Cork beat Waterford to blow Munster SHC wide open

Cork roared back into Munster Hurling Championship contention thanks to a win that was even more commanding than their six-point margin of victory suggested.

Inspired by Conor Lehane and Seamus Harnedy, Kieran Kingston's side engineered a first provincial championship win for the Rebels at Walsh Park since last they met at this venue in this competition back in 1975.

With the breeze in their favour in front of a 10,986-strong gate, Cork held a slender 1-12 to 1-11 advantage following a first half which ebbed and flowed in either direction.

Waterford led by six points to two after 13 minutes having struck four unanswered white flags, with Stephen Bennett’s free-taking eye working well in the opening half.

But Cork roared back into contention to lead by 1-6 to six points by the 22nd minute, with Alan Connolly reacting well to Shaun O’Brien’s save to find the net following assistance from Darragh Fitzgibbon and Robbie O’Flynn.

But Waterford recovered well and were back in front by the 27th minute thanks to a goal from Michael Kiely following excellent approach play by Dessie Hutchinson and Patrick Curran.

Between then and the break, the game swung one way and then the other, with long distance points by Cork goalkeeper Patrick Collins and Mark Coleman particularly catching the eye. While Waterford had shown enough in the first half to suggest they could turn the tide after the interval, Cork had other ideas entirely.

Points from Patrick Horgan, on the day he became the Championship’s all-time leading scorer and substitute Shane Kingston, extended Cork’s lead before Patrick Curran and Stephen Bennett (a free) pointed to reduce the arrears.

Waterford struggled to develop any meaningful level of rhythm while Cork kept the scoreboard