Waterford hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald has lavished praise on Cork after they beat his side by two points in the Allianz Hurling League on Sunday.
Cork had a 10-point lead midway through the second half but were made to sweat by Waterford, who racked up 10 of the final 12 points of the game.
It wasn't enough in the end for Fitzgerald's side, as Cork picked up their first win of the season to move level on two points with Waterford in Division 1B.
Afterwards, Fitzgerald recognised Cork's strengths but hit out at his own players for making them looking good, in an expletive-laden interview.
Davy Fitz praises Cork in sweary interview
"It's the same f***ing thing,” the former Clare manager told reporters after the game. “That 15 minutes after half-time. The exact same as the last two games.
“Cork are one of the best teams out there but we f***ing made them look exceptionally good with the way we let them run at us for the first 15 minutes. We stood off. That's what put us in trouble.
“Playing against the breeze, I thought we should have gone in level or up one. And then we f***ing go down 10."
70+2 nóim #CORvWAT@OfficialCorkGAA 1-21@WaterfordGAA 1-19
An mbeidh dráma anseo? Pointe eile ag Conor Sheehan🤯
Waterford fighting hard at the end here.
BEO/LIVE AR @TG4TV 📺#AllianzLeagues #GAABeo pic.twitter.com/O3lVsLb9ji— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) February 25, 2024
Davy Fitz "happy with the attitude" against Cork
Amid his frustration, Fitzgerald praised his side for getting themselves back into the game, saying that in the past they may have crumbled when faced with a 10-point deficit.
"I'm so proud of the boys. If that was over the last five or six years and at different times they're going down 10, then they'd go down 15 or 20. They weren't hanging on at 10, they were going down more.
"You saw the fight that's in them today. I'd say there were four or five wides that we'll kick ourselves over. And I mean bad ones in really scoreable positions that we've got to put over the bar.
"Happy with the attitude but I'm not happy with that 15, 17 minutes. It's just annoying and we've got to sort it out.”
After a big win over Offaly in the opening round, Waterford lost to Clare before a second defeat to Cork on Sunday.
Their next outing is a home meeting with Wexford on March 10th, when a win would see them overtake the Slaneysiders in third place in the table.
See Also: Galway Legend Believes Footballers Are Closer To All-Ireland Win Than Hurlers
