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Devastating Dan downs sorry Cork
 Dan
Shanahan’s eighth goal in four championship games this summer sent
Waterford into the All-Ireland semi-final at the expense of a Cork team
which looked to have too many miles on the clock.
This was Waterford’s third tough Championship match in three weeks
but they seem to grow tougher and more determined with each contest.
Deise manager Justin McCarthy said afterwards: “This team loves
hurling. We start training at half-six but these lads are down at the
field at half-five. No manager can make a team that determined, that comes
from themselves and that’s why they deserve every game they win.”
There hasn’t been much between these sides in recent years and Sunday’s
game looked like repeating that pattern.
The sides were level on nine occasions until Shanahan converted his second
goal after 57 minutes.
The first 15 minutes of the match were extremely open, 12 scores from
a dozen different players announcing this game as a potential classic.
Cork looked much the better side in the opening quarter, playing at a
faster pace and skipping past their markers with greater ease than the
Deise men could manage.
But Shanahan’s first goal, coming eight minutes before half-time,
changed the pattern of the game. Although the next scores were from Cork,
the momentum belonged to Waterford.
The goal came following some superb work from Stephen Molumphy, the Man-of-the-Match
and a certainty for the Young Hurler-of-the-Year accolade.
Given the volume of chances they had squandered, the Rebels will have
been relieved to have been leading by a point, 0-11 to 1-7, at the interval.
The dominance which Waterford had started to exert as the first-half wore
on became total after the interval.
Ken McGrath said afterwards that Waterford manager Justin McCarthy told
his players at half-time that “they were only playing in second
gear and could raise the game much more”.
Waterford were far better in the second period. Their half-back line started
to dominate the game and points from Michael Walsh and substitute Eoin
Kelly soon had the Deise men in front.
Shanahan’s second goal put four points between the teams and Cork
never looked like retrieving that margin so Waterford advance to play
Limerick in a novel All-Ireland semi-final pairing which is a repeat of
this year’s Munster final.
Beaten Cork manager Gerald McCarthy admitted afterwards that Waterford
were the better team.
He said: “They deserved their win and I think every man, woman and
child in Cork will be hoping for Waterford to go all the way now. This
is not the end of Cork hurling; we have young players coming through and
will be back.” |
