“You can do one of two things when you lose,” says Waterford U21 hurling manager Derek Lyons, “you can go into a corner and hide or come out fighting.”

Waterford 1-21 Cork 1-11: Shane Bennett didn’t travel on the team bus to Páirc Uí Rinn, his father Pat transporting him across the border.

Waterford manager Derek Lyons felt that his side’s victory owed as much to hard work and doing the basics as it did to the many moments of skill and quality.

The Waterford U21 hurlers scored their first championship victory in six years at Páirc Uí Rinn this evening.

The all-too-familiar criticism surrounding Cork hurling’s underage plight was yet again dragged front and centre in the wake of the county’s Munster semi-final defeat to Waterford earlier this month.

Cork U21 star Anthony Spillane admits that the county carry an extra weight of expectation at underage level, based on tradition.