Waterford 1-25 Galway 2-20: Typical of Waterford to be quiet for a while and then raise their heads above the crowd, as if to shout 'we could shake up this hurling championship yet'. As expected, the qualifier route is suiting them nicely and, almost certain to avoid the provincial champions in the quarter-final, in ways their season only begins now.

They've got their supporters behind them too. Given the truly balmy afternoon those approaching from the south must have been tempted to turn off and spend the day at Tramore strand, yet it seems they took a chance on Walsh Park instead. Around 12,000 showed up, mostly wearing blue and white, and were rewarded with a cracking game of hurling (48 scores, 26 wides!) that defied both the stifling conditions and supposed lifelessness of the qualifiers.

Defeat for Galway could yet be as telling as the victory for Waterford. They'll now meet either Cork or Kilkenny in the quarter-finals, and unlike this time last year, they lacked a little drive and even desperation for the win despite being in the hunt for it until close to the end.

Yet neither team held back an inch, and considering even those of us in the press box were sweating, must have lost several pounds of weight by the end. Suddenly those warm-weather training trips made sense.

The game itself was delicately balanced for a long while. The sides were level on 10 different occasions in the first half alone, but in the end two factors probably decided it - Galway's loss of midfielder David Collins to a second yellow card, and Waterford's introduction of Paul Flynn.

Waterford had sneaked two points clear on 50 minutes when Galway suffered what was possibly a fatal blow. Collins made a body block on Eoin McGrath, earning himself a second yellow card and therefore reducing Galway to 14 men for the remaining 20 minutes.

Moments later Flynn was introduced. Still not fit enough to start, the Waterford captain soon found himself presented with a 20-metre free, and as everyone expected, went for the goal. Despite the obvious threat Galway couldn't stop it, and Waterford had their first real advantage - leading 1-19 to 0-18.

Galway chased hard until the end, but just couldn't get close enough. Waterford's lead always hovered in the safety zone, and an injury time goal for Galway substitute Cathal Connolly came too late to make any difference.

Even with the extra man, Waterford were the marginally superior team. While their 1-25 total was impressive, they hit 19 wides in the process, and that worrying statistic didn't go unnoticed by manager Justin McCarthy.

"Galway came strong all the time," said McCarthy, "but I always felt we'd a slight edge. We did hit some outstanding scores, but then we'd an awful lot of wides as well. At least we're moving on, and it was always put up to us there. We never got our own way, and every player had to fight our corner.

"So no, we're not gone away at all. Then we've a lot of work put in, and a lot of experience there as well. But it's still about bringing the whole thing together, that's still the trick of the trade. If that happens we won't be too far off."

His counterpart, Conor Hayes, remains as cool in defeat as he does in victory, though he did keep his team in the dressing room for a good 30 minutes (presumably not to praise them) before emerging to give his assessment: "I think it was a very harsh sending off, and that changed the whole game really. But look there's nothing we can do. We're still in the quarter-finals and we'll just try to pick it again for those games."

Yet it's still hard to see how Galway could have won it even with 15 men until the end. Waterford just had too many players on form, starting with full back Tom Feeney and wing back Tony Browne - who chipped in a massive 100-yard free.

Ken McGrath provided his usual presence at midfield, also adding three textbook 65's, and beside him David Bennett hit 0-7, six from placed balls. It was up front though that Waterford proved that while form is temporary, class is permanent.

Dan Shanahan's influence on the game grew over time, John Mullane hit three typically sweet points, and Michael Walsh - while moving into several different positions - hit 0-2 from play.

But it was Eoin Kelly's input that raised the greatest cheer from the home support. Back from a three-month suspension and playing mostly at wing forward or full forward, Kelly hit 0-4 from play - the last of which put Waterford 1-23 to 1-19 in front, and afforded him the chance to raise his arms in response to the adoration.

While defeat is probably a short-term setback to Galway, they were left with plenty of positives. Collins and Fergal Healy were doing well at midfield before the sending off, and David Forde caused plenty of problems for the Waterford half backs. Waterford's impressive scoring rate was also well -matched, with Galway frequently hitting back in an instant.

In fact Galway lead 0-14 to 0-13 at the break, with Damien Hayes doing most of the damage from play. When they found themselves five points down on 57 minutes Forde set up Hayes for the goal that brought them right back into it. But other forwards were disappointing, especially Richie Murray and Alan Kerins, and the sooner Eugene Cloonan is back on the starting 15 the better.

Yet it always felt like Waterford's day. They look set for an even higher score over Laois next weekend, and with their confidence also growing, they suddenly look as well placed as any team going into the quarter-finals.

WATERFORD: 1 C Hennessy; 2 D Prendergast, 3 T Feeney, 4 E Murphy; 5 T Browne (0-1,a free), 6 J Murray, 7 B Phelan; 8 K McGrath (0-4, three 65s), 9 D Bennett (0-7, six frees); 10 D Shanahan (0-2); 11 E Kelly (0-4), 12 S O'Sullivan (0-1); 13 J Mullane (0-4), 14 M Walsh (0-2), 15 E McGrath. Subs: 17 P Flynn (1-0, a free) for O'Sullivan (51 mins), 20 J Kennedy for Bennett (69 mins), 18 D Coffey for Browne (72 mins).

GALWAY: 1 L Donoghue; 2 D Joyce, 3 T Óg Regan, 4 O Canning; 5 D Hardiman (0-1), 6 S Kavanagh, 7 David Hayes; 8 F Healy (0-2), 9 D Collins; 10 G Farragher (0-7, five frees), 11 D Forde (0-3), 12 A Keary (0-1); 13 Damien Hayes (1-4), 14 R Murray, 15 A Kerins (0-1). Subs: 18 N Healy (0-1) for Murray (49 mins), 17 D Tierney for Kerins (50 mins), 19 G Mahon for David Hayes (56 mins), 24 C Connolly (1-0) for Keary (59 mins).

Referee: S McMahon (Clare).