One of the marvellous aspects of modern intercounty hurling is its sheer unpredictability and the inability to draw a line of form from one game to the next. Last year, after their early exit from the Munster championship, who would have predicted that Clare would end up in the All-Ireland final? In the light of their imposing early season form, who could have foreseen Tipperary being blown away by Waterford in the Munster final? Wexford should have beaten even Kilkenny, the most consistent team of all last year, in the Leinster final.

This year, people were talking about Clare as All-Ireland contenders after their first round demolition of Tipperary. Now the same people are already talking about a Cork/Kilkenny All-Ireland final after the Rebels’ rout of the Bannermen. Last week people were raving about the first Waterford-Limerick match; after the replay they are writing both teams off. Babs Keating was at it in 'The Sunday Times', bemoaning the poor preparation of both teams. Ger Loughnane was going on in 'The Sunday Game' about the teams having no discernible game plan.

Both of these should have enough experience and common sense to appreciate that certain games can engulf the participating teams in fear and doubt, with the result that all the preparation and practice in the world goes out the window when the ball is thrown in. Last Saturday night in Thurles was such an occasion. Those who thought that Limerick would have the psychological advantage after the drawn match should have realised that the pressure was now on them to deliver a second time, and their young players in particular were not up to it. Waterford were also under enormous pressure, as on the first day out they should really have won comfortably, and all sorts of questions were being asked about their ability to put opponents away when they have them on the ropes (especially given the similarity with the game between the same two counties in 2001).

In his analysis of the first game in An Fear Rua, An Moltóir wrote: "Replays rarely provide a carbon copy of the preceding draws. Next Saturday we could see a dour, low-scoring game with few goals." And that is exactly how things panned out. It was a game weighed down with tension and riddled with errors from start to finish. Normally such low-scoring games are an indication of good defensive performances. In 'The Sunday Times', Babs wrote: "Waterford’s backs were very composed and you have to give them credit for conceding just 0-11". However, the fact is that both sets of forwards created a hatful of chances each but simply couldn’t put them away. Most of these chances would have been converted the previous week.

Most of the post-match attention has focused on Paul Flynn’s display, and deservedly so. He actually only played the ball five times in general play in the game, and scored four times from these plays. An Moltóir cannot recall him ever playing two good games in a row for Waterford before. There may be some substance to the talk which emanated from the Déise at the beginning of the year that Flynn was pissed off at not getting an All-Star last year and was determined to make amends in 2003. Well, he is two thirds of the way there already.

On a night when workrate mattered more than skill, Waterford’s other hero was Ken McGrath. Some commentators were remarking on the fact that he didn’t score, and drew from this that he had a quiet game. However, he played the ball nineteen times during the course of the game, equally divided between both halves. Nobody else came anywhere close to matching McGrath’s contribution. Second in the number of plays was Eoin Kelly at fourteen. Kelly will be remembered more for hitting some bad wides, but he was still creating the chances and he has shown plenty of ability in the past to convert them. Peter Queally was Waterford’s third busiest player will eleven plays: eight of these were in the first half and his contribution had declined considerably when he was withdrawn halfway through the second half.

The only Limerick players to reach double figures in the number of plays were Ollie Moran with twelve and Peter Lawlor with eleven. Moran did most of his work in the second half when moved to midfield. Lawlor was solid right through and to An Moltóir was the most impressive of the Limerick newcomers over the two games. Eoin Foley and James O’Brien also played a lot of ball for the Shannonsiders.
Among the interesting statistics from the game were that Damien Reale never played the ball once (except perhaps for a couple of close-in flicks and blocks which were undetectable on the video) during the game. Not far behind him was James Murray whose first clear play came in the 70th minute. The first time Fergal Hartley played the ball was in the last minute of the first half, but he made a much more substantial contribution after the break. Clement Smith got in a good pull at the throw-in, and never hit the ball again before being hauled ashore after 21 minutes. Pat Kirby also played the ball just once during the course of the game.

Waterford will be delighted that the contrasting nature of their and Cork’s semi-final victories will install the Leesiders as hot favourites for the final on June 29. As with Kilkenny, it is a truism that if you allow Cork to play ball they will destroy you. In last year’s All-Ireland final, Kilkenny tore into Clare from the outset and had the skill to go with their possession to put Clare to the sword. Cork did exactly the same on Sunday. They were highly motivated and well drilled, and their first touch was superb. The likes of Ben O’Connor and Timmy McCarthy will run you ragged if given good ball into space. It is a different matter if they have to fight their corner for high ball lobbed up by backs and midfielders under pressure.

Clare destroyed Tipperary because they had a monopoly of outfield possession and sent a torrent of good ball into their forwards. Last Sunday the boot was on the other foot, and although the Clare defence fought tenaciously for sixty minutes, once Colin Lynch was dismissed the roof caved in on them. An Moltóir felt from an early stage that Olly Baker was caught out by the sheer pace of the game, and was surprised that he was left where he was. The Cork defence, of course, was superb. While we expect the like of this from Sherlock, O’Sullivan and Ó hAilpín, the performances of Kenny, Curren and especially Mulcahy were real eye-openers. It is a tribute to Cork’s territorial dominance that even Niall McCarthy looked good at times, and the younger Ó hAilpín certainly has filled out since his minor days and now looks like a major threat.

The Munster final will be a fascinating battle of wits between Justin McCarthy and Donal O’Grady. Cork will no longer be underdogs and have shown their hand. Waterford showed last year what they can do when the humour is on them. Notwithstanding last Saturday night they still carry more potential firepower than perhaps any other county in the land. The extra game will stand to them and the fact that they showed themselves capable of holding on for victory in such a tight encounter could do a lot for their self-confidence. Just as Clare were all psyched up for the Tipperary game but then failed to repeat the formula in their next outing, there will be questions over whether Cork can reach the same level of intensity against Waterford.

It certainly augurs well for a fascinating contest in Thurles at the end of the month.

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