempt at a point fell just short and Kerrigan side-footed it into the netting.

Waterford actually replied with a swift 1-1 of their own; a point from Hennessy promptly followed by quick-thinking Shane Walsh who goaled brilliantly with a quick free while Cork were still arguing over its concession.

Within minutes, O’Lionnain picked up a breaking ball to burst through the defence with only the ‘keeper to beat but, for the second-time, Alan Quirke was not found wanting and was very solid all day.

Only being outscored by four points in the second half demonstrates that Waterford kept plugging on, with dual star Gary Hurney their attacking fulcrum and their bench providing some late scores.

But Cork were simply never rattled.

Scorers — Cork: D O’Connor 1-5 (2f), P Kerrigan 1-2, J Miskella 0-3, D Goulding, J Masters, C O’Neill 0-2 each, M Shields, P O’Flynn 0-1 each. Waterford: S Walsh 1-0, B Wall 0-2 (2f), W Hennessy, S O’Hare, G Hurney, S Cunningham, M O’Gorman 0-1 each.

Cork — A Quirke 9; R Carey 8, M Shields 8, A Lynch 9; J Miskella 9, G Canty (Capt) 8, G Spillane 8; A O’Connor 8, N Murphy 9; P O’Flynn 8, P O’Neill 7, P Kerrigan 8; D Goulding 7, J Masters 8, D O’Connor 9. Subs: F Goold 7 for A O’Connor (inj, 36 mins), K O’Connor 6 for Lynch (inj 47), N O’Leary 8 for Spillane (52), J Hayes 6 for D O’Connor ( (52), C O’Neill 8 for Masters (58).

Waterford — T Wall 6; S Briggs 6, T O’Gorman 8, E Rockett 7; W Hennessy 7, M O’Gorman 7 (Capt), T Grey 6; S O’Hare 7, S Walsh 7; G Power 6, G Hurney 7, B Wall 6; L Lawlor 6, L O’Lionnain 7, P Hurney 7. Subs: P Ogle 6 for Grey (51), S Cunningham 7 for Power (51), M O’Gorman 7 for P Hurney (60).

Ref — R Hickey (Clare).

Senior Football Championship

Admission Details
Admission is by payment at the turnstiles. Adult price is €20, Students and Senior Citizens will be admitted for €10 on production of current valid photographic ID while Juveniles (U16) will be admitted free of charge. Munster GAA will be issuing free flags to all juveniles attending the games.

Fixture details
SUNDAY MAY 24th, 2009
Munster GAA Senior Football Championship
Port Láirge v Corcaigh at 3.30p.m.
At FRAHER FIELD, DUNGARVAN
Reiteoir: Rory Hickey (An Clár)

Team News
Two debutants in Rebels

From the GAA web site

Cork boss Conor Counihan has named two SFC debutants in his side for their Munster opener against Waterford on Sunday in Dungarvan. Corner back Ray Carey and wing forward Paul O’Flynn both are included for The Rebels, who are piping hot favourites to beat John Kiely’s men.

CORK  (SF v Waterford): A Quirke; R Carey, M Shields, N O’Donovan; J Miskella, G Canty, G Spillane; A O’Connor, N Murphy; P O’Flynn, P O’Neill, P Kerrigan; D Goulding, J Masters, D O’Connor.

WATERFORD (SF v Cork) – TBC

Match Preview
Munster SFC Quarter-final

Dungarvan: Cork v Waterford, 15.30

From the GAA.ie web site

Cork are many people’s sly bet for Sam Maguire glory in 2009 and they begin their road to justifying that support with a clash with Waterford in Dungarvan on Sunday.

The new National Football League Division Two champions are monumental favourites against John Kiely’s unfancied troops and will set up a by now annual (in fact much more than that) meeting with Kerry in the Munster semi-final with victory.

Ten times Cork have played Kerry in the Championship in the last four seasons, their last win being in last year’s Munster final and defending that provincial crown is the first step on the road to possible glory this year. Their two subsequent meetings with Kerry – the All-Ireland semi-final and subsequent replay – showed that, even in eventual defeat, the Croke Park hoodoo the Kingdom have over them is waning and if such a fixture arises this summer then the men in red will be full of confidence.

All that talk is for another day, however. For now, Waterford provide the opposition for Conor Counihan’s men. The Rebels chief did superbly with his team last year and they look an even stronger bet this year. A towering collective of colossuses, Cork should outmuscle most opposition this year and they still have players with the necessary speed and skill to embrace with that power – just ask beaten Division Two finalists Monaghan.

One such fast and skilful player is Paul Kerrigan. The Nemo Rangers man, son of All-Ireland winner Jimmy, makes his first Championship start at left wing forward on Sunday and he can be expected to be one of the stars of the show in Dungarvan.

There are debuts for corner back Ray Carey and Paul O’Flynn, who come into an otherwise experienced fifteen, with quality shining through the side in the form of John Miskella, Graham Canty, Nicholas Murphy, Pearse O’Neill and competent attacking pair Daniel Goulding and Donncha O’Connor, who is likely to swap places with James Masters who has been named at full forward.

Anthony Lynch is missing but capable Bishopstown man Noel O’Donovan is an able replacement for him at left corner back and in midfield Alan O’Connor has had a more than solid season in the NFL. All in all, the Cork team is well equipped to dish out a lesson to their opponents on Sunday.

But no game is ever just about one team. Waterford will be on the field as well on Sunday and would love to bring the Rebels back down to earth after their league success. A mixed season in Division Two saw them win more games than they lost but given the level of opposition they faced it has done little to offer too much promise to anyone backing the Deise cause. Still, canny Kiely can always be expected to encourage a side to make it as difficult as possible for the opposition.

The bearded chief does at least have dual players Gary Hurney and Shane Walsh available and they will be handed key roles. But Mick Ahearn, Jason Seaward and Justin Walsh are all ruled out, while doubts remain over Sean O’Hare, Tom Wall, Ger Power, Shane Briggs and tasty forward Eddie Rockett.

Waterford stayed with Kerry for a while a couple of years ago, but were well beaten by the end and Sunday is likely to see just such a result again. Cork will want to start in style and start in style they should.

Verdict: Cork