A magnificent sequence of point-scoring from Cork rudely evicted Waterford from this year's Guinness Munster hurling championship.

Sixteen of the winning total came from play and the match proved a resounding vindication of Jimmy Barry-Murphy's bold decision to select six championship newcomers.

All performed satisfactorily with a couple doing more than that. Mickey O'Connell ended the day with eight points from midfield, including scores hit from all over the pitch, a sideline cut, a 65 and a couple of frees.

His partnership with Mark Landers was a crucial element in Cork's success. Midfield had been a major question mark over the team selection as both last year's starters had been relegated to the bench. As things turned out, the new pairing acquitted itself well.

In the first half, an out-of-sorts Tony Browne was playing second fiddle to Fergal Hartley in the Waterford engine room and to compound the team's difficulties Hartley had to retire injured at the interval.

It was symptomatic of Waterford's overall difficulties. Their defence was always vulnerable to the speedy Cork forwards and constantly placed under threat by the ability of their opponents' backs to hit quick, long balls to the far end of the pitch.

Waterford's defence might feel a bit maligned by the general impression that they were overrun. Two of Cork's forwards, Sean McGrath and Neil Ronan, didn't score at all and two more, Ben O'Connor and Fergal McCormack were restricted to a point apiece.

But their pace and movement posed a constant threat. Aside from O'Connell, Timmy McCarthy caught the eye particularly in the second half with a number of surging runs through the middle of the opposition which culminated in a three-point tally for him.

In the first half, however, the tactic had been less productive leading one rugby-literate observer to comment that on such runs the Cork wing forward looked like he was heading for the corner.

And one of his scores might have been a goal for Joe Deane had the ball been laid off. But in fairness to the debutant, one of his solos led to the last score of the first half by Fergal McCormack.

So serious a threat did McCarthy become that Waterford had to redeploy Tony Browne as a wing back and even he wasn't able to eliminate the threat.

Matters opened evenly enough and after 15 minutes the scores were level at 0-3 each. Cork had already threatened a goal when Landers dropped a ball (or mis-hit an attempt at a point) in behind Waterford's defence where Deane, who operated successfully at full forward throughout the match, was waiting. He tapped the ball to his right to bring it under control and the subsequent shot was diverted out for a 65 by Brendan Landers in the Waterford goal. By this early stage it was clear that Cork had settled into a rhythm and Waterford were struggling to stay with it, although help was being provided by the number of wides Cork were shooting - nine in the first half.

At the other end, there was some encouragement for Waterford. Although Paul Flynn and Ken McGrath, scoring stars against Limerick, were initially struggling to find the target (it was into the second half before anyone else on the team hit a wide), there were some signs of life.

McGrath had a good afternoon overall, managing three points from play and a 65. Flynn scored only once from play - a nice turn and the point was snapped over - but contributed 1-4 in total. The goal came in the second half and briefly threatened the course of the match.

By half-time Cork had weathered a Waterford flurry to re-assert a three-point lead, 0-10 to 0-7. Despite the loss of Hartley, Waterford began the second half well with a Flynn free and McGrath point to cut the margin to a minimum.

In the blizzard of points to come, Cork's superior scoring capacity gave them a clear edge. The margin hovered between three and four as Waterford tried to play themselves back into contention. Their fortunes improved when Ken McGrath went to midfield to allow Browne drop back and mark McCarthy.

The break they needed duly arrived in the 56th minute when Flynn was fouled by Diarmuid O'Sullivan and from the 20-metre free the Waterford man went for goal and found the net when the bounce deceived Donal Og Cusack. Within a minute Dan Shanahan had added a point and the margin was down to the minimum. Cork later rated their response to this challenge as the most satisfying element of the victory. They responded fiercely and the defence came into its own.

Brian Corcoran is always serenely in control at centre back and again his unflappable authority was much in evidence. Behind him Fergal Ryan rose magnificently to the challenge and full back Diarmuid O'Sullivan had a marvellous game, turning the screw on Flynn as time ran out and hitting enormous clearances which turned defence into attack in seconds.

In the 63rd minute one such clearance went straight to McCarthy who hit the tracks for another express run and a point. This was in the middle of a sequence which saw Cork rack up five points without reply, taking themselves from the brink of the abyss to comfortable victory.