NHL Division One quarter final/ Limerick 0-21 Waterford 0-14: If this is Waterford staging some sort of crisis ahead of the championship then it's the best acting any team have done in years. As a game it was slow and tiresome practically throughout, and the ease with which Limerick eventually emerged as winners was memorable only for the grim way it made their opponents look so hopeless.
Can Waterford be this bad? Maybe not, but with team captain Paul Flynn getting a straight red card in injury-time for a dangerous strike - and star forward Eoin Kelly already missing for a similar offence - the mood can hardly be positive in the final countdown to the championship.
Limerick, in total contrast, are unbeaten in the league and clearly going from strength to strength. This latest, deserved victory sets up a semi-final meeting with Clare or Kilkenny next Sunday, with their championship date with Tipperary just four weeks away. If competitive games are among the ingredients for success then Limerick won't mind the hectic schedule.
The level of excitement on the field was probably reflected by the amount of yawning in the press box. Sometimes the lack of drama is more draining than an excess of it. Waterford somehow managed to draw level five times early in the second half, before being wiped out in the final 20 minutes. John Mullane's late point on the final whistle was their only score during that closing period.
By then Waterford's collapse was complete. Flynn saw red with four minutes of added time played for a foul on defender Mark Foley. Afterwards he approached match referee Diarmuid Kirwan for clarification of his offence. But that, said the referee, would have to wait until his report.
If Flynn is limited to the month's suspension he will be okay for the Munster semi-final on June 4th against the winners of the Limerick-Tipperary tie.
That's not all the problems Waterford have. Dan Shanahan hit three decent points but was nothing like the goal threat he can be, nor was Mullane, who hit 0-4. Jack Kennedy was the only other forward to score from play, and their nine wides in the second half only partly reflected the lack of accuracy.
All the real quality on display came from Limerick, especially as the game wore on. Corner forward Mark Keane ended with 0-9, four from play, but Donie Ryan, Conor Fitzgerald and eventually Andrew O'Shaughnessy chipped in with useful scores.
Stephen Lucey came on at half-time and fired over another, and when they did get going Limerick looked a very capable and confidence outfit, which obviously delighted manager Joe McKenna.
"I know it's a cliché, but we have been taking each game as it comes," he said. "I mean we definitely weren't thinking of a semi-final coming up here. But we're in it now, and we'll take it from here. From the word go we set out to win as many matches as possible. The best thing about it is we're still unbeaten, because that showed towards the end there, as if they were getting better as they went along. Maybe for the last five or six years that wouldn't have happened with a Limerick team, but I think this team aren't going to give in too easy."
It wasn't the perfect display, however, and with eight wides in the first half Limerick have problems of their own. They stayed a couple of points clear throughout the first half mainly thanks to the free-taking of Keane, yet the 16,057 who showed up for the double-header had seen the best of the hurling in the Tipperary-Offaly game.
Up 0-8 to 0-7 at the break, Limerick then confronted the best of Waterford's challenge when Shanahan briefly put them a point in front. For 10 minutes or so the tension mounted, two fine scores from David Bennett bringing Waterford level for the fourth time. Mullane and Ryan exchanged scores again before Limerick eased into another gear, and Waterford were left on the tracks.
Defensively, too, Limerick grew in confidence. Flynn had a penalty on 64 minutes after Shanahan was brought down, but that was well saved by Brian Murray, and from then on Waterford's frustration visibly grew.
"I felt we played with great confidence in the second half, and with 15 or 10 minutes to go we really controlled the game," said McKenna. "That suggests to me we are maturing a lot. And to win by seven points in the end is a nice result."
When his Waterford counterpart, Justin McCarthy, was sought for a comment he was already sitting on the team bus in deep consultation with his selectors. There is time on his side before that championship outing on June 4th, but the question he has to ask himself is if that is time enough.
LIMERICK: B Murray; D Reale, TJ Ryan, M Foley (0-1, free); O Moran, B Geary, M O'Riordan; P Grady, D Grady (0-2); M O'Brien, D Ryan (0-5), C Fitzgerald (0-2); A O'Shaughnessy (0-1), B Begley, M Keane (0-9, five frees). Subs: S Lucey (0-1) for Begley, D Moloney for O'Riordan (both half-time).
WATERFORD: C Hennessy; T Browne, T Feeney, D Coffey; B Phelan, K McGrath, J Murray; M Walsh, D Bennett (0-3, two frees); D Shanahan (0-3), J Kennedy (0-1), E McGrath; J Mullane (0-4), S Prendergast, P Flynn (0-3, frees). Subs: E Murphy for Murray (47 mins), C Carey for Prendergast (58 mins), G O'Connor for E McGrath (69 mins, injured).
Referee: D Kirwan (Cork).
