Waterford now believe

Championship 2004 News: As the dust settles on Sunday's magnificent Munster final, various claims have been made for the match's place in posterity, with some declaring it the best Munster hurling final they can remember.

One man with a better perspective than most is Cork's Jimmy Barry-Murphy, who experienced 11 senior finals as a player and two more as a manager.

Whereas he doesn't believe in comparing matches from different eras, he is lavish in his praise of the Thurles match despite his disappointment at the outcome.

"I enjoyed it immensely. It was a credit to Waterford but one thing struck me was that the first-half point scoring was a pleasure to watch. Some of the scores were breathtaking, particularly the Waterford scores from Dan Shanahan and others when those points were needed.

"Ben O'Connor had a point in the second half that was fantastic under pressure and Ronan Curran an unbelievable score from the wing. I just thought the level of accuracy was as good as I ever saw although the standard slipped in the second half."

Waterford have completed a hugely impressive Munster title win with wins over Clare, Tipperary and Cork, the latter two by only a point in the most testing of circumstances.

This marks a departure from recent years when the side was seen as liable to panic under pressure and having a tendency to fade by the end of matches. Barry-Murphy identifies it as a major improvement in the new champions.

"I think the difference is in their belief in themselves as hurlers. They have that confidence and, as players, realise that things have changed, that when a game goes into the melting pot they have the ability to win. You have to credit Justin (McCarthy, manager). They could have lost the Páirc Uí Chaoimh match (semi-final against Tipperary) but pulled it out of the fire."

The turnaround in the second half was extraordinary.

Playing against the wind and reduced to 14 men after the dismissal of John Mullane, Waterford clawed their way back into the match, beginning to dominate in defence and asserting themselves at half back, where captain Ken McGrath had an awesome second half.

There has been criticism that Cork didn't help themselves by using full back Diarmuid O'Sullivan as the extra man and switching tactics by harnessing the wind to play a long game rather than maintain the more fluid approach of the first half, which had yielded 1-14 and only two wides.

"I think the extra man could have been used farther up the field," concedes Barry-Murphy. "They were playing it a bit deep. You're always curious about the effect of the wind but the first half had gone well for Cork and Donal Óg's (Cusack) puck-outs were very effective."

The standard of accuracy deteriorated in the second half, both sides shooting numerous wides, a natural consequence Barry-Murphy believes - "players are only human" - of the intensifying pressure and rising stakes as the match approached its climax.

He also believes Paul Flynn's crucial free that sent Waterford into the lead for the first time was a stunning shot despite some speculation that the ensuing goal had been freakish.

"He definitely goes for it," says the former Cork manager. "It's not as if this hasn't been seen before.

"He's always capable of doing it. But I'd probably have chosen Ken McGrath as man of the match." (Flynn was the choice of RTÉ's Sunday Game.)

Barry-Murphy sees McGrath's switch to centre back as extremely significant.

"He's become a huge influence. I can see him becoming a Brian Corcoran 1999 figure for Waterford," he says, referring to the role played five years ago by Corcoran at centre back.

Meanwhile, Tipperary have had bad news about Eddie Enright, who left the field during last Saturday's All-Ireland qualifier defeat of Limerick.

Playing well at centre forward, Enright suffered a shoulder injury, which was initially thought to be a broken collarbone.

The situation is apparently worse, according to county PRO Ed Donnelly.

"He's actually broken a joint between the collarbone and shoulder, which is worse than an injury to the collarbone. The feeling is that he won't be able to play again in the championship.

"Eddie's due to go to the specialist tomorrow to get an assessment of the damage but we're not counting on having him back."

More immediately this rules the player out of the upcoming All-Ireland hurling qualifier against Cork in Killarney on Saturday week.

Tickets are now on sale for Sunday's Leinster senior hurling final, Wexford v Offaly, at Croke Park.

Tickets ordered prior to 11 a.m. tomorrow will be sent in the post. Orders can be placed on the GAA's website, www.gaa.ie.