Donal Mulcahy hails Cork minor hurlers' resilience in opening win

While the 2026 Cork minor hurling team and management had a two-and-a-half-year bank of work built up, there was naturally still something of a step into the unknown with Friday’s Electric Ireland Munster MHC opener.

The Rebels had their ‘bye week’ in the first round of fixtures and so their clash at Cappoquin Logistics Fraher Field was against a Waterford side with a victory over Limerick already under their belts.

Monsoon-like conditions threw another variable into the mix but Cork never trailed at any stage as they came away with a 0-12 to 0-9 victory. Naturally, manager Donal Mulcahy was proud of the way the team produced a battling collective effort.

“It’s huge,” he said.

“We knew, genuinely, coming down here that there was going to be a serious battle against Waterford and we would really respect them.

“From the point of view of more of a workmanlike performance, we know what our lads bring.

“One thing, maybe compared to last year, is that they're probably not a team of stars, but they're an extremely genuine bunch.

“We've had these guys now for the last two and a half years and one of the things we've focused on a lot is the unity and we’ve talked about the importance of resilience and beings hard-working and that’s what it was against Waterford.

“We know they're decent hurlers but there was a bit of bottle there, during the second half especially, and to be kind of composed as well and you need that.”

While Cork began well with three straight points, Waterford drew level coming up to half-time before a four-point surge from Rebels put them back into a lead that would not be lost.

“We got a decent start, we were three points to no score and after finishing the first half well I think we kind of maintained that bit of a gap throughout the second half.

“Waterford do play with a plus-one at the back and you have to be very patient with that.

“What we're most impressed with, beyond the result, is that they hurled with their heads tonight.

“They were, I suppose, quite composed on the ball and we're very happy with that.”

Given that the schedule gave Cork two away matches to start – they head to Thurles to face Tipperary on Friday night – to be up and running provides some peace of mind.

One victory all but guarantees a knockout slot as, while the top two finishers at the end of the round-robin progress to the Munster final, the sides in third and fourth will advance to the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals.

They will head to FBD Semple Stadium in a positive frame of mind, with further heart taken from the low concession rate.

While the weather played a part in the lack of scoring, Cork’s full-back line of Jack Batterbury, Howard O’Donovan and Nathan Coffey excelled in ensuring that Waterford were unable to forge any late goalscoring opportunities as chased the game.

Mulcahy praised the impact of former Erin’s Own and Cork player Peter Kelly in drilling the backline in the art of defending.

“We've a man called Peter Kelly in our backroom team and Peter only sees the backs!” he laughed.

“Peter puts a huge amount of effort into just the one-to-one defending and Jack, Howard and Nathan were really disciplined.

“They really do love defending and it’s a great trait to have, especially on a night like tonight.”