‘Scores we missed were brutal': After wasteful win over Waterford, Cork know efficiency is key in Munster final
The time to sell your exposure to Cork hype was seven weeks ago, straight after the league final. If you had a mind to invest now and catch the market at the bottom of the curve, this would be an easy time to buy.
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Cork to face Limerick in Munster SHC final after victory over Waterford
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After weeks of fielding questions about it, Pat Ryan still isn't buying or selling. Did it influence their implosion against Limerick a week ago? Not nearly as much as hitting and hunting and all the other stuff they neglected to do. But for a couple of months the hype was out of Cork's control and that bothered the Cork manager.
'It's hard not to get drawn into the hype and some of it was stupid stuff altogether and a lot of it was coming from outside the county,' he said.
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'You heard people writing off Limerick, some of our own people – are they off their game or what? From my point of view, look, that was very annoying. I think, sometimes, fellas would be building you up, hoping that you'd get a kick in the ass.
'I thought there was a lot of twisted stuff around it, to be honest with you. If I could find a better word I'd find it, but I thought there was a lot of twisted stuff around it.
'I think our lads are trying to insulate themselves as much as they can and take away the noise.
'I think the learning we got the last day is if you're against any inter-county team – but especially against the likes of Limerick – and if you're a small bit off, they will just make an idiot of you and that's realistically what happened last Sunday.'
Cork's inefficiency was an issue again in their 2-25 to 1-22 victory.
They hit 17 wides and dropped three shots short. Séamus Harnedy, who was terrific again, scored three points from seven shots and that was emblematic of Cork's finishing.
Straight after their first goal, when Waterford were on the rack, Cork hit five wides in about eight minutes and that spell of dominance was spoiled.
Cork's Damien Cahalane and Stephen Bennett of Waterford battle it out at Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Sunday. Photograph: James Crombie/INPHO
'The scores we missed were brutal scores, for want of a better word,' Ryan said.
'It wasn't long-range scores or long-range pot-shots, we missed a good few scores around the D and that would be unlike us a bit.
'That's something we'll work on, because our efficiency has to be really, really high against Limerick. It wasn't high the last day. Efficiency is a key part of our game and that's where we need to get to if we want to have any chance in the Munster final.'
For Waterford, it was the sixth time they have failed to qualify from the round robin phase of the Munster championship since this system was introduced in 2018.
For the second year in a row, they went to the last game needing a win on the road and against the head. Once more it was beyond them.
In his frustration afterwards, Peter Queally questioned the fairness of the championship system.
'Clare are the reigning All-Ireland champions, and they were out of the championship because of results last week. Every football team in Ireland is still in the championship. We've been training since October. Don't say that too loudly because we're not meant to be. We've been training in all the winter months,' the Waterford manager said.
Cork's Darragh Fitzgibbon and Conor Prunty of Waterford. Photograph: James Crombie/INPHO
'Now the ground is hard, we want to be hurling, and we're gone out of the championship. I'd like to see a change in structure where we're afforded a little bit of a chance to hurl during the summer when everyone wants to hurl and everyone wants to watch hurling, not in December, January and February.
'I've had conversations with fellas who have decided to opt out. People are deciding not to play because of the amount of effort and training that's asked of them all through the winter months.
'Then you come up against three awesome hurling teams and you're putting away your hurley in the summer evenings when all you want to do is hurl.'
Whatever else might change, the brutality of the Munster championship remains.
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