Pat Ryan hopes late Waterford fightback will be a lesson Cork learn from

It could almost be said to be the best of all worlds for the Cork management that they picked up their first Allianz HL win of the season against Waterford while at the same time having a scare at the end.

Leading by ten points midway through the second half, the Rebels had just two to spare at the end but manager Pat Ryan felt that the manner of Waterford’s comeback could serve as a useful lesson.

“Delighted to get the two points,” he said, “delighted with third quarter after half-time, I thought we played some fantastic hurling at that stage.

“The thing we're preaching to the lads about, when we move the ball fast and work off the shoulder, we're a very good team. I think in the last ten or 12 minutes, that's a good learning curve for us again.

“Look, in one way it was probably a good way to finish up that you didn't end up by 10 or 12 points pulling up. I think every game in the league is about finding areas that you're doing well and areas that you're doing poorly. That was the disappointing part of it towards the end, alright.”

Cork lost Ethan Twomey and captain Seán O’Donoghue to hamstring injuries in the first half, but Ryan doesn’t expect either to be out for a sustained period and it’s likely that Robbie O’Flynn will be the only other player out for the trip to Offaly in a fortnight.

Having so many players at his disposal will make for some tough calls for Ryan and his selectors.

“I think we’ve a very competitive panel,” he said, “I think 29 players have got starts in the first three league games.

“Over the next few weeks, we’ll be trying to get a settled 15 for both the Offaly game and the Wexford game and take it from there.”

Cork and Waterford will renew acquaintances in Walsh Park in the opening round of the Munster SHC on April 21 but the league game won’t have much bearing on that.

“Absolutely not,” Ryan said. “I don’t think the conditions will be the same and there’ll have been eight weeks’ training.

Realistically, they’ll probably have eight or nine changes, we’ll probably have five or six.

“At the same time, Davy’ll see things he wants to work on against us and we’ve seen things we need to work on against them and we’ll take it from there."

INCREDIBLE

For his part, Waterford manager Davy Fitzgerald had high praise for Cork, while ruing the fact that his team allowed such a lead to build up.

“I think Cork are one of the best teams out there,” he said, “I'd be very straight, I think they are. But we made them look exceptionally good with the way we let them run at us for the first 15 minutes.

“When Cork are in full flow, I think they're an incredible team. My honest opinion is that I'd put Cork in the first one or two for the All-Ireland Championship.

“I think they're right up there. And that's not playing games. I believe they have that talent.”