2007 All-Ireland SHC Quarter-Final
WATERFORD 3-16 CORK 3-16
By John Harrington
The canon of great Waterford-Cork hurling matches of the noughties is a considerable one.
The 2004 Munster SHC Final is commonly regarded as the best of the lot and casts such a long shadow that many of the other epic showdowns between the two teams don’t appear so clearly in the mind’s eye.
But when you press play on the drawn 2007 All-Ireland SHC quarter-final, the memories come flooding back as you relive once again what was an epic game of hurling.
The Waterford-Cork matches of that era usually unspooled like something from a Hollywood screenwriter's notebook, and the 2007 Quarter-Final was no different.
The fortunes of both teams fluctuated wildly from one minute to the next, and whenever it briefly looked like the game was settling into some sort of pattern the script would be torn up again.
Waterford charged from the traps like a greyhound hungry for a hare main-course as they raced into a five-point lead thanks mainly to a trademark goal from Dan Shanahan.
At that juncture Waterford supporters must have held hope that their team might blow the Rebels to smithereens such was the pace and power their team was hurling with.
Waterford's Dan Shanahan and Cork's Diarmuid O'Sullivan shake hands after the drawn 2007 All-Ireland SHC Quarter-Final.
But that Cork side always had the ability to suddenly put their foot on the accelerator thanks to the torque supplied by their half-back line of Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, Ronan Curran, and John Gardiner, and the jet-heeled midfield partnership of Tom Kenny and Jerry O’Connor.
That famous five got a grip on the game and by half-time the teams were level and now it was Cork who looked like the team with most momentum.
It swung back towards Waterford in the second-half, though, when Stephen Molumphy did brilliantly to pick out Paul Flynn with a hand-pass who then lanced the ball past Donal Óg Cusack to the back of the net.
Waterford moved four points ahead and looked to be humming, but some slack shooting on their part and then some opportunistic finishing by Cork turned the game on its head again.
Neil Ronan buried a penalty for the Rebels when Kieran Murphy was hauled down after an enterprising run, and then Murphy himself directed a clever batted finish to the net for Cork’s second goal which pushed them into the lead for the first time in the game.
It looked like the Rebels had landed the decisive blow near the end when Ronan finished the rebound to the net after Tom Kenny’s strike was saved by Clinton Hennessy and then Kevin Hartnett added a point immediately afterwards.
Trailing by four points with two minutes to play, Waterford looked like a team exiting the championship.
But, typical of these two teams, the match would end in a welter of excitement.
Waterford's Eoin Kelly, 3rd from left, along with his manager Justin McCarthy, left, linesman Dickie Murphy and Sean Og O hAilpin, watch as Kelly's late chance of a point goes wide.
Molumphy hauled his team back into the contest when he first-timed the rebound to the net after Paul Flynn’s blistering strike was brilliantly saved by Donal Óg Cusack.
And then at the death we had a helter skelter few seconds when Eoin McGrath wriggled his way through the Cork defence and opted to shoot for a glory-goal rather than tap over an equaliser.
Cusack pulled off another brilliant save and then he and Diarmuid O’Sullivan conspired to somehow stop Paul Flynn’s strike when he pulled first-time on the rebound.
Referee Brian Gavin adjudged that Cusack had illegally lay on the ball to stop Flynn having another bite at the cherry, and Waterford were given the free that saw them equalise.
Seconds later the final whistle blew and gave everyone a much-needed opportunity to catch their breath.
Scorers for Waterford: Dan Shanahan 1-3, Paul Flynn 1-2, Stephen Molumphy 1-2, Eoin Kelly 0-4 (3f), John Mullane 0-2, Ken McGrath 0-2 (1 ’65), Seamus Prendergast 0-1
Scorers for Cork: Niall Ronan 2-2 (1 pen), Joe Deane 0-5 (4f), Kieran Murphy 1-0, Ben O’Connor 0-3 (1f), Sean Óg Ó hAilpín 0-2, Tom Kenny 0-1, Jerry O’Connor 0-1, Kevin Hartnett 0-1, John Gardiner 0-1
WATERFORD: Clinton Hennessy; Eoin Murphy, Declan Prendergast, James Murray; Tony Browne, Ken McGrath, Aidan Kearney; Michael Walsh (capt), Eoin Kelly; Jack Kennedy, Seamus Prendergast, Stephen Molumphy; John Mullane, Dan Shanahan, Paul Flynn. Subs: Eoin McGrath for Jack Kennedy (28), Brian Phelan for James Murray (ht), Shane Walsh for Eoin Kelly (68)
CORK: Donal Óg Cusack, Shane O’Neill, Diarmuid O’Sullivan, Brian Murphy; John Gardiner, Ronan Curran, Seán Óg Ó hAilpín; Tom Kenny, Jerry O’Connor; Ben O’Connor, Timmy McCarthy, Pat Cronin; Neil Ronan, Kieran Murphy, Joe Deane. Subs: Niall McCarthy for Timmy McCarthy (44), Kevin Hartnett for Jerry O’Connor (57), Cathal Naughton for Niall McCarthy (71)
Ref: Brian Gavin.
