Jimmy Barry-Murphy is enjoying his stint as manager with a young Cork team. Last Sunday he saw his charges qualify for the National Hurling League final and now looks forward to two matches of great importance - the match against Waterford on Sunday week and the Munster first-round championship clash with Limerick on May 31st.
On the Waterford clash he says: "They have put together a very good team with some really good players. Gerald (McCarthy) has done a very good job and we know that we will not get anything easy. I'm told they were very impressive on Sunday. "Even though they conceded two goals late in the game they still finished strongly and fought back really well".
He has no particular feeling about facing a team managed by his former team-mate. "I don't think it makes much difference. Once the ball is thrown in it's up to the players and I believe that we have the kind of a squad which can win things.
"We came through the National League unbeaten so far. The players are very ambitious and they really want to do well. They work really hard and we have eight or nine of a squad of under-21 players who won the Under-21 championship at our disposal. They are hungry for better things and they have tremendous promise and application."
He refuses to single out players for special mention but feels that nobody will object if special tribute goes to Ger Cunningham who will be playing in his 18th successive championship when he lines out against Limerick. He made his championship debut against Clare in 1981 and has won three All-Ireland medals.
Of Cunningham, Barry-Murphy has this to say: "Not only is he a great player and a very valuable member of the side but he has an enormous influence on the young players around him. He's really worth another man to us. The younger players look to himself and Brian Corcoran for their inspiration and I am confident that we have built a fine team around these two," Barry-Murphy says.
On the Munster football front Limerick have made an unexpected move with the naming of newcomer, Brian Begley in the fullback position in their team for Sunday's Munster championship match against Tipperary.
The team contains only four of the team which lost to Tipperary in a replay last year. The four are Ger O'Connor at left corner back, John Quane at midfield and attackers Damien Reidy and Pat Galvin.
Begley was a member of last year's minor team beaten in the Munster final by Kerry. Other newcomers include Diarmuid Sheehy at right corner back, under-21 star Michael Reidy who plays at right half forward and Sean Aherne at left corner forward.
Tipperary are at full-strength for the match and have been given a big boost by the availability of Brendan Cummins for the centre forward berth. Cummins is better known as the Tipperary hurling team's goalkeeper but he delights in scoring rather than saving when it comes to football. In last year's replay he scored a total of eight points. The Laois side is unchanged for their All-Ireland under-21 final clash with Kerry in Limerick on Saturday. The Kerry side has two links with the great Kerry team of the 1970s and 1980s. Noel Kennelly is a son of Tim Kennelly and Tomas OSe is a nephew of Paidi O Se the present senior of the senior team.
