John Owens and his team endured a torrid Sunday afternoon on Leeside as all plans for a damage limitation exercise went out the window from an early stage. That said few teams would be able to live with the All Ireland champions in the form they exhibited at the start of both halves.
By the 18 minute mark Waterford found themselves 3-7 to 0-2 adrift. John Miskella’s opener owed to a great deal of good fortune but there was no doubting the class of the approach work for Daniel Goulding’s goal or Paul Kerrigan’s clinical finish. Defensively Waterford were opened up at will with Miskella in particular darting forward from centre back. Surprisingly no sweeper was employed in front of the full back line to stop the flow of ball to Goulding, Donncha O’Connor and Kerrigan who ran riot in the opening quarter. Tommy Prendergast also remained at corner forward instead of helping the midfield effort.
Things improved after Cork’s awesome scoring blitz and suddenly Waterford found a foothold in the game as the home side became sloppy in possession. Gary Hurney looked threatening in attack against Michael Shields and by half time the arrears reduced from 14 points to eight. Brian Phelan, Shane Briggs, Tommy Prendergast and Brian Wall all struck points from play before Hurney’s coolly taken penalty in first half injury time.
Any lingering comeback hopes were extinguished within eighteen seconds of the restart when Goulding rattled home his second goal. Cork could afford to rest Aidan Walsh, Ciaran Sheehan, Goulding, Miskella and Michael Shields well before the finish. Their substitutes’ bench contributed 1-4 and included a fearsome strike from Fintan Goold that found the top corner. Their midfield lorded proceedings with Hurney frustrated up front from a lack of supply while at the other end Kieran Cotter did well to prevent certain goals from Goulding and Goold.
It took Waterford thirty minutes to register their opening second half score even with the aid of the elements. This statistic reflects the disappointing manner of a performance that fell short of expectations given the level of experience in the starting fifteen. They now face a round 2 qualifier on July 9 where a home draw would provide a welcome bonus. Liam O’Lionain and Mark Ferncombe may be ready in time for that to add to the return of Gary Hurney and Robert Ahearne. With only two wins in eight competitive outings and a chastening championship opener, the challenge will be to keep the players upbeat to attempt a first win in the qualifier system.
The junior team also fell to a heavy defeat of 3-16 to 1-8 but the scoreboard doesn’t do justice to their efforts. After trailing by 0-11 to 0-2 on 20 minutes they rallied admirably to get within three points entering the final quarter with a goal from Edmond Hogan. Missed goal opportunities proved their undoing in the final analysis. Hogan saw his second half penalty saved, Darren Guiry blazed a shot just past the post and Craig Guiry also had a green flag ruled out for a square ball. Three late goals for the home side in the final five minutes gave them a flattering 14 point victory. In a similar way to the senior team their full forward line of Mark Cronin, Andrew O’Brien and Catrach Keane did the damage. Mark Prendergast, Eddie Rockett, Edmond Hogan and Eoghan Walsh were Waterford’s stand out performers.
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