Cork star Cathal Naughton admits the dramatic conclusion to last summer's first Munster final meeting with Waterford was the moment that the Leesiders' year went into a tailspin.

Cork started the championship in style by with a wide margin victory over provincial favourites and subsequent All-Ireland winners Tipperary, before easing past crisis-ridden Limerick.

They looked on course to reclaim the Munster title when leading Waterford by three points going into injury time, but a dramatic late goal from Tony Browne sent the final to a replay and the Deise eventually came out on top after extra-time in the second game.

And ahead of Sunday's Allianz National League Division 1 meeting with Davy Fitzgerald's side, Naughton concedes that Browne's goal was the decisive moment in Cork's year.

He said, "Last year, the first Waterford game was the big one I suppose. We were up a couple of points at the end and we gave away the penalty and Tony Browne got the goal.

"Looking back if we won the Munster final replay last year - it was a very tight game we could have won - we would have been Munster champions and we would have had been a great confidence (boost) to us.

"We would have been going into an All-Ireland semi-final as Munster champions. The GAA is very like that; it is so competitive. There are so many good teams out there that one minute you could be up four or five points and then it could be a draw game.

"We went, in the space of a couple of seconds, to losing a Munster and going into a quarter-final rather than being Munster champions and going into a semi-final."

Cork will aim to build on last weekend's victory over league holders Galway when they make the journey across Munster on Sunday, while Waterford must try to bounce back from their 13-man defeat to Tipperary on Saturday.

Waterford v Cork, Fraher Field, Sunday, 2.30pm Tweet

Most Read Stories