This was a significant weekend in the hurling year with some very significant results. I had been impressed with Waterford this year and the match in Thurles copperfastened that impression even though Cork were worse than I expected.

Waterford came into this under pressure after a great league campaign and it was to be expected that they might wobble under the weight of expectation as a young team. Any sort of hesitancy would have made them ideal candidates for an old-style Cork ambush and that was evident in the initial stages.

They also had to get over the loss of Pauric Mahony, particularly given his importance as a free-taker. All of this was compounded by the bad start and must have added to any apprehensions.

Remarkable player

Maurice Shanahan came out to hit the first free and sent it badly wide. Austin Gleeson also had a couple of bad wides – although he is a remarkable player and the best striker of a lineball I have ever seen; the length he gets into them is incredible.

Waterford were 0-4 to 0-1 down despite having had ample possession. The ambush looked on.

It’s to their credit that they eventually got their game together. They cut out the crazy long balls and made the chances for two super goals by Shanahan and Jake Dillon.

They should have had a third but Kevin Moran botched a handpass.

Once they got moving they looked in a different league to Cork. The only surprise for me was that Cork got so close to them in the end. Waterford impressed all through the team.

Noel Connors was again on top of Pa Horgan and I thought Barry Coughlan was outstanding at full back and Tadhg De Búrca was everywhere from centre back. Jamie Barron gave excellent support from midfield and you could see the growing confidence of so many young players.

Shanahan scored a huge total and Jake Dillon won a load of ball and Colin Dunford yet again proved a real handful running at Cork from midfield. His pace and directness is so hard to handle.

They also had the usual leadership from Kevin Moran and “Brick” Walsh and I think the effectiveness wasn’t so much the defensive system as the incredible levels of hard work and the constant willingness to track back.

Another big element in the win was the impact of their bench. In previewing the match I talked about the presence of a new wave of younger players coming through from more recent underage teams, players like Patrick Curran and Shane Bennett.

The substitutes’ bench really contributed to the win and, although I’ve said that I really believe in the future of this team, they’re going to take plenty of beating in 2015.

Poor form

For Cork this was a continuation of the really poor form they’ve been showing since last year’s Munster final, starting with the heavy defeat by Tipperary in the All-Ireland semi-final.

In defence Brian Murphy’s return proved to be justified as he and Mark Ellis held their own, but they had some terrible wides. If Aidan Walsh had scored his attempts at scores, the pressure would have been a lot more intense on Waterford when they were also shooting badly at the other end in the early stages.

Their subs made very little impact and overall it’s hard to see how they can recover this summer.

There were a couple of other significant results in Leinster. There were glimpses of potential from Galway in the Croke Park draw with Dublin but they really stepped up in Saturday’s replay in Tullamore.

Traditionally, if Galway start well they are very dangerous and with Dublin all over the place they got in for early goals through Cathal Mannion, which did real damage.

Their full-forward line was a huge threat and with Cyril Donnellan again dominating at centre forward they got plenty of platform.

In that mood they’re a match for anyone and although Dublin were very poor and slow to react. I think Galway are now up and running and will be a threat this year.

Menace

Joe Canning was sharp and with Mannion and Jason Flynn a constant menace they looked impressive.

Anthony Cunningham also got the match-ups right and Mark Schutte couldn’t replicate his performance of the first half in the drawn game.

Galway’s stock has risen and no-one’s going to look forward to playing them.

Their Leinster semi-final opponents Laois also had a historic win. I wasn’t surprised they beat Offaly because I was very taken with them in the early-season Walsh Cup matches, where they showed pace and power and also had a number of Fitzgibbon Cup players from a variety of colleges.

The surprise for me was how mediocre they then were during the league and round-robin matches.

Galway won’t take them for granted after the last couple of years when they ran them close.

The championship really warmed up this weekend.