Cork minor hurlers ready to reset as they face Wexford test

Cork minor hurling manager Donal Mulcahy expects his team to be revitalised and re-energised as they resume action with Saturday’s Electric Ireland All-Ireland MHC preliminary quarter-final.

Having finished third in the Munster round-robin, the Rebels take on beaten Leinster semi-finalists Wexford at FBD Semple Stadium (3pm), a game preceded by the other preliminary quarter-final between Clare and Dublin.

Last Friday week, Cork went into their last Munster game with a chance to reach the provincial final but defeat to Limerick meant the Shannonsiders instead advanced to face Tipperary, who that match six days ago.

For Cork, the time since has allowed the chance to reset and to prepare to go again.

“The two-week break has been very good,” Mulcahy says, “we’ve been able to work on a few things.

“It's been sharp, it’s been excellent and the lads are raring to go.

“When we sat back from it, we were always going to review the Munster championship as a whole.

“We won two and we lost two, similar to where Wexford are at, and I think you have to look at it in its totality, rather than just one particular performance.

“It’s a new championship. There’s only going to be one winner of the Munster championship and that was Tipperary; likewise, you had Galway in the Leinster final on Monday night.

“For the rest of us, we’re in largely the same camp now, some are in the preliminary quarter-finals and some are in the quarter-finals.

“It’s a new championship for us, I think that’s the right way to approach it. The lads have had two very good weeks there now and there's been a serious buzz in the camp.

“We're really looking forward to it.”

In the provincial campaign, Cork opened with a good win away to Waterford before contending well against Tipp in Thurles until a late surge gave the hosts a seven-point victory.

They got back on track by beating Clare at the start of this month but were unable to build on that against Limerick.

Now, with most injuries having cleared up, Mulcahy is optimistic that the team can rise to the challenge of what lies ahead – last year, for instance, Clare came from the preliminaries to reach the All-Ireland final.

“Of course,” he says, “and Waterford got to the Munster final and went on to win the All-Ireland after.

“Even if you look at Kilkenny on Monday night, who put in a serious performance in the Leinster final, they only barely scraped out of Leinster and now they’re on the up.

“That’s the thing about the minor grade, you’re going to have good days and bad days. Really, it’s about trying to figure things out and trying to get a solution and go forward.

“Our lads, over the last couple of weeks, there's been a serious excitement and a buzz in training and great energy.”

This will be Cork’s third meeting with the Model County this year. A challenge match in Wexford resulted in defeat before the tables were turned a few weeks later in a SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh clash, prior to the Allianz HL Division 1A game between Cork and Offaly.

Mulcahy doesn’t expect either of those games to count for much on Saturday afternoon, however.

“Championship is championship,” he says, “it’s knockout hurling and it’s a lot different to challenge games.

“I think if you look at it, the Wexford teams from back then have changed an awful lot. While they were good tests at the time, all they were is challenge games at the end of the day.”