Clock is running down for Limerick hopefuls

It's a tribute to the resilience of the championship that tomorrow's Guinness Munster hurling semi-final is so intriguingly poised. Less than a year ago the counties occupied divergent points of the hurling universe after a weekend that saw Limerick dumped out of the qualifiers by Cork and Waterford win a first provincial title in 39 years.

Waterford have not exactly convinced in the meantime whereas Limerick look to the future as new manager Dave Keane sets about importing his under-age success to senior level. Keane's early-season travails may have been depressing as both the experienced players and the younger cohort struggled to come to terms with each other and the demands of team building but there was a positive dimension.

There was a rapid erosion of the unreasonable expectation, which had towered over the county since last year's third successive under-21 All-Ireland.

Consequently the mood in the county is one of feisty realism rather than blind complacency - and that is as it should be.

Waterford deserve to be favourites. Justin McCarthy is a championship manager whose focus is exclusively on the summer. He finished this year's League in no worse a state than last season and that didn't inhibit Waterford's best championship in four decades.

As usual the champions will make umpteen changes before the throw-in. The AN Other position is assumed to be reserved for John Mullane whose long suspension, for striking in an under-21 club challenge, expires at midnight tonight. He and Paul Flynn are expected to line out in the corner forward positions.

Whatever the precise configuration of the attack, it will pose serious problems for Limerick. Over the past couple of seasons Waterford have managed purple passages of forward play that have been irresistible.

During these phases they shift positions all the time, unleash devastating combination moves at pace - such as those that dismantled Tipperary's supposedly impregnable half backs a year ago - and score unerringly.

The narrative of their matches has depended on the ability of the opposition to weather the storm and claw a way back into the match. Clare did this last August and Limerick themselves managed it two years ago.

The question marks for this Limerick team concern their experience and consequent ability in defence to keep calm in the face of any Waterford blitzkrieg.

Individually - as throughout the side - there is talent in the Limerick defence but also reservations about the collective response to the anticipated pressure as well as vulnerability in the air - exploited by Seamus Prendergast on his debut in 2001.

With neither likely to dominate centrefield it will be up to Limerick's forwards to make as much out of their possession as their opponents. This again is a tall order. Keane plays effectively four newcomers in attack, leaving Ollie Moran and Brian Begley as the experienced core.

This pair were hugely influential two years ago but neither have maintained that sort of form in the meantime and Moran is further compromised by a broken finger, which threatens his participation.

Andrew O'Shaughnessy is sitting his Leaving Cert and for all that he is a phenomenon, staying focused - maybe with Brian Greene for company - means that points will be as hard earned here as any he picks up at exam time.

It's also important to remember that Waterford will be a lot stronger defensively than when they lost that 11-point lead. Then All Star centre back Fergal Hartley was press ganged into the forwards and four of that day's starting backs are gone.

It may be that this Limerick team will come together quickly or alternatively that it will need time to establish its rhythm. Either way we know what Waterford are capable of and that entitles the champions to be favourites.

LIMERICK: T Houlihan; D Reale, TJ Ryan, E Mulcahy; P Lawlor, B Geary, M Foley; C Carey, C Smith; C Fitzgerald, N Moran, O Moran; A O'Shaughnessy, B Begley, D Sheehan.

WATERFORD: S Brenner; A Kirwan, T Feeney, J Murray; B Greene, F Hartley, D Prendergast; T Browne, D Bennett; AN Other, K McGrath, P Flynn; E Kelly, A Moloney, S Prendergast.