Cork extended their perfect 100% Allianz Hurling League Division 1A record to four victories with a hard-fought 3-12 to 1-15 victory against Kilkenny at Nowlan Park.
Despite Ben O'Connor making nine changes to the starting line-up, including a first start for Hugh O'Connor and league debuts for goalkeeper Paudie O'Sullivan and Barry Walsh, the Rebels led from the first whistle to the last.
An explosive start saw Brian Hayes find the net in the third minute, following a clever delivery from Darragh Fitzgibbon.
Cork’s dominance was evident early on as they built a 1-09 to 0-06 half-time lead, though they missed several opportunities to pull further clear, including a missed penalty from Alan Connolly.
The second half saw debutant Walsh strike for Cork’s second goal, but Kilkenny refused to fade.
A goal from Eoin Cody brought the Cats within a single point in the closing stages.
However, substitute Alan Walsh made an immediate impact, catching a long free and drilling home Cork’s third goal to kill off the comeback.
"It was about digging a result out and I think our boys battled very hard"
Never short of panache, Cork have been accused by some of having a soft underbelly, but their manager was was quick to praise his side's resilience and attitude in the win.
"Work rate," was the single attribute O'Connor cited as key to snuffing out the Cats.
"It wasn't going to be anything nice down here. It wasn't going to be lovely first-touch hurling. It was about digging a result out and I think our boys battled very hard."
Despite a scoring drought in the second half, O'Connor was pleased with how his rotated squad handled a brief scoring impasse.
"We came under pressure two or three times in the second half and we went 10 minutes without a score, but we kept the scoreboard ticking over reasonably well," he said.
"Alan's goal at the end was what was wanted as it put us five up at the time and they probably had to get a goal to beat us."
With eight points on the board, Cork now face a massive clash away to Limerick next Saturday. It's an encounter that O'Connor is relishing.
"We'll take it nice and easy now on Tuesday and Thursday night this week to get ready and freshen up for next Saturday night, but we're looking forward to it," he added.
"Where else would you want to be on a Saturday evening? At home watching television or at the Gaelic Grounds going into battle?"
O'Connor concluded with a clear mission statement for the trip to Shannonside, saying: "If we can win next Saturday night, we're probably guaranteed a league final at that stage, so we're going down there to win, and we'll drive on from there after, whatever happens."
