Gerald McCarthy had a mischievous gleam in his eye after his Waterford side had set up a National League final against Cork in two weeks time. He was clearly relishing the prospects of facing up, albeit on the sidelines, to so many of the players he had played with in the Cork jersey not all that long ago. In his sights were the reputations of such distinguished former colleagues as Jimmy Barry Murphy, Seanie O'Leary, Tom Cashman and Johnny Crowley, all of whom are deeply involved with the Cork team, which subsequently beat Clare in the second semi-final of the day.

Even before Cork had set out on a course of destruction against the All-Ireland champions in the second of the two matches at a packed Semple Stadium, McCarthy fended off questions about a possible clash.

Later he was more circumspect, to the point of saying that he was, in the well-worn cliche, taking it one match at a time. He wasn't really fooling anybody, because it was quite clear that he was looking forward to the challenge against his old, distinguished colleagues. And why not?

His Waterford team had dominated the game against Limerick for 50 of the 60 minutes, only to give their supporters the jitters with an uncharacteristic lapse of concentration, which presented Limerick with the opportunity to grab two goals which they took with some enthusiasm.

Waterford were leading by 1-15 to 0-11 in the 20th minute of the second half and looked confident and comfortable. Then Gary Kirby rifled a 35-yard free to the net to lift Limerick hearts and when Barry Foley connected with a Ger Hegarty drive to cut the lead to a mere point four minutes later, Waterford seemed to be in trouble.

To their great credit, however, Waterford steadied the rudder sufficiently to ride the increasing Limerick waves. With this victory they have emerged as a team with huge potential and seem capable of ending a somewhat bleak period out of the limelight.

On a day which was made for hurling with bright sunshine and a light breeze, the grass might just possibly have been shaved a little less close.

Waterford were by far the better side. In spite of a rather scrappy and error-ridden first half, they managed to provide the massive crowd with whatever hurling skill was on display and were well worthy of their win.

This view was accepted and recognised by the Limerick team manager, Eamon Cregan, whose serious demeanour afterwards gave the lie to the prevalent notion that Limerick were not really interested in the National League title and were saving themselves for the championship.

"That was a poor performance from us today," Cregan said. "The two goals in the second half put a respectable look on it, but the fact is that we were poor and that Waterford were by far the better team and deserved to win.

"Nobody likes losing and we have to admit that we were not in a winning mood today. In the course of the match, we were taught a few lessons and we have to learn from them if we are to have any chance in the championship," he said.

When it was suggested to him that some of his well-established players were at less than their best, he agreed: "They will have to learn that when the team is in trouble, they have to produce the goods, they can't always live on reputations," he said.

Needless to add, he wasn't naming names, but it was clear to all that players such as Steve McDonagh, Gary Kirby, TJ Ryan, Dave Clarke, Shane O'Neill and Mike Houlihan were seen to be short of their normal excellence.

McDonagh, in particular, got a real roasting throughout the match, conceding ground and scores to the excellent Paul Flynn right from the start and, later, even when he had been switched to the other corner of the defence.

That Flynn ended up with the tally of nine points speaks for itself.

For Waterford there were many positive aspects to this important victory. Emerging as players of the future were Sean Cullinane at full back, Tom Feeney in the corner, Tony Browne and Peter Queally and particularly Ken McGrath at centre forward.

This was recognised by Gerald McCarthy later. "We have a lot of very good players who have not reached their full potential yet, but we are confident we can build on what we've got. All the members of the squad are really committed and after beating a team like Limerick and doing it really well, we fear nobody from now on.

"It would be great to win a National League and would encourage many other young players. Waterford have potential and we are working hard to make it bear fruit," he said.

Waterford had impressed from the start, but both sides fumbled and fussed when a more controlled approach might have yielded better dividends.

Limerick were happy to concede a 65 early on, which Paul Flynn pointed to give them the lead in the very first minute, but the first major blow was struck in the 16th minute. Ken McGrath made the most of the work of Billy O'Sullivan to break the earlier deadlock and give Waterford a 1-4 to 0-4 lead.

The expertise of Flynn and McGrath helped to stretch that to 1-8 to 0-4 before Limerick managed to cut the margin to five points, 1-9 to 0-7, at the break.

Waterford appeared to be disappearing out of sight early in the second period when they led by 114 to 0-8, but, with the score at 115 to 0-11, Limerick revived their hopes.

Gary Kirby drove an expertly-struck free to the net and this was closely followed by a Barry Foley goal which reduced the arrears to a mere point.

Waterford steadied, however, and points by Flynn and McGrath managed to calm the excitement among the Waterford supporters. When substitute Michael White performed a juggling act with the ball before driving it past Joe Quaid in the Limerick goal with only a minute remaining Waterford were through to the final.

Waterford: B Landers; T Feeney, S Cullinane, M O'Sullivan; S Frampton, F Hartley (0-1), B Greene; T Browne (0-3), P Queally; D Shanahan, K McGrath (1-3), D McGrath; B O'Sullivan, A Kirwan (0-1), P Flynn (0-9, one 65, four frees). Subs: M White (1-0) for D McGrath (51 mins).

Limerick: J Quaid; S McDonagh, A Browne, J Foley; D Clarke, M Foley, C Smith; M Houlihan, (0-2, one free, one 65), S O'Neill; J Moran (0-2), O Moran, B Foley (1-3); T J Ryan (0-1), G Kirby (1-3 all frees), D Quigley. Subs: C Carey for O Moran (35 mins); E O'Neill for J Moran (57 mins).

Referee: J Cooney, Galway.