The great Cork/Waterford rivalry

06 Jul 2010

Ahead of the Cork versus Waterford match this Sunday, Christy O’Connor examines the history of hurling's most satisfying rivalry of the 21st century.

The day after Waterford defeated Cork in the 1989 Munster semi-final replay, some Waterford supporters from the southwest of the county moved the celebrations across the border and into Youghal. It was Waterford’s s first championship win over Cork in 15 years but the victory also represented liberation from a decade of tyrannical oppression. In their three previous championship meetings in the 1980s, Cork had beaten Waterford by an aggregate of 72 points. Massacres.

That Waterford had taken Cork down in a shoot-out made the win even more satisfying. After Cork put 5-31 past them in the 1982 Munster final, the joke around Youghal was that Waterford had confused the score line with a train timetable. So hitting 5-16 in 1989, nine points more than Waterford had ever scored against Cork in the championship, finally gave their supporters a reason to walk tall.

Most of the Waterford fans gathered in Treacy's pub. There was one Cork old timer seated at the corner of the bar. He hadn't said a word all day but all the ham-fisted bravado eventually made him crack. "I've been listening to ye there all day about how great ye are," he told them. "Who the hell do ye think ye are with yer two All-Irelands and one ambush?"

As well as highlighting their two titles compared to Cork’s impressive haul, it was a crass reference to the Burgery ambush on the Black and Tans, which took place a mile outside Dungarvan during the War of Independence. Highlighting the historical past of the Rebels, both on and off the pitch, was his way of dousing the celebrations with perspective.

Normal service resumed in 1990 when Cork scolded Waterford for their insolence, hammering them by 16 points. The trend of the Waterford-Cork relationship continued in the 1990s. Cork took care of them in the 1991 championship and they beat them by seven points in the 1998 League final. In 1999, Waterford went into the Munster semi-final as favourites, but Cork turned them over again.

In the last decade though, the texture of the Cork-Waterford relationship was completely transformed. Nascent rivalries have revolutionized the sport and defined an era but the first great rivalry of the 21st century is Cork v Waterford. After the Kilkenny v Offaly relationship of 1980-2000 though, Cork v Waterford has been hurling's most satisfying rivalry in modern times. Most hurling rivalries over the last three decades have been laced with a more physical and sulphurous undercurrent but Cork-Waterford games have promoted total hurling, high-wire drama and high scoring games.

Although Cork and Waterford had a brief rivalry between 1957 and 1967 – when Waterford had their greatest team - Cork's historical domination over their neighbours stopped a fervour developing. Before they played in 2002, the counties had met 50 times in the championship. Cork had won 39, Waterford just eight. Since 2002, the sides have met nine times and Waterford have won four and drawn one.

Waterford’s public never had any truck with Cork and they still largely don't. The hurling powerbase in the county is in Waterford city and their beef has been with Kilkenny. The rivalry with Tipperary in north Waterford has been fairly fractious but there has never been the same level of tension along the western border with Cork.

As in Cork, where there has been a shift in power from the city to the north and east, hurling is now a lot stronger in west Waterford than 10 years ago. That has added to the intrigue.

Now on Sunday, the next chapter of this amazing rivalry is about to unfold.

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Christy O'Connor has worked in the national newspaper industry for over ten years and now writes primarily for the Irish edition of The Sunday Times. A former member of the Clare senior hurling panel, he is the author of the critically acclaimed hurling book 'Last Man Standing'. He has also written 'The GAA Quiz Book 1' and the 'The GAA Quiz Book 2'.

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