John Horgan: Declan Dalton showed why he's vital for Cork from here

Things will become a bit clearer in the Munster hurling round-robin after Waterford and Limerick sort out their differences at Walsh Park on Saturday night.

All five counties will then have completed two of their four games in the province and maybe we'll have that bit more of an insight into what three will be going forward into the All-Ireland series.

The collision of John Kiely's men and Peter Queally's is the only hurling game in the province over the weekend but in the aftermath of Waterford's superb victory over Clare last Sunday, it is a game now containing huge potential. Waterford's confidence must be high after lowering the Banner but it was too 12 months ago when they put a spanner in Cork's works.

Subsequently, however, that energy was sapped and they failed to emerge from the province again.

Maybe it will be different this time and on home turf again and on last Sunday's evidence they are very capable of making life very difficult for Limerick. It's said every year that Waterford have one really big game in them but lack the consistency of being in the mix for the top three places.

With two away games to follow, Peter Queally will be fully aware of the huge importance of this Saturday night clash when a second victory in a week would really set the tongues wagging. Conversely, it would put place Limerick in a fairly precarious position for their remaining two games against Cork and Clare.

Of course, it's all conjecture right now and the future is not ours to see.

Waterford fully deserved their emphatic victory over Clare, a Clare team now looking over their shoulder at what comes next and their next outing against Tipperary now takes on massive significance, a must-win game surely as it will be for Tipp. The importance of Tony Kelly and Shane O'Donnell to the Clare cause was fully emphasised again and their absence in Walsh Park illustrated that without one or both puts the team at a great disadvantage.

It would be a similar story if that was the case in any of the other leading counties, lining out without the huge influence players of their calibre can exert. But it was Waterford's day, a fine unified performance led superbly by Stephen Bennett whose tally of 2-8 was a huge contributory factor.

Jamie Barron and Darragh Lyons had eye-catching performances too on a very good day in Déise country. We'll have a lot more information to digest about them at the end of the 70 minutes tomorrow night when that old ground, a ground that has so often has been a graveyard for the opposition is sure to be rocking.

For Cork, Tipperary and Clare, it's a time for reflection of where they are at before they set off on the voyage again and there's no doubt that Cork are currently occupying the better place.

Given the fiercely competitive nature of Munster championship hurling, three points out of four is damn good going and whilst maybe it should have been four from four, that's not here nor there now.

Maybe on more mature reflection that draw in Cusack Park wasn't that bad at all because it dampened the expectations a bit that were swirling around the country.

Yes, the early trip to the showers for Darragh McCarthy last Sunday spoiled the game to a certain extent but Cork still had a job of work to do and, for the most part, that was done with efficiency and a return of 4-27 against any of the four other Munster counties had to viewed in a positive light even if it was against 14 men for the entirety of the contest.

Pat Ryan's men have a nice bit of time off now, Shane Barrett will be back for the trip to the Gaelic Grounds and that's an added plus.

OUTSTANDING

However, his replacement last Sunday, Deccie Dalton made an outstanding contribution and there's no way he can be omitted now. Of course, what it all means is that the competition for places, in the front six, in particular, is going to remain fiercely intense going forward.

You can never suggest that you have an embarrassment of riches in any department because things can change quickly with injuries but this Cork squad has great depth right now. Nothing, of course, is perfect, it rarely is and on the training ground the issue of the second-half performances not matching the first will be addressed.

That has been the case in the last three games, the league final and the two Munster championship outings when a degree of sloppiness set in. Some of the passing was not as precise as it might have been, a few wides should have been scores if the efforts had been more concentrated and one or two players didn't hit the heights of other days.

The subs that were introduced in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh all made a decent fist of it and Robbie O'Flynn looked very sharp in his execution of a brace of points.

Tommy O'Connell nailed a fine point too and the work-rate of Brian Roche and Luke Meade can never be questioned.

If Waterford defeat Limerick they will be top of the tree in this Munster campaign with Cork right on their tails and having home advantage when the sides collide a bit further down the line.

There can be no doubt, Cork's next outing away to Limerick is going to generate massive interest as has been the case for the past couple of years. But that can reach a far greater level this time.

Many, maybe foolishly, are predicting that this could be the first of three meetings between the counties over the coming months.

That type of conversation is far too premature because of the uncertainty about this Munster championship.

We have had two examples already, Tipp holding a far more fancied Limerick to a draw and Waterford taking down the All-Ireland champions.

There may well be some more surprises in store over the next few weeks but the one certainty is, Munster championship hurling is in a league all of its own.

With the bigger ball, the same could be said of the Ulster championship and Meath's defeat of Dublin after 14 years will instill much-needed interest into affairs in Leinster.

But for us in this neck of the woods, it's hurling and more hurling and while Cork are inactive now for a while we will be glued to the TV screen tomorrow night for Waterford and Limerick.

We cannot state with any degree of conviction but maybe, just maybe Waterford's time has arrived to come out of the doldrums in the province and make the last three for the first time.

Or maybe Limerick will show us again why they remain the force that they were and still are.

It won't take too long now before we are all that bit wiser.