A blistering two minutes spell midway through the second quarter which saw Tipperary score 1-2 without reply and in the end they saw off the Waterford challenge with ease in this disappointing Munster under-21 hurling championship semi-final at Dungarvan last evening.

The opening 23 minutes saw the sides level on five occasions with the majority of the scores coming from frees. Senior star Lar Corbett was a Tipperary goalscorer in the 23rd minute when he finished a Dermot Gleeson flick to the net.

This score helped Tipperary go on and to lead by 1-10 to 0-8 at the interval. Waterford were too reliant on senior player Seamus Prendergast for their scores and he contributed a total of eight points, all from frees, over the hour.

Tipperary suffered a major setback four minutes into the second half when corner back Colin Morrissey was sent off for a second bookable offence. Two points from Prendergast's frees saw Waterford cut the deficit to a single goal with only five minutes of the second half played.

The Tipperary reply was swift and decisive as they shot four unanswered points in a ten10-minute spell to lead by 1-15 to 0-11 with ten10 minutes remaining. There was no way back for Waterford after these scores and when centre back Declan Prendergast was sent off with five minutes remaining the result was a foregone conclusion and Tipperary were through to the final.