GAA: Waterford's 'hurt' could see them beat Cork in All-Ireland hurling semi-final

After last weekend's dramatic All-Ireland senior hurling semi-final victory for Galway over defending champions Tipperary, Jamesie O'Connor takes a look at all things Cork v Waterford: the second semi-final at Croke Park this Sunday, live on Sky Sports. 

We have one semi-final done and dusted and the second semi-final between Waterford and Cork, while shaping up to be vastly different, could be equally as intriguing.

The fascinating thing about this game will be the clash of cultures and systems that we will see on Sunday.

It's the tactical battle that I am really looking forward to - Waterford trying to cut down on space and the Cork forwards trying to create it. It should be fascinating to see who comes out on top.

The first thing I will say is that it will be hard for Cork to beat Waterford for a second time in the Championship.

Usually when a team beats you and the sides meet again, two things apply: the defeated team always seem to be hungrier, and when you lose you tend to learn a lot more in about yourself than you would in victory.

That said Cork have been superbly impressive this season. Cork hurling, in general, is on the rise.

Their U17s won the All-Ireland last Sunday, their minors are in action this Sunday in the semi-final, and last year they held crowns at U14, U15 and U16 levels.

They are coming through at a rate of knots and have a fine young team established at senior level now for all those young lads to look up to.

The likes of Mark Coleman and Darragh Fitzgibbon look to the manor born at senior level.

And I really admire how they have gone about their business this season, spraying puck outs long around short, near and wide, keeping opposing teams guessing. Making space and going for the gap. Economic with their touch.

They are in a fine position coming to Croke Park and, from what I am hearing, they will bring a huge crowd with them.

But I look at Waterford and see something in them too.

They will want to get Brick Walsh and Kevin Moran back to Croke Park for another crack at an All-Ireland final. Those two lads deserve it more than anyone.

Kevin was outstanding against Wexford and was rightly named man of the match. He called the shots for the entire first 20 minutes and really settled his side.

I expect he will do the same again on Sunday if he is allowed.

One thing is for certain - Waterford will be nowhere near as open as they were when the teams met in the Munster Championship - even without their talisman Tadhg de Burca.

They strayed away from their system that day and were punished. But when they met Kilkenny they went back to their sweeper role and it served them well.

The beauty of this system is that it actually represents who they are. They are comfortable with it and they know how to run a game using it. Will they give Cork the room they gave them last time out? Not a hope.

I also think that losing to Kilkenny last year will be a painful reminder of what they need to get right this time around.

That experience will stand to them and I just think they could have the measure of Cork from a hurt point of view.

They laid a lot on the line this year and when their manager Derek McGrath came under local pressure, the players responded for him.

They are a united bunch and I feel they play the wings very well and have been racking up decent scores this season.

I know Cork have experienced players too like Seamus Harnedy and Pa Horgan but I just feel that Waterford may be slightly further ahead in their experience than Cork. I could be wrong on all of that but I just get the sense that there is a huge game in them.

It won't be like last Sunday with the ball whizzing around the field and an epic taking place under our eyes, but it will be like a game of chess, it will be intriguing and it will be high scoring too.

I will be looking on with interest to see how the two managers get their various key players into the game if they are initially tied down.

Finally, I know De Burca will be a massive loss for Waterford and I am sorry for the lad that he lost his Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA) case in the early hours of Friday morning, but they have a fine replacement in Darragh Fives.

Darragh has been around the team and he's quite an accomplished hurler. He knows how the system works and has played there before. I think they are well covered with Darragh.