Summer hurling’s opening weekend threw up killer lines.

Three stunning saves from Shaun O’Brien and 11 Jack Fagan points saw De La Salle come from seven points down to edge Lismore 2-21 to 1-18 in a thriller at Fraher Field yesterday.

A cold night in Thurles twisted decisively with one goal, Eoin Cody’s calm second-half finish for Ballyhale Shamrocks proving the difference in their All-Ireland club semi-final clash with Ballygunner.

Red and black were the colours on the trophy yesterday as Ballygunner made it a first Munster club senior hurling title since 2001, an emotional victory for the Waterford men. They had lost to yesterday’s opponents, Na Piarsaigh of Limerick, twice at this stage in the previous three years, and their determination to break that series of defeats was clear in Semple Stadium.

The game was over and a damp dusk drawing in but the people walking around Walsh Park were in no hurry to leave.

Waterford’s Ballygunner are through to the Munster club hurling semi-finals, but only after a real battle with Midleton of Cork, who put it up to the favourites in a game that went to the wire.

Former Tipperary goalkeeper Brendan Cummins is an early favourite to succeed Derek McGrath as Waterford manager.

Despite losing Austin Gleeson to injury, Mount Sion overcame fierce rivals Roanmore 2-12 to 1-14 at Walsh Park on Saturday night.

“The record is not something we have brought up or even discussed,” said Na Piarsaigh manager Shane O’Neil after their Munster semi-final win over Blackrock.

Ballygunner 0-29 Mount Sion 0-9 (Waterford SHC quarter-final): A 20-point blowout against the old enemy confirmed Ballygunner’s standing as the team to beat in this year’s Waterford senior hurling championship in Fraher Field on Saturday night.

To grasp just how novel this upcoming All-Ireland final will be, you need only look at the sideline and the profile of the two selectorial teams compared to who was there last year, writes Kieran Shannon.

Here's your morning news bulletin.

Waterford manager Derek McGrath has bolstered his backroom team ahead of the All-Ireland senior hurling championship qualifiers with the additions of former playing stars Eoin Murphy and Fergal Hartley.

Everything now is measured and governed by numbers and statistics, writes Anthony Daly. 

“I imagine people weren’t expecting us to win in Waterford this year,” says Ballygunner selector Gary O’Keeffe.

Derek McGrath mentioned it in passing last week but it’s a game worth revisiting.

Brian Hurley expects to be fit for Cork’s Division 1 opener against Dublin on February 1 after being told he suffered no serious damage to his left shoulder on Sunday.

Ballygunner 1-10 Cratloe 3-07

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Waterford hurling stalwarts Fergal Hartley and John Galvin believe the county is set for a "sustained fallow period" inside the whitewash, calling for patience from the Déise public to allow manager Derek McGrath rebuild the senior team.

Waterford SHC final

Ballygunner came out the wrong side of the craziest finish to a Waterford county final against Passage last October.

Waterford SHC semi-final

Fourteen-man Ballygunner encountered some turbulence against old rivals Lismore at Walsh Park yesterday, but a polished second-half showing of 2-14 secured their place in the last four of the Waterford SHC.

Maurice Shanahan measured a last-minute free to supply Lismore with the draw they required on Saturday night to reach the quarter-finals and nudged Fourmilewater towards the relegation play-off.

Waterford SHC, Round 4

What marked out the great Waterford team of the last decade was the way they approached the game, a swashbuckling side of freestyle players blessed with the full range of hurling’s skills.

Roanmore rocked Fourmilewater with a show of hunger and hard work at an overcast Fraher Field to claim a surprise two-point win (1-9 to 0-10).

When Waterford manager Michael Ryan appointed Pat Flanagan as physical trainer to the county hurlers, he mentioned Flanagan’s pilgrimage back to Dungarvan the night of the 2002 Munster final.

On a weekend that provided more than its fair share of drama, only three of the quarter-finalists have been confirmed after the penultimate round of games in the group stage of the title race.

THE GPA has commissioned four recruitment experts to help inter-county players find employment, with former Waterford captain Fergal Hartley designated the Munster agent.

MICHAEL RYAN was on the Nire road last week when his phone rang.