CORK'S lengthy injury list, and the likelihood that Waterford are likely to make a number of positional switches from last Sunday’s defeat to All-Ireland champions Limerick, makes Cork’s opening Munster Championship game against Waterford a difficult one to predict. 

Below we pinpoint the three match-ups that are likely to go a long way toward deciding the outcome.

Niall O’Leary v Dessie Hutchinson:

Déise sharpshooter Hutchinson notched three points against Limerick last Sunday, despite the fact that he had been assigned a clear defensive role in terms of shackling the runs of Barry Nash from deep, which must have drained some of his attacking energies. 

You would imagine that Waterford manager Davy Fitzgerald will be tweaking some of his tactics this week and identifying the Cork full-back line as an area to target.

With Sean O’Donoghue just back from injury Castlelyons’ Niall O’Leary is the most likely candidate to be earmarked to pick up the former professional footballer, with Hutchinson likely to be spending more time closer to the Cork goal than he did to the Limerick one last weekend.

Conor Lehane v Calum Lyons:

Midleton man Lehane was Pat Ryan’s go-to man on the 40 for the entire league campaign so he can be expected to lead the Cork attack against a Waterford defence missing the unfortunate talisman Tadhg de Búrca, who hobbled off with what looked like another unfortunate long-term injury against Limerick. 

Calum Lyons has been utilised as an attacking wingback in recent years by the Déise but he will probably have to suppress these attacking instincts in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday in order to anchor the Waterford defensive spine.

This area of the pitch is likely to be extremely congested, which would not suit Lehane’s natural game. 

Quite simply, the more often Lehane gets on the ball the more likely Cork will prevail, but at the same time, Lyons cannot be allowed drive forward from deep either. 

Austin Gleeson might also see game time as a deep-lying playmaker in this sector of the pitch, which will potentially cause Cork’s attack other issues if they are not completely tuned in to restrict him.

Brian Roche v Jamie Barron:

Given that Roche started every single Cork league fixture this year, bar the Westmeath game, the expectation is that he will be handed a starting jersey in the centre of Cork’s engine-room, but the intensity levels are about to go through the roof for the Bride Rovers man, as we enter championship combat.

On Sunday he faces off against the energizer bunny that is Jamie Barron, who has a decade of inter-county experience notched on the belt at this stage. 

It is likely to be a baptism of fire for Roche, who is being specifically picked by Pat Ryan to provide Cork with much-needed aggression and work-rate in the middle eight. 

If Cork can gain at least parity in this sector then that should go a long way towards laying the foundation for victory.