Waterford’s golden opportunity goes abegging as Kilkenny fight back

Kilkenny 1-21 Waterford 0-24

Out of nowhere the GAA All-Ireland hurling championship got its first cracker in what should have been the third-last match of the season. Waterford, having had to process crisis in the last month after their destruction in the Munster final got both their season and self-esteem back on track with the most determined assault on Kilkenny’s extraordinary semi-final record – 14 from the last 16 – seen in 11 years.

The extent to which the champions found themselves in strange territory can be gauged by the fact that they’ve never previously been taken to a replay in an All-Ireland semi-final. That’s what they’ll be at next Saturday evening in Thurles, though.

Let slip

Waterford may take heart from the fact that their most recent championship win over the neighbours was in the replay of the 1959 All-Ireland final but they’ll more likely be tormented by the memory of how they let slip a match that they led for nearly the entire second half.

Having gone four clear in the 59th minute they conjured up a sequence of six wides which although it didn’t quite derail them, prevented them killing off Kilkenny.

Derek McGrath’s team emerged from the wreckage of a July that appeared to have set back all of the high hopes that had been steadily building for the past 18 months and drove the champions right to the edge of the abyss but the abyss doesn’t always stare back at Kilkenny and, once again, the extraordinary genetic coding implanted during the treasury of manager Brian Cody’s tenure clicked as the match entered injury-time with Waterford three ahead, 0-23 to 0-20.

Jamie Barron looked to have raised the siege but his attempt to clear was snaffled by Michael Fennelly and in the frenzy of what looked like in every respect an end-game he managed calmly to combine with his brother Colin and Walter Walsh for the latter to steer the ball past Stephen O’Keeffe.

None of three involved will be archiving anything from the match but that sequence and yet it saved the day, not especially on merit but the scoreboard over-rules everything.

There was more drama. In the five minutes of injury-time Waterford got another chance when Barron was fouled and the free taker walked forward – however relevant that was on an afternoon when Pauric Mahony looked like he could point frees from Fairview Park – and with a minute left the challengers led by one.

Old habits die hard though and in the headlong rush back to their own 45, Waterford appeared to believe that Eoin Murphy would obligingly rain the puck-out down on the over-crowded approaches to goal. Instead Kilkenny had time and space to work the ball through three short puck-outs to Conor Fogarty.

Icy fortitude

Not the most obvious marksman although he had already fired over a good point, Fogarty demonstrated the icy fortitude of the county’s reputation by dispatching the equaliser.

Waterford’s fretful withdrawal almost created a winner for their opponents but Paul Murphy’s expertise is at corner back and he didn’t shoot with great conviction.

Kilkenny led for only a minute in the whole match, in the first half but they weren’t behind at the end.

The challengers rewrote a lot of guidelines on the day. Their conventional man-for-man formation allowed greater attacking potential than their sweeper defence, so dismantled by Tipperary in the Munster final.

There were also personnel changes with Patrick Curran and Maurice Shanahan left out at the start and Darragh Fives not fit to line out. Jake Dillon, Colin Dunford and Conor Gleeson all started.

The discomfort of abandoning the familiar system was evident in how Richie Hogan moved around the field shooting exhibition points from the wing while Tadhg de Búrca appeared tethered to his position at centre back. Four points later and he tightened the leash on Hogan, who was switched around the field later but didn’t add to his score although he won valuable frees that kept Kilkenny in the game.

Spectacular performances

Waterford were getting spectacular performances from players who had endured miserable afternoon in the Munster final and hadn’t exactly rebounded into form in the subdued quarter-final defeat of Wexford. Chiefly Pauric Mahony rediscovered his virtuoso free taking rhythms and punished every dead-ball award that came his way, including a geometrically daunting free on the left in the 49th minute given on the instructions of Hawk-Eye.

Their centrefield excelled with Moran’s fetching and barron’s running extering pressure on their renowned opponents. Austin Gleeson also recovered the sublime patterns of earlier summer. Starting as an orthodox number 11, he scored five points.

After a tit-for-tat first half Waterford led by one, 0-13 to 0-12, but the test against Kilkenny is generally in the second half and especially the third quarter. This was the first sign that Waterford were not going to be a flash in the pan.

They nearly had goals – Kevin Moran battling in along the endline but batting wide and Bennett and Dillon had nearly contrived one in the first half – but even without them, a five-point lead built on some terrific strikes for points was in place in the 55th minute, 0-22 to 0-17.

Kilkenny had taken off Kieran Joyce and Jonjo Farrell, bringing in Eoin Larkin who added steadiness and rifled a point off a de Búrca turnover. TJ Reid wasn’t having a great day in general play but his frees kept the champions in it.

In contrast to Kilkenny Waterford’s semi-final record is a desultory one from the last nine. They have improved on that but not as spectacularly as they threatened to but they now at least have a second chance.

KILKENNY: 1. Eoin Murphy; 2. Paul Murphy, 3. Joey Holden, 4. Shane Prendergast (capt.); 5. Pádraig Walsh, 6. Kieran Joyce, 7. Cillian Buckley; 8. Conor Fogarty (0-2), 9. Michael Fennelly (0-1); 10. Walter Walsh (1-1), 15. Richie Hogan (0-4), 11. TJ Reid (0-11, 10 frees and a 65); 13. Jonjo Farrell, 12. John Power, 14. Colin Fennelly (0-1). Subs: 20. Lester Ryan for Joyce (49 mins), 21. Eoin Larkin (0-1) for Farrell (46 mins).

WATERFORD: 1. Stephen O'Keeffe; 2. Shane Fives, 3. Barry Coughlan, 4. Noel Connors; 7. Philip Mahony, 5. Tadhg De Búrca, 17. Conor Gleeson; 10. Kevin Moran (0-1), 8. Jamie Barron; 12. Michael Walsh, 6. Austin Gleeson (0-5), 20. Pauric Mahony (0-14, 10 frees and 65; 15. Colin Dunford, 11. Shane Bennett, 14. Jake Dillon (0-2). Subs: 21. Maurice Shanahan (0-1) for Dunford (half-time), 13. Patrick Curran (0-1) for Bennett (53 mins), 23. Brian O'Halloran for Dillon (65 mins).

Referee: James Owens (Wexford).