Whatever happens before the end of this Church & General National Hurling League, Waterford must deserve some sort of entertainment bonus. Yesterday, for the third time this season they provided a riveting contest against one of their neighbours and although Cork came as All-Ireland champions, they finished up as empty-handed as Kilkenny and Wexford before them.
The League may in recent times have become more than a little unreliable as a long-term indicator but on days like yesterday, it exists comfortably enough in the present tense. Walsh Park was thronged by a near-capacity 17,000 spectators as the home side sought to extend their 100 per cent record.
They succeeded because of a streaky, injury-time goal scored by substitute Barry Walsh which broke the deadlock. It was the county's first competitive win over Cork in six attempts since Gerald McCarthy took over as manager four years ago.
The breaking of this psychologically uncomfortable sequence and the accumulation of two more points will be very welcome but the performance levels were also sufficiently high to offer genuine hopes of building on the experience of two years ago.
Cork arrived with no greatly pressing agenda other than gently to coax their panellists back along the road to full alert for the summer. But by the time the atmosphere and Waterford's spirited had taken effect, they finished up with 14 of their All-Ireland team scrapping for a result.
Manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy was encouraged by certain aspects of the Cork display but a little miffed by the denouement. "I was very happy with the way we played in the second half and I felt we deserved a draw. The free at the end was a bit harsh."
The free in question led to the winning goal after Paul Flynn dropped the ball into the goalmouth and after a prolonged scuffle on the line, the ball ended up in the net with Walsh taking the plaudits as the apparent scorer.
Having suffered a similar fate at Cork's hands in last year's corresponding fixture, Waterford manager McCarthy felt no reason for remorse at the late winner. "There were times when we lost games we were in command of but let it slip at the end but today we stuck in there when things went against us in the second half and we'd have settled for a draw."
Flynn will have been relieved by the match's late twist. After Micheal White had been hauled down for a 69th-minute penalty, The Waterford captain elected to take his point but during the three minutes of injury-time, Alan Browne equalised for Cork with a free (which in fairness was as dubious as the decisive award in the 73rd minute).
Cork made disappointingly little impact in the first half despite the advantage of a strong wind. Their centrefield was well subdued by Tony Browne with good support from Johnny Brenner and only Ben O'Connor in attack posed a constant threat. By halftime only O'Connor was still occupying his starting position in attack.
Facing them, Waterford's defence was lively and assured with central players Peter Queally and James O'Connor particularly effective.
The home side broke through in the 11th minute when trailing by a point, 0-2 to 0-3, they conjured a goal from a solo run by White whose shot bounced across the face of Donal Cusack's goal for David Bennett to tip to the net.
From then on, they kept the scoreboard ticking over with some fine points, including a lovely first-time pull by Flynn, and could have had a goal from Anthony Kirwan on the half-hour but for Derek Barrett's covering run and clearance off the line.
Gerald McCarthy said afterwards that he had been worried by his team's inaccuracies immediately after the break. Four wides in the opening four minutes hinted that the second half mightn't be as easy as the twopoint lead, 1-8 to 0-9, achieved against the wind might have suggested.
Eventually the teams began to find their range. Ken McGrath capped a great individual display with 0-5 from play and gave a tiring Brian Corcoran - who was playing his second match of the weekend - such bother that the Hurler of the Year was switched to the corner.
At the start of the final quarter, the other McGrath - Cork's Sean - turned the match on its head with a sparkling piece of skill to get in behind the defence and a devastating angled finish into the Waterford net to reduce the margin to a point, 1-11 to 112.
By now Cork were bringing in their front-liners. Wayne Sherlock, Joe Deane and an energetic Mickey O'Connell all came on within minutes of each other and the game was well on.
The match seesawed but Waterford always seemed to be those few points ahead until a frantic endgame saw Neil Ronan, another substitute, squeeze in a goal from a tight angle and Brendan Coleman equalise, 2-13 to 1-16.
Coleman then missed an open goal as the action swung from one end of the field to the other. Flynn and Alan Browne swapped points as the match remained level entering in to that fateful, final minute.
WATERFORD: B Landers; T Feeney, J O'Connor, S Cullinane; S Frampton, P Queally, B Flannery; T Browne (0-1), J Brenner; D Shanahan (0-1), K McGrath (0-5), P Flynn (0- 6, one 65, one free, one penalty); M White (0-2), A Kirwan (0-1), D Bennett (1-1). Subs: B Walsh (1-0) for Bennett (63 mins); F Hartley for Cullinane (70 mins).
CORK: D Cusack; F Ryan, D O'Sullivan, J Browne; J Sheehan, B Corcoran, D Barrett; T McCarthy, M Landers (0-1); B Colman, F McCormack, A Browne (0-5, all frees); S McGrath (1-2), K Murray (0-1), B O'Connor (0-3). Subs: W Sherlock for Sheehan (45 mins); J Deane for Murray (47 mins); M O'Connell for McCormack (50 mins); P Ryan for Landers (63 mins); N Ronan (1-0) for McCarthy (65 mins).
Referee: D Murphy (Wexford).
