Rampant Rebels leave Déise for dust in league opener
Waterford's Shane Bennett dejected after the game.
Cork needed no more than ten minutes to swat aside Waterford as the Déise left Páirc Uí Chaoimh licking their wounds on a torrid start to their Division 1A campaign.
Goals from Alan Connolly, Declan Dalton and William Buckley helped the Rebels canter to a first competitive win under Ben O’Connor, and it would’ve been a lot worse for Waterford were it not for the interventions of Reuben Halloran (0-13).
The outstanding Declan Dalton opened the scoring after 35 seconds when picked out by Diarmuid Healy, before captain Darragh Fitzgibbon fired over with ease from distance moments later as the Rebels flexed early muscle.
A stunning score from way out by Jamie Barron got Waterford off the mark on three minutes, but that was as close as the Déise would ever get as Ben O’Connor’s men reeled off eight on the spin.
Alan Connolly opened his account from a free before Dalton raced out in front of Conor Keane and then curled over a beauty. William Buckley was next to profit from that side of the defence, before Shane Barrett punished more loose marking, and Cork were five in front with six minutes played.
Rob Downey then picked out Healy in acres, and he made no mistake, and the sight of Jack Fagan leaving the pitch injured further compounded the misery of the travelling Waterford supporters. The Rebels continued to pop it around for fun, and Barrett reeled off two in a row unchallenged, before Dalton was again first to a loose ball and the scoreline read 0-10 to 0-1. A game over as fast as it had begun.
Cork goalkeeper Pa Collins produced a great stop on 13 minutes to deny Sean Walsh the game’s opening goal, as the Fourmilewater forward swivelled on a dropping ball from a long range Billy Nolan free - but Reuben Halloran was on hand to point the requisite 65 and stop the rot momentarily.
Dalton again wriggled free of his man and belted over his fourth from play, before Barron added his second when cutting inside Downey. Cork were in an eleven-point lead from the next play, as the game’s opening goal arrived on 17 minutes.
A searching ball was played down the right flank toward Dalton and he let it run behind evading Keane, before squaring to Connolly who was on hand to plunder to an unguarded net. It was already a long evening in store.
Fitzgibbon, Healy and man-of-the-match Buckley rained on the Waterford parade once more as they kept their personal tallies and Cork’s in good stead, as the lead grew to 14 with just 20 minutes played.
Darragh Lyons swung over under pressure before Halloran scored in space, but Healy was soon again afforded the freedom of Cork and the Déise paid the price. A short range free from Halloran kept extremely slim hope alive, but from the puckout - Cork worked the sliotar to Brian Roche and he was hauled down by Mark Fitzgerald. The Passage man was given a black card and Johnny Murphy pointed to the penalty spot.
On 27 minutes, up stepped Dalton and the Fr. O’Neill’s man nearly broke the net as the sliotar flew past Nolan to the top left corner. Waterford needed a miracle. Roche got in on the act himself soon after but three Halloran frees ensured he was one of few Déise men who could leave the pitch with head held high. Still, the halftime score read Cork 2-16 Waterford 0-9.
Halloran picked up where he left off after the break as the De La Salle man made no mistake from a dead ball, but a classy strike from Mark Coleman, a counter attack rounded off by Buckley and a free from Fitzgibbon kept Cork extremely comfortable. They might’ve been less so, but Charlie Treen saw a limp effort easily thwarted by Collins. Still, Waterford didn’t have to wait too long to grab a goal.
Halloran knocked over another as he remained impeccable from frees, before Downey hauled down Shane Bennett and was shown a black card on 44 minutes. Bennett dusted himself off and drove the penalty to the bottom left corner of the Cork net, but Waterford still trailed by eleven.
As soon as they scored one themselves, Waterford gifted Cork a goal back. Overplay in the backline could only be described as calamitous, and though they tried to haul down Buckley, the St. Finbarr’s forward found the near corner with one hand in a moment that summed up the Déise’s day.
A Halloran 65 was responded to with further fine efforts from Hugh O’Connor and Healy, before the returning Calum Lyons got in on the act for Waterford. Alan Connolly then outmuscled Iarlaith Daly to score with ease before Tommy O’Connell sent over a rasper from midfield and Waterford fans dreamt of the final whistle for all the wrong reasons.
Halloran knocked over the next four to his credit but the game was simply being played out by this point, a stunner on his knees from Buckley exemplified the gulf in class before Coleman rounded out the scoring.
Waterford’s afternoon went from bad to worse at the finish, Sean Walsh was shown a straight red card for pulling off Eoin Roche’s helmet. Beaten by 14, finishing with 14 - plenty to ponder ahead of the visit of Limerick on Sunday.
Improvement needed, or the same fate follows.
William Buckley (1-4); Declan Dalton (1-4; 1-0 pen); Alan Connolly (1-2; 0-1f); Diarmuid Healy (0-4); Darragh Fitzgibbon (0-3; 0-1f); Shane Barrett (0-3); Mark Coleman (0-2); Brian Roche, Tommy O’Connell and Hugh O’Connor (0-1 each)
Reuben Halloran (0-13; 0-8f; 0-2 ‘65); Shane Bennett (1-0; 1-0 pen); Jamie Barron (0-2); Darragh Lyons and Calum Lyons (0-1 each)
Pa Collins; Niall O’Leary, Daire O’Leary, Sean O’Donoghue; Cormac O’Brien, Robert Downey, Mark Coleman; Tommy O’Connell, Darragh Fitzgibbon; Brian Roche, Shane Barrett, Diarmuid Healy; William Buckley, Declan Dalton, Alan Connolly.
Alan Walsh for Declan Dalton (41); Hugh O’Connor for Shane Barrett (46); Eoin Roche for Daire O’Leary (49); Micheal Mullins for Robert Downey (54); Robbie O’Flynn for Diarmuid Healy (61)
Billy Nolan; Daniel Lalor, Conor Prunty, Conor Keane; Iarlaith Daly, Mark Fitzgerald, Jack Fagan; Darragh Lyons, Jamie Barron; Sean Walsh, Shane Bennett, Reuben Halloran; Sean Mackey, James Power, Charlie Treen.
Joe Booth for Jack Fagan (7); Brian Lynch for Daniel Lalor (19); Calum Lyons for James Power (40); Michael Kiely for Joe Booth (50); Mairtín Power for Iarlaith Daly (58)
Johnny Murphy (Limerick)
