All eyes will be on Semple Stadium tomorrow when Waterford and Cork go head-to-head for the second time in the space of five weeks.

It's 1-0 to the Deise following their memorable 1-24 to 0-17 league final success but the season ending injury suffered by their top scorer Pauric Mahony since then has knocked the wind out of their sails somewhat.

"There is no point saying otherwise, Waterford surprised us the last day," Cork's Jimmy Barry-Murphy admits.

"It's a cliché I know, but every team in Munster can beat the others, but Waterford's ability to win the high ball above us in the league final was really surprising to me."

Seamus Harnedy's recovery from injury is a boost to Cork's chances of unlocking their opponents' defensive system.

Elsewhere, Brian Murphy has been selected at left corner-back after answering an SOS call from JBM.

Derek McGrath has been surprised by the pace of his team's development over the past number of months.

"The rate of progress of the younger players has surprised me, even though when you make the decision we made, you are under the radar to a certain degree.

"People say 'Waterford are clearly in the act of team building', so you have that space to maybe not fool everyone, but say 'hey, we are actually okay here, the players that were brought in are actually very good'.

"The rate of progress has been faster than we thought."

Cork scored a 0-28 to 0-14 replay victory over the Deise 12 months ago en route to Munster glory and they get a tentative vote to capitalise on Pauric Mahony's absence and advance to the decider on July 12th.

Verdict - Cork.

Waterford team: tbc.

Cork team: Anthony Nash; Shane O'Neill, Stephen McDonnell, Brian Murphy; Damien Cahalane, Mark Ellis, Cormac Murphy; Daniel Kearney, Aidan Walsh; Conor Lehane,Seamus Harnedy, Bill Cooper; Alan Cadogan, Luke O'Farrell, Patrick Horgan.

Match details: Sunday, Semple Stadium, 4pm.

Referee: Barry Kelly.

Odds: Waterford 13/8, Draw 10/1, Cork 8/13.

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