STEPHEN BENNETT fired Waterford to just a fourth ever Allianz Hurling League as Cork’s lengthy title drought goes on.
Bennett bagged 2-11 on the night to deliver the first trophy of Liam Cahill’s reign and set the Deise up nicely for a tilt at long-awaited All-Ireland glory as they take on Cahill’s native Tipperary in a fortnight’s time in the opening round of the Munster Championship.
It was Waterford’s first League crown since 2015, when they also beat Cork in the final, while the Rebels have now lost five finals since last winning the competition back in 1998.
Bennett’s goals in either half were too much for Cork to absorb in front of a crowd of 18,903 at FBD Semple Stadium, with Patrick Curran and Dessie Hutchinson also raising green flags before Robbie O’Flynn got in for a late consolation.
There was an edge to Waterford’s play in the opening 15 minutes or so that Cork struggled with as Cahill’s men moved 0-5 to 0-2 clear.
Cork were coughing up cheap frees, careless in their shooting and guilty of overplaying the ball at times while Conor Prunty, one of Waterford’s returning players, was getting on top of Patrick Horgan.
But Cork and Horgan played their way into it, the Glen Rovers man converting a free after Prunty had fouled him and Darragh Fitzgibbon drew Cork level from the resultant puckout in the 24th minute at 0-7 each.
Waterford struck back in devastating fashion. Jack Prendergast’s delivery found Michael Kiely on the edge of the large square and he offloaded to the incoming Curran for the game’s opening goal in the 26th minute.
They had a second within a minute, with Neil Montgomery releasing Bennett, who still had plenty to do but his finish was lethal.
Cork responded well with the next three points, the third of them another Horgan free after Prunty charged into the back of him, but Prendergast, Montgomery and Bennett, from a free after Cork ‘keeper Patrick Collins was dispossessed by Kiely, restored Waterford’s three-point advantage at half-time as they led 2-10 to 0-10.
Cork got some impetus from their bench as Shane Kingston immediately hit two sweet points after his introduction at the break though they weren’t making any great inroads and while they needed a goal to reignite their challenge, it always looked more likely to materialise at the other end.
After Curran had a goal disallowed when referee Liam Gordon whistled play back for a Waterford advantage, Bennett struck for his second of the night having brilliantly fielded Shaun O’Brien’s long delivery ahead of Joyce in the 48th minute.
O’Flynn thundered into the game for Cork and hit two points either side of a Horgan free to effectively wipe out that green flag but Waterford had more than enough in hand and never seemed flustered, even as their lead was whittled down to four points at one stage.
Carthach Daly, having taken the wrong option when bursting through the Cork defence minutes earlier, made no mistake when slicing through a second time, putting Hutchinson in for Waterford’s fourth goal in the 64th minute.
They romped home from there with Curran, Prendergast and DJ Foran points pushing the lead out to nine points before O’Flynn got in for a goal from the game’s last play to spare Cork’s blushes somewhat.
But there was no escaping the fact that, for the third time in the past decade, a crushing League final defeat has raised questions about Cork coming into the Championship, despite a largely positive showing in the competition.
With Limerick coming to Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Sunday week for the Munster Championship opener, manager Kieran Kingston has much to tend to in the meantime.
Waterford have no such worries for now after a convincing victory that underlined their unofficial status as Limerick’s main challengers.
CORK: Patrick Collins; Sean O’Donoghue, Damien Cahalane, Ciaran Joyce; Tim O’Mahony (0-1), Mark Coleman, Robert Downey; Darragh Fitzgibbon (0-1), Ger Millerick; Robbie O’Flynn (1-3), Shane Barrett (0-2), Seamus Harnedy (0-1); Conor Lehane (0-2), Alan Connolly, Patrick Horgan (0-10, 0-8f, 0-1 ‘65’).
Subs: Shane Kingston (0-3) for Connolly (HT), Conor Cahalane for Harnedy (43), Jack O’Connor got Lehane (48), Sam Quirke for Millerick (57), Mark Keane for Barrett (65).
WATERFORD: Shaun O’Brien; Conor Prunty, Conor Gleeson, Shane McNulty; Calum Lyons, Tadhg de Burca, Jack Fagan; Darragh Lyons, Carthach Daly (0-1); Neil Montgomery (0-1), Jack Prendergast (0-3), Patrick Curran (1-3); Michael Kiely, Stephen Bennett (2-11, 0-9f), Dessie Hutchinson (1-0).
Subs: Shane Bennett for Kiely (57), Kieran Bennett for Montgomery (65), Pauric Mahony for Daly (66), Billy Power for Curran (69), DJ Foran (0-1) for Prendergast (70+2).
REFEREE: Liam Gordon (Galway).
