Waterford claim Munster

Well not any more, because the Munster hurling final of 2004 has earned the right to go down in the GAA annals as one the most riveting matches of all time.
Cork was all organization and efficiency as they attempted to retain their title. Waterford was fired up to win back the crown that had sparked off memorable celebrations in the county in 2002. Semple Stadium was packed to the rafters on a warm Sunday afternoon. It turned out to be one of the summer’s most intoxicating cocktails.
And how Waterford deserved this dramatic one-point triumph. Rocked by an early Cork goal, they found themselves trailing by three points at the changeover. Then the explosive John Mullane was sent off with the second half barely under way. The omens weren’t too good for manager Justin McCarthy and his players.
However, as Cork mysteriously failed to exploit the advantage of an extra man, Waterford dug deep to chisel out a performance full of character and skill to defeat Cork in a Munster decider for the first time since 1959. From their captain, Ken McGrath, who was imperious at the back, to the infuriating Paul Flynn — wasteful one minute and wonderful the next — this was a marvelous team effort against the odds.
“I was actually glad we weren’t ahead like last year,” said McCarthy, who masterminded the downfall of his native county. “We sat on the lead last year, but this time we had the players to come back. We’ve played our best hurling in a lot of games in the second half, and the lads have done a lot of work on their own. They’ve grown up a bit, they’ve taken more responsibility and shown more leadership. That’s what you saw out there.”
Crucially, Cork could manage only seven points during the second half despite the fact that Waterford were down to 14 men. “I don’t think we played smartly after the sending off,” said manager Donal O’Grady. “Maybe mentally you drop when you’re up against 14, but we can blame ourselves in the end. We should have played possession like in the first half but we went in for long balls. Seven points in the second half with the breeze isn’t good enough.”
That disappointing scoring return seemed a long way off as Cork opened with a flurry. Garvan McCarthy’s innocuous ball was somehow missed by a nervy Waterford keeper Stephen Brenner and Cork had the first goal, and by the eighth minute, it was 1-3 to 0-1 as the red jerseys swarmed forward.
Waterford rallied with a superb goal from Eoin Kelly, who worked his way in along the end line before firing in an unstoppable shot from a difficult angle, and then Dan Shanahan added a second as he connected with Kelly’s long delivery with a trademark fetch and strike behind Diarmuid O’Sullivan.
Despite the winners’ opportunism, Cork weren’t in the slightest bit perturbed as Joe Deane, Brian Corcoran — recalled at full forward — and Ben O’Connor picked off points at regular intervals as the first half passed in a blizzard of magnificent hurling.
Ahead by 1-14 to 2-8 at the interval, Cork appeared to have gained the upper hand when Mullane struck Brian Murphy and was promptly red-carded. But instead of panicking, Waterford settled into a pulsating rhythm as Flynn, who finished with 1-7, came out of his shell after an undistinguished first half.
His goal in the 52nd minute from a 30-yard free struck with spin past the Cork defense was a key score as Waterford hit the front. “I know I had a couple of bad misses,” said a breathless Flynn, “but thank God they didn’t cost us in the end. If you shoot, sometimes you’re going to miss, maybe people at home turned off the tellies. In the past we tended to get caught up in the occasion, so it took as few years to cop on, but now we’re doing OK.”
With McGrath inspirational, and Flynn hitting the target at last, Seamus Prendergast bullocked upfield to increase the lead to two points, and even when close to full time Tom Kenny replied for Cork, McGrath soared into the Thurles sky to grab another ball and smash down the pitch.
There was a time not so long ago when Waterford would have been happy enough with just a Munster title, but there’s a sense now that this team might be a tad more ambitious. As for Cork, the disappointment of the day wasn’t exactly eased when they drew Tipperary in the qualifiers.

TIPPERARY 3-10, LIMERICK 2-12
Tipperary made it through the first round of the hurling qualifiers when they narrowly got the better of Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds last Saturday. However, Limerick were furious with referee Aodan MacSuibhne because they weren’t awarded a last-minute free.
“It was a definite free,” said Limerick manager Pad Joe Whelahan after sub Donie Ryan appeared to have been fouled. “I don’t like giving out about referees, but it’s not easy to stay quiet when you see those sort of decisions.”
Tipp, who now meet Cork in the next round, struggled during the first half, shooting 11 wides. However, they settled with a Tommy Dunne goal on 25 minutes. John Carroll hit a second following a mistake by Mickey Cahill, but in between Andrew O’Shaughnessy replied in kind for Limerick who led by 1-7 to 2-3 at the break.
A third goal by Seamus Butler put Tipp in the driver’s seat, and even though the talented O’Shaughnessy struck for a second goal, the winners just about managed to hold on. “We got away with scoring just three points in the first half,” said manager Ken Hogan, “but we can’t let it happen again. Still, the important thing was to survive and we managed that.”

QUALIFIERS
In the remaining qualifiers, Kilkenny strolled to a facile 4-22 to 0-8 victory over Dublin at Dr. Cullen Park to book themselves a tie against Galway at the next stage. Henry Shefflin was much too good for the Dublin defense, finishing with 2-8, while Eddie Brennan and Jimmy Coogan added goals.
The pattern was continued at the Gaelic Grounds, where Clare hammered Laois by 7-19 to 2-15. Tony Griffin hit four goals and Niall Gilligan contributed 2-10 as Laois failed to put up any meaningful resistance. Elsewhere, Galway were much too powerful for Down running out easy winners by 5-19 to 1-14 at Ballycran where Eugene Cloonan helped himself to 4-7.

DRAW
The dust had hardly settled on Waterford’s thrilling Munster final victory when the hurling qualifier draw threw up a couple of fascinating clashes. None more so than Cork’s meeting with Tipperary, while last season’s All-Ireland champions, Kilkenny, also face a demanding task against Galway.
Clare will come up against the losers of Sunday’s Leinster final between Wexford and Offaly with all games scheduled for the weekend of July 10-11.
All-Ireland hurling qualifiers: Tipperary vs. Cork, Galway vs. Kilkenny, Clare vs. Offaly/Wexford.