Man of steel happy to reveal soft spot

After a fitful first half, the Munster final exploded under a charcoal sky with Anthony Kirwan's blazing goal setting a frantic tempo for the remaining 30 minutes.

"Well, the ball broke between Brian (Lohan) and myself and fortunately it fell to me and I saw space ahead. I just decided to have a go and luckily it went in," the forward shrugged.

"We might have won it. It was there. But Clare could say the same."

Clare didn't. The team departed quickly, obviously relieved. Manager Ger Loughnane gave himself briefly to a rush of enthusiasm for the provincial game.

"How often do you see a game like that in Croke Park?" he beamed. "The excitement, the quality of scores, the honesty of the players - this is the Munster championship. It was a fantastic game and Clare, the All-Ireland champions, are relieved to come out with a draw."

It was a rare burst of humility for a manager who preaches steely defiance, but he insisted it was genuine. Waterford surprised him and his honest blue eyes twinkled in appreciation. "I didn't expect them to be as good as they were, no, but they were marvellous and, you know, we played well, we showed great character against a terrific side."

Words to win one the freedom of Waterford but Loughnane seemed infused with an appreciation of the fresh sense of adventure which has cascaded through Munster with Waterford's ascent. As Paul Flynn stood ready to launch a speculative 100 metres rocket which would have interrupted, at least, Clare's stately reign, Loughnane spoke like a man who would have accepted whatever transpired. "Well, I was hoping it would go wide but . . . if it did go over, right, we had lost the Munster Championship but what a team to lose it to. Look at the colour they brought here today, the crowds, the excitement they brought here.

"Just when a new team was needed in Munster, along come Waterford. I see a lot of ourselves in Waterford. They were just as hungry, just as skilful and just as well coached."

Seems he has a soft spot for a team who have drawn greatly on Clare's own rebellious streak. Might even have rubbed off on his players.

"Well, I said to myself it would be some point if he put it over," grinned Clare goalkeeper David Fitzgerald at the memory of Flynn's late and lengthy effort. "I knew that time was up after he hit it so it was a pity . . . well, a pity for Waterford, but not for us."

Like his manager, Fitzgerald took heart at escaping Thurles with his hide still intact. "I guarantee you, you have no idea what it came down to in the second half. Even when we were three or four points up, our backs were to the wall and there was always a danger that the ball could shoot on with a breeze like that. We'll have to step up another gear to beat that Waterford team."

As for Flynn's late goal, which sent currents of anticipation around Semple Stadium, Fitzgerald ruefully conceded it to the striker's ability. "Fair play to him, he made it hard, he hit it right into the corner and it was well taken. They had a chance just before that which I stopped and I thought then to myself, `There'll be none going past me today', but he finished it well."

In Waterford's dressing-room, Gerald McCarthy quietly voiced his pride in his team and admitted with a smile that Flynn's ambitious gamesaving goal had followed a directive to aim his free low. There was a palpable feeling that this team had proven themselves simply by not losing but McCarthy, more fluent in the language of victory, admitted a title was there for his team.

"We had chances that maybe we didn't take but, having said that, I can't fault the lads today. We did have the initiative at a vital stage in the second half but we were playing Clare, the All-Ireland champions, and they are very hard beaten and deserve a lot of credit."

When he gathered his team around him at the break, Waterford were still searching for some way to seize the game.

"Things looked ominous then but we had opted to play against the breeze and we were prepared to be six to nine points down," McCarthy said. "Getting the goal after the break changed everything but Clare really overran us at first."

Sitting in the corner, Brendan Landers returned a positive report on his first Munster final experience. "Absolutely great; brilliant feeling. I think we have shown now that we are determined not to go away."

Yet the first sequence of the match was almost laughable from his defence's perspective. "Well, Clare went to send the ball over the bar and you'd always be yelling at the lads to watch the posts but we weren't quick enough off the mark and when it fell (to Alan Markham), he wasn't going to miss from there."

He moved to the corridors, where supporters from both ranks waited patiently. All were mildly unhinged at having to freeze their emotions for another seven days.

Inside, Dan Shanahan lingered, dried blood caking a stitched ear. He furiously signed shirts, programmes, even a broken hurley, and laughed off the notion that his input was central in the overall scheme.

"I knocked over a few points. Sure that's what I'm there for. It's a pity I don't get paid for it."

With light hearts, they departed Thurles to take stock, and outside the pubs the colours were left to flutter for another week at least.