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SOMETIMES you just have to raise your hand and accept that the day you were second best.
In fairness to Cork boss Kieran Kingston, he accepted that Waterford deserved his victory in the Munster semi-final and made no excuses either.
“It was a tough day. I said beforehand that I really didn’t know where we were, but I certainly thought we were doing well enough in training. We did not bring training performance. The way we were going in training, we didn’t take it to the field today.
“Over the course of 70-odd minutes I think we didn’t deserve to win the game,” said the Cork coach.
“When you look back, we lost more than our fair share of those (50-50) balls and that’s disappointing.
“From our perspective, we have a game under our belt, we have to regroup, see what the draw brings and see what we can learn from what happened today.
“We are better than what we show today, there is no doubt about that.”
Kingston acknowledged that Waterford’s goal, delightfully executed by winger Calum Lyons, came at a crucial moment.
“It certainly came at the right time for them. We would have liked to have that break at the other end. Then I think when that happened, they were able to sit down a little longer and invite us to participate, and they did it very, very well.
“Fair play for Waterford, we can grieve and drown our sorrows, but we have to turn this around as quickly as we can, see what the draw brings us and we also have to congratulate Waterford. They deserved it that day.
“We have to learn from him and be ready for the next game, be it a week or two.”
Meanwhile, Waterford boss Liam Cahill was happy with the pace of his team’s work on their win.
“The pace of work was one of the main enjoyable aspects, but I think our use of the ball was really good.
“When Stephen Bennett went deep towards the end of the game, his distribution was excellent.
“It felt very good, there was energy in the field and when there is energy in the field you always have a chance.
“Playing against the wind was a bit easier for us and I am delighted to reach the final in Munster.
“That was the prize that was being offered today. We knew we had to shoot well to have any chance of getting over the line against Cork, so really happy for the players for the way they have looked after themselves in the running, to get back in that physical condition. “
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