Stradbally 2-2 Nire 0-8:For the fourth time in a decade the Waterford senior football final between Stradbally and the Nire ended in stalemate at rain-lashed Fraher Field, Dungarvan, yesterday, with the sides set to return to the venue for next Saturday night's replay under lights.

Nire will rue their defensive sloppiness that directly resulted in the concession of both of their goals. The first came in the 22nd minute when the Nire were unflatteringly leading by 0-4 to 0-1, with rangy corner forward Robert Ahearne finishing Ger Power’s centre to the net.

Shortly before that both Shane Walsh and Diarmuid Wall failed to convert close in frees in front of the Stradbally posts, and in the end those misses almost came back to haunt the Nire.

They were still good value for their 0-6 to 1-1 half- time lead, but when Ahearne goaled again within nine minutes of the restart Stradbally were in front for the one and only time in the game.

Amazingly, however, they failed to score again, and the closing 21 minutes yielded just one point, a Séamus Lawlor effort in the 55th minute.