The national broadcast and print "meeja" pay a lot of money to reporters and "expert" pundits to assess big GAA games every weekend. However, much of what these people say and write is pure tripe.

Thus, following the Dublin footballers’ defeat by Laois, acres of square inches and many minutes of air space were devoted to how Dublin were cleaned out in the middle third of the pitch. Yet video analysis shows that the Dubs dominated that game territorially and lost because of some terrible shooting, while the Midlanders landed a series of miracle points, some of which shouldn’t have even been attempted, so unlikely were the positions from which they were kicked.

Similarly, following the Munster hurling final, the standard 'meeja' view was that Waterford had played superbly in the first half and, but for some poor shooting, should have been out of sight by half time. Yet when An Moltóir went through the Deise team individually, he found it hard to identify any players, apart from John Mullane, who had performed impressively in the period up to half time. Tony Browne hit one purple patch, and Dave Bennett landed a couple of good points. The defence coped well, mainly by spoiling tactics, but there were few of the driving clearances which were a feature of the Cork back line, especially in the second half. Three of the Waterford forwards – Eoin Kelly, Paul Flynn and Eoin McGrath – played the ball a total of four times between them in the half

The real difference between the two teams in that first half was the wind, which meant that the ball was more often in the Cork danger zone (especially from Stephen Brenner’s puckouts) and it was easier for the Waterford players to find the target. Four of Waterford’s points in that period came from way out the field, and a fifth was contributed by midfielder Tony Browne. Apart from the poor defensive play by Pat Mulcahy which led to Mullane’s goal, and the non-performance by Diarmuid O’Sullivan which was fairly quickly corrected by the selectors, generally Cork defended well in the first half, with Tom Kenny and Ronan Curran in particular hitting a lot of ball. And, while much attention was focused on some bad misses by Waterford, Cork also had their fair share of poor shooting, which continued through the second half.

With the wind at their backs, Cork dominated the second half territorially, playing the ball 78 times to Waterford’s 54. And, unlike Waterford in the first half, the Rebels had numerous star performers after the change of ends. Kenny and Curran continued the good work, John Gardiner put in a strong performance at midfield, and up front Ben O’Connor and Joe Deane were particularly effective. The value of the wind was shown by Gardiner’s four points from midfield, but the real goldmine for Cork was the right wing of the attack, which yielded five points from play in the second period. It was amazing that the Waterford mentors made no attempt to staunch the flood of scores from that quarter. For An Moltóir, the obvious move would have been to switch Brian Greene, who was struggling on Deane, to his favourite position at left half back, with Eoin Murphy moving to the fullback line, where he had played well in the replay against Limerick.

Some of the statistics from the game are quite revealing. Between them, the Cork halfback line of Kenny, Curran and Ó hAilpín played the ball no less than forty times – twice the strike rate of the Waterford halfbacks. Ben O’Connor alone played the ball fourteen times (an astonishing hit rate for a wing forward); his opposite number, All-Star Eoin Kelly, had played the ball just three times before he was hauled ashore late in the second half.

Some of the decision-making by the Waterford mentors was difficult to fathom. Bringing on the inexperienced Alan Kirwan instead of the battle-hardened Brian Flannery in the closing stages of a closely-fought Munster final was the height of folly. By moving Dave Bennett (who was playing quite well) from midfield to wing forward in the second half, they effectively took him out of the game. He was not to touch the ball after the restart until the 60th minute. Waterford’s biggest problem in the second half was to gain possession from their own puckouts against a Cork halfback line that was playing extremely well. Yet they never tried Andy Moloney in the key centre forward position and when they brought on Seamus Prendergast – another good ball winner or spoiler – they left him at full forward. At one stage in the second half the Waterford half forward line consisted of Bennett, Flynn and Eoin McGrath – the three smallest players in the team. Meanwhile, big Dan Shanahan, who made an impact when brought on in the replay against Limerick, was left on the sideline.

If Waterford are to progress further, they will have to come up with ball-winning wing backs. And they will have to come up with better tactics to get good ball into their potentially devastating inside forwards. In a one-minute spell in the middle of the second half, both Fergal Hartley and Tom Feeney won good possession and drove the ball straight down the middle into the maw of Ronan Curran, who replied with interest. Immediately afterwards, Mickey O’Connell drove a peach of a ball into the top left hand corner, where Joe Deane got possession, sucked in the defenders and gave Alan Browne sufficient time to miscontrol the ball and still tap over for an easy point.

While not the complete article, Cork certainly have the basic requirements. Their halfback line is very strong (the most important ingredient in any hurling team), in John Gardiner they have a consummate hurling artist and they have forwards who can cause problems with a good supply of ball. A major bonus for them on Sunday was the big performance by centre forward Niall McCarthy, a player whom An Moltóir had not rated before. By getting the better of Fergal Hartley, he made a key contribution to cutting off what is normally one of Waterford’s most prolific supply lines. "Santa" Ó hAilpín did not have it all his own way against Declan Prendergast, but showed amazing assuredness with the possession he did manage to get. If they could get one more reliable forward to replace Timmy McCarthy, they would be very hard to beat indeed.

In the end, despite the limp performance from several key players, this was a game which Waterford still could have won (and probably would have, if Ken McGrath’s shooting had not been so awry). They remain a formidable force who could still be serious All-Ireland contenders if they can realise the abilities which they have shown before. Among the key questions for them include whether they can get Tony Browne back to something approaching full fitness and whether Fergal Hartley’s poor performance was a once-off. Eoin McGrath and Eoin Kelly are only a pale shadow of their former selves, and their wingbacks are not good enough for this level. A bit of imaginative thinking, such as placing Ken McGrath in the halfback line, and some bold measures such as giving a start to the likes of Paul O’Brien and Michael Walsh, could freshen things up considerably for their next outing. Much, however, will depend on just who their next opponents will be.

Finally, a few questions for the powers-that-be that "run" the GAA (are any of them involved with Luas, one wonders?). Firstly, why can’t they get the scoreboard at Semple Stadium to operate properly? The problems in evidence last Sunday, and which must have been quite confusing for both the minor and senior players, were also apparent at the Waterford/Limerick games. Secondly, when are they going to put an end to the ridiculous and annoying delays caused by a shortage of hurling balls on big hurling occasions? With nearly a million euros in gate receipts, surely a couple of bags of sliotars would not have been beyond the resources of the Munster Council last Sunday. And thirdly, when is the GAA going to introduce a stop clock?