Waterford 2-23; Clare 0-21
They have been the forgotten men of Munster hurling since the new round-robin series was introduced but on Sunday Waterford served a loud reminder that they haven’t gone away you know with this totally comprehensive eight-point victory over Liam MacCarthy holders Clare in Walsh Park.
Stephen Bennett was the star of the show for the Deise with 2-8 to his credit against the Banner on a day when he donned the Waterford colors for the 100th time in his career.
The big trick for Peter Queally’s side now is to record a second big win in six days as they welcome Limerick to the same venue on Saturday evening for might turn out to be a make or break encounter for both sides.
Limerick’s John Kiely was a keen observer at this match and he will know his team must match Waterford in intensity if they are to fare better than the Banner, who however could point to the huge loss of injured skipper Tony Kelly on top of the already absent Shane O’Donnell from their attack.
Incredibly the homesters hadn’t beaten their opponents in this tie since the 2020 All-Ireland quarter-final. They lost by a point to the same side last year which saw them crash out of the remainder of games while Brian Lohan’s men went on to claim the ultimate MacCarthy prize.
Waterford won the toss and elected to play with the breeze - a wise choice as it gave them the chance to build confidence into the players.
By half-time they had built up a 0-13 to 0-10 lead and the fear among the locals wasn’t it wouldn't be enough to withstand Clare’s surge with the elements at their back.
Queally produced a master stroke for the second moiety by introducing the rangy Michael Kiely and his influence was crucial from then on.
The big full-forward was hauled down for a penalty after seven minutes and Stephen Bennett, although slipping, lashed the ball into the Banner net past Eibhear Quilligan, who had gone the wrong way in any case.
That six point lead was soon seven when the elusive Jamie Barron found Patrick Curran who shot a great score to make it seven up.
It wasn’t all one way traffic as Billy Nolan had to be at his best to deny Ian Galvin a goal. The un-markable David Reidy and powerful Peter Duggan worked hard for scores to cut the deficit to three.
Both sides enjoyed passages of dominance before the crucial score came with 14 minutes left on the clock. Waterford subs Shane Bennett and Patrick Fitzgerald combined for the latter to get off a shot that appeared to be heading wide. However Stephen Bennett, who else, caught the sliotar and rifled home his side’s second goal to give the Deise fans a huge lift for the rest of the game.
Ryan Taylor showed defiance with his scores but Bennett added another and then Patrick Fitzgerald launched another fine shot on 64 minutes, to leave Waterford ahead by eight. With no Kelly or O’Donnell about, there would be no fairytale ending for Clare this time around.
So this Munster series is now as open as the Gulf of Mexico, if that still exists at all!!
Clare with only one point after two games are now in a shoot-off at the OK corral when they face old rival Tipperary in Ennis on May 10. A loss and they can kiss good-bye to Liam.
