Cork do enough to secure Munster Championship final berth as Waterford rue pivotal black card call

The Irish Sun

26-05-2025

A SEVEN-YEAR itch was scratched as Cork secured their place in a first Munster SHC final since 2018.
With Brian Hayes and Patrick Horgan bagging second-half goals, the Rebels responded to their heavy defeat to Limerick by setting up another showdown with the Treaty.
For Waterford, another season has failed to make it beyond May after they were unable to make the most of the ferociously strong wind that favoured them in the first half.
Stephen Bennett netted in the 58th minute to help the visitors cut the gap to three points, which made for a nervy finale for the vast majority of the 42,181 in attendance.
Yet the Déise, whose campaign began with a win over Liam MacCarthy Cup holders Clare, will have to wait until 2026 for another shot at qualifying for the All-Ireland series via the round-robin format for the first time.
Having suffered a 16-point hammering at the hands of Limerick seven days earlier, Cork found themselves in choppy waters.
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And while this performance was sufficient in steadying the ship, it was far from plain sailing as they booked a provincial decider against the seven-in-a-row-chasing champions at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday week.
Victorious manager Pat Ryan said: 'We left an awful lot of chances behind us. But it's knockout Championship, there's going to be a bit more trepidation in it, a bit more nervousness in it.
'Both ourselves and Waterford knew that if we didn't win, we'd be out of the Championship. We played a small bit like that, with a bit of nerves.'
Ryan's side finished the game with their wides tally at 17.
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One of those was a glorious goal opportunity for Shane Barrett.
Ryan added: 'That's something we'll work on, the efficiency side of it, but I thought our work-rate, our hitting the breaks, our hunger to get on the ball was an awful lot better than it was last week and that's the way it should be. That's the standard.
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'You're not always going to play as well or have great hurling at times and things might not come off in your game-plan.
"But your work-rate, your attitude and your character has to be the standard.
'From our point of view, the attitude last week wasn't good enough. The effort wasn't good enough. I don't think we played brilliant hurling today but today was about attitude and character.'
Waterford, having won the toss, were sure to have been conscious of the importance of harnessing the breeze to build a buffer capable of withstanding a second-half onslaught.
Seán Walsh and Patrick Fitzgerald looked sharp as they raced into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead after ten minutes.
And the advantage would have been even greater, only for Ger Millerick blocking a Bennett goal attempt from a 20-metre free.
Still, it was Cork who held the upper hand at the interval.
With Alan Connolly back on form and Horgan unerring from five placed balls, the home side were effective in curtailing the influence of the elements.
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The Rebels sent the home crowd happy after the 2-25 to 1-22 win
The first half concluded with a pair of points from Connolly that left Cork ahead by 0-13 to 0-12.
Waterford boss Peter Queally declared himself 'very proud' of his players for delivering what he felt was a much-improved performance from their defeat to Tipperary last time out.
He said: 'I thought they left everything out there today. People were coming in here wondering about Cork's credentials. I'd like to think that we tested Cork's credentials today and we gave everything we had.'
But Queally was frustrated by several calls from referee Johnny Murphy.
Most notably, he felt a black-card penalty should have been awarded instead of a 20-metre free when Bennett was pulled down by Mark Coleman and Seán O'Donoghue.
QUEALLY MIFFED
The Déise chief added: 'There were a number of decisions that would have really irritated us.
'I know the way Johnny refs the game. He likes to let it go but at the end of the day, in my opinion, a foul is still a foul.
"Whether you want it to be a man's game or not, there were times when I thought our lads were fouled. We didn't get the frees and we wouldn't be happy with that.'
Things looked ominous for Waterford when Hayes had the ball in their net just 17 seconds after the change of ends.
After Paddy Leavey was blocked down by Tim O'Mahony, Darragh Fitzgibbon teed up Hayes to collect his eighth goal of the year with a neat one-handed finish.
However, having the wind behind them also brought no guarantees for the men in red as they kept the door open for Waterford by hitting 11 second-half wides.
Cork went 2-16 to 0-16 ahead on 49 minutes when Conor Prunty failed to deal with a delivery from Millerick — who was later withdrawn due to a dislocated finger.
The break was pounced on by Hayes, who released Horgan to emphatically finish to the net.
The gap was then pushed out to eight points by Hayes and Barrett.
But sub Dessie Hutchinson responded with a Waterford point and Bennett gave them a lifeline with a 58th-minute goal.
The Ballysaggart marksman got out in front of Eoin Downey to win the ball and fire home.
And Bennett was a whisker away from bagging a second goal a minute later when his delicate effort from a narrow angle struck the post.
Still, Jack Prendergast followed up with a point to leave just a goal between the teams.
With Cork living dangerously, there was still only a puck of a ball separating them in the penultimate minute of normal time after Bennett aced back-to-back frees.
REBEL CAVALRY
But a positive impact from their bench — with Shane Kingston, Diarmuid Healy and Conor Lehane all chipping in with scores late on — helped to see the Rebels home.
CORK: P Collins; S O'Donoghue, E Downey, G Millerick; M Coleman 0-2 1f, C Joyce, C O'Brien 0-1; T O'Mahony, D Fitzgibbon 0-1; B Roche, S Barrett 0-3, S Harnedy 0-3; P Horgan 1-8 8f, A Connolly 0-3, B Hayes 1-1.
Subs: D Healy 0-1 for Roche 48 mins; L Meade for O'Mahony 60; S Kingston 0-1 for Connolly 62; D Cahalane for Millerick 63; C Lehane 0-1 for Horgan 73; T O'Connell for O'Brien 75.
WATERFORD: B Nolan 0-1f; C Prunty, I Kenny, G Fives; T de Búrca, M Fitzgerald 0-1, K Bennett 0-1; P Leavey, D Lyons; M Kiely 0-2, J Barron 0-1, J Prendergast 0-2; Stephen Bennett 1-7, 7f, S Walsh 0-3, P Fitzgerald 0-3.
Subs: D Hutchinson 0-1 for Leavey 41 mins; K Mahony for P Fitzgerald 51; Shane Bennett for Lyons 52; A Gleeson for Walsh 61.
REFEREE: J Murphy (Limerick).