Waterford can not afford to get carried away

I don't think yesterday was up to the standard of the drawn match but there were plenty of extenuating circumstances. The weather was much worse and the tension and expectation levels were high. Both teams seemed intent on closing things down and making sure there weren't as many scores and the rain helped with that.

Ultimately Waterford had the hunger to succeed in the last 10 minutes despite having made so many mistakes and having been under such pressure in the first half.

It was a tribute to how they've improved their Croke Park performances on previously. They've shown maturity all year in being able to recover from poor form and pull things together at the end of matches. It was a stark contrast to Cork, who I thought lacked conviction in the end when they needed to find three points in the closing minutes.

Waterford didn't play very well in the first half and it was their less established players who kept things going. In particular Stephen Molumphy did a lot of hurling when things weren't going well and showed a lot of intelligence in his play.

Timmy McCarthy put Ken McGrath under a lot of pressure in the first half and pushed him out over the line at that stage. John Mullane started well out on the wing but became over-anxious and was never really on his game. But he's still a very dangerous corner forward and I think there's better to come from him.

They got the improvement in the second half even though you had to wonder would they be able to given their key players looked so out of touch. Although it wasn't one of his busiest afternoons, Dan Shanahan's finishing was again outstanding for the two goals - the first one vital in keeping them in touch - and the point when Paul Flynn hit a quick free that was at best a 50-50 ball and Shanahan managed to score when tightly marked.

Eoin McGrath won some great possession when he was brought on. At times he spoiled it by running out over a few balls but he added impetus to the forwards.

In the closing stages they won a lot of good ball at the back but one moment that stands out is the magnificent catch by Ken McGrath in the second half.

It was one of the best bits of skill - catching a ball while going back towards his own goal.

Maybe you'd question Cork's changes. Five of their six forwards were taken off, including Neil Ronan who was injured, but at a stage when they needed a goal they hadn't the personnel to get one.

Timmy McCarthy and Patrick Cronin were taken off although I felt they were going well enough. There were too many jerseys with 20-something on them on the field and by that stage Waterford had by far the more experienced team.

Waterford wouldn't want to get carried away by beating a Cork side that didn't really look like contenders yesterday and who fielded seven of the 1999 team. Maybe that has to tell at this stage. Next week though, Limerick will highly dangerous.

The All-Ireland semi-final was predictable although for the first 15 minutes or so, it looked interesting with Wexford avoiding giving away early goals. But they weren't getting the scores themselves.

Kilkenny are still the benchmark but it's hard to judge where they are. Although Tommy Walsh was the hurler of the afternoon, the rest of the players weren't all in inspiring form. Henry Shefflin scored 14 points at his ease but as a team they remain untried and untested this year and will find it hard to assess themselves at this stage.

Yesterday they were probably a bit vulnerable or complacent because Wexford aren't realistic contenders but it was never going to hurt them. Barry Lambert had Jackie Tyrrell in difficulties but he was the only Wexford forward posing problems.

Kilkenny have great players and huge competition for places. For example, John Tennyson came on and you could see after he misplaced a clearance that Brian Cody was on to him immediately.

You still wonder how they'll react under real pressure but who's capable of exerting it. At the beginning of the year Waterford were the only obvious challengers to Kilkenny and Cork and that didn't change.

But Waterford have to be careful because they're not there yet to mount that challenge.