Cork 1-20
Waterford 0-6
KIERAN McCARTHY REPORTS
JOHN Cleary is intent on building a stronger Cork panel for the battles ahead – and his players are listening.
One week on from finishing his club season, Castlehaven’s Cathal Maguire made his senior debut for the Rebels in a McGrath Cup rout of Waterford in Mallow last Sunday. His inclusion was surprising given that Haven had lost the All-Ireland club semi-final only seven days earlier, but instead of taking a break after a long club campaign it was Maguire who put himself forward for selection.
‘Cathal put his hand up during the week, saying he wanted to come in and be part of the weekend. We weren’t so sure, but we gave him his chance and he kicked two good scores,’ Cork boss Cleary explained.
‘That’s what we want: competition for places. That’s what the McGrath Cup is all about, trying to get a bigger panel so when we come to the business end of the season, in the league and the championship, that we have more to hold their hands up.’
Maguire did his cause no harm at all with two well-taken points in a scrappy first half that didn’t catch fire. After the teams shared the opening eight points evenly, it was 0-4 apiece after 16 minutes – Fionn Herlihy, Mark Cronin (free), Cathal Maguire and Eoghan McSweeney were on target for Cork. A case could have been made that it was Waterford who should have led, but by the break the Rebels had nudged two in front, 0-6 to 0-4, with Cathal Maguire kicking his second and Cronin adding another free.
Cleary acknowledged Cork’s first-half display was flat. They weren’t at the races, he admitted. A hard week’s training in the run-up offers some context, too. The advice for the second half was to keep the ball moving because Waterford would tire and then gaps would open – that’s what happened.
Similar to the McGrath Cup opener when Cork kicked on in the second half to eventually beat Clare by 12, the same pattern emerged here, but the Rebels made their move earlier in Mallow. The second half was less than 13 seconds old when half-time sub Chris Óg Jones goaled; he collected a direct pass in from Colm O’Callaghan and fired low across the goal. That set the tone, as Cork outscored Waterford by 1-14 to 0-2 in the second half. Chris Óg Jones (1-4) and Eoghan McSweeney (0-5) were the main protagonists, with McSweeney reeling off three in row during an unanswered eight-point burst that killed this game off. Leading 1-15 to 0-5 after 56 minutes, it was now shooting practice. Brian O’Driscoll, Blake Murphy, David Buckley, Mark Cronin and Damien Gore all scored, too, as the Déise challenge crumbled.
An ankle injury to Paul Walsh in the first half was one sour note, but Luke Fahy and Sean Meehan, who missed chunks of last season through injury, both started here having come on as subs against Clare. Former Ilen Rovers footballer Alex Hassett, now with St Judes in Dublin, also made his senior inter-county debut, coming on as a sub. As for return dates for the Castlehaven and Cill na Martra contingent, including captain Brian Hurley, Cleary says it’s on a case-by-case basis.
‘We will talk to them individually. Some of them want to come back in pretty soon and keep going. We’ll talk to the medical (people), talk to the S&C and we’ll go from there. There is no one-size-fits-all plan,’ Cleary explained, as attention switches to the McGrath Cup final against Kerry on Friday night.
Scorers
Cork: Chris Óg Jones 1-4; Eoghan McSweeney 0-5; Mark Cronin 0-4 (4f); Cathal Maguire 0-2; Fionn Herlihy, Brian O’Driscoll, Blake Murphy (f), David Buckley, Damien Gore 0-1 each.
Waterford: Stephen Curry, Michael O’Brien (1f) 0-2 each; Niall McSweeney (f), William Beresford 0-1 each.
Cork: C Kelly (Éire Óg); N Lordan (Ballinora), K Flahive (Douglas), B O’Driscoll (Tadhg MacCarthaigh); L Fahy (Ballincollig), S Meehan (Kiskeam), J McCarthy (Carrigaline); I Maguire (St Finbarr’s), P Walsh (Kanturk); J O’Rourke (Carbery Rangers), F Herlihy (Dohenys), C Maguire (Castlehaven); M Cronin (Nemo Rangers), B Murphy (St Vincent’s), E McSweeney (Knocknagree).
Subs: C O’Callaghan (Éire Óg) for P Walsh (32, inj), D Buckley (Newcestown) for F Herlihy (ht), C Óg Jones (Iveleary) for C Maguire (ht), D Cashman (Millstreet) for J McCarthy (ht), A Walsh-Murphy (Valley Rovers) for B O’Driscoll (45), D Gore (Kilmacabea) for I Maguire (47), A Hassett (St Judes, Dublin) for K Flahive (56), C Dungan (Carrigaline) for C Kelly (56), D Desmond (Ballymartle) for E McSweeney (61), G O’Sullivan (Boherbue) for J O’Rourke (61), M Taylor (Mallow) for L Fahy (64).
Waterford: A Beresford; R McGrath, C Walsh, C McCarthy; R Browne, M Curry, C Ó Cuirrín; J Keane, J Curry; D Ryan, W Beresford, S Whelan-Barrett; S Curry, N McSweeney, M O’Brien.
Subs: B Hynes for M O’Brien (54), J O’Connell for C McCarthy (54), C Maguire for S Whelan-Barrett (58), J Sheridan for A Beresford (58), D Fitzgerald for N McSweeney (60).
Referee: P O’Sullivan (Kerry).
