CHAMPIONSHIP 2002: Bertie Murphy, in his first year as Cork manager, has had plenty of experience already. He himself says he sounds like a tape at this stage, coming out after matches he feels they should have won to explain why they have been beaten narrowly.

Three weeks ago it was the League final here in Thurles when Kilkenny scored injury-time points to win. Yesterday, it was Waterford, who can count championship wins over Cork the way astronomers count new comets, who sprang the trap in the dying seconds.

"It's becoming repetitive," he says in the nearly empty dressingroom, "but we're not killing teams off. In fairness to the lads, they fought back well but it's the score at the final whistle that counts. It's becoming a habit now of things coming against us. But we'll come again. There's three weeks to go to the qualifiers and we'll try and win it."

Digesting the unpleasant result will be all the harder given it was fairly unexpected but Murphy is certain the team will bounce back before the first round of the new qualifier system next month.

"There's no doubt about that. There's an All-Ireland at stake and we were only a puck of the ball off it today. You wouldn't have to be an Einstein to say you could rectify it. One win would turn it around."

Waterford mightn't have needed the metaphorical back door but the actual rear exit proved useful as they celebrated their famous win by remaining locked in the dressingroom and exiting out the back.

Later manager Justin McCarthy, another feather in the rich plumage of his coaching hat, explains why his team confounded most observers.

"People might have looked at our League performances but they didn't matter. We were concentrating on getting sharp for May 26th. That was always our main focus. I was very happy we worked our way back into it but it's the result that counts."

He had a special word for Paul Flynn, who finished with 12 of his team's 17 scores. "I've always thought of him as great hurler and I asked him in the dressingroom before to give us an extra bit. But others were playing well around him. I did two hurleys for him during the week and he asked me 'is that a Cork shape?'. I said 'no, it's a Justin McCarthy shape'. His long-range frees today were crucial."