Flynn works the magic for Decies

Waterford 1-12

Taking inspiration from the skilful Paul Flynn, rightly credited afterwards by Justin McCarthy as the difference between the sides, the Decies ended a 20-year wait in Thurles on Saturday evening by making it back to a second consecutive Munster hurling final.

It wasn't achieved in a very convincing manner, but, on a night when Limerick struggled in attack and obviously missed Andrew O'Shaughnessy, they always looked the more likely to triumph in this semi-final replay.

After all the fuss made about Pat Aherne's handling of the first game, the refereeing this time was well up to standard, although Limerick manager Dave Keane felt his team didn't get a fair share of the break of the ball.

Disappointingly, the game was dull in the first half, overall well below expectations and was unnecessarily niggly at stages.

Justin McCarthy felt his team was more in control on this occasion, praising Flynn for his magic in getting some vital scores and paying him the ultimate compliment of saying that in it he saw 'flashes of Christy Ring!'

Whatever about being elevated to that status, the Ballygunner man certainly made the most telling contribution of the 38 players who lined out.

Finishing with 1-7, his goal in the 23rd minute gave Waterford a huge psychological advantage and ultimately proved decisive.

Prior to the goal, which I felt keeper Timmy Houlihan conceded rather easily, the teams had been fairly evenly matched, and were level at 0-3 each.

It would have come earlier but for Houlihan's vigilance in coming off his line to tackle Tony Browne after he made a strong run down the centre.

By the 20th minute, the unfortunate Browne had departed the scene injuring his ankle after backing into a hole.

Interestingly, after he had moved to full-forward for a short period, Ken McGrath came out to midfield and produced a much more impressive form than the previous Sunday.

Additionally, Peter Queally made an early impact in the centre on his recall.

Notably, a sizeable number of other players were making little impact.

For instance, Mark Foley and the recalled Ollie Moran at full-forward, for Limerick, who hardly saw the ball in the first half, and the likes of John Mullane in the Waterford attack.

It was partly linked to the stop/start nature of the game and the fact that space was so limited at stages.

For that reason, it was all the more significant when Flynn began to threaten, using his pace to get away from the clutches of Stephen McDonagh and his craft to pick off good scores.

In contrast, Limerick's attack was quite ineffective until Donncha Sheehan began to win some good possession.

But for his lack of physique, he could have made an even bigger impression, being denied a goal in the 21st minute through Brian Greene's timely tackle.

More worrying for Limerick was their wastage of possession when they were much more involved in the second quarter.

They hit five wides before gaining their fourth score, through the effective Conor Fitzgerald, after a lapse of 20 minutes.

But for these and other misses and the denial of an obvious free when Ollie Moran was fouled close-in they would have been in a better position at half-time instead of trailing 1-6 to 0-6.

Limerick did have the satisfaction of a more productive second half, as the game entered a more competitive (and entertaining) phase.

Ollie Moran won good possession after coming out to the left wing, Mark Foley was involved a lot, Eoin Foley did well at midfield except that he had a few costly misses and Ciaran Carey showed promise for a while at full-forward.

Twice, in the 43rd and 62nd minutes, Limerick had the margin down to two points, but they hadn't the strength to wipe out the deficit.

It was at this stage of the game, after Flynn had put over two marvellous scores from play for the champions, that exam-tied O'Shaughnessy might have made a difference.

Likewise, Niall Moran was being missed after an early injury, even though James O'Brien did well for a while after replacing him.

While agreed that O'Shaughnessy's scoring ability was a loss, Keane remarked that the team wasn't built around one player.

And, maintaining afterwards that the Flynn goal had come from an incorrect sideline decision, he agreed that it had a huge influence on the outcome.

"We needed a goal which we did not look like getting at any stage," he said.

Waterford hurled confidently as the pressure mounted near the end, with Eoin Kelly getting in a lot of good work and Dan Shanahan justifying his introduction to the attack.

Watching from the sideline, a disappointed Tony Browne admired the character shown by them in holding on for a merited victory:

"When the chips were down, they were absolutely brilliant."

Justin McCarthy said he wouldn't be thinking of what it means to be back in the final until they are in it, while in spite of experiencing his first serious defeat in management (in something like 18 championship games) Keane is upbeat about the future.

"This is a very young team and it would give hope for the future. Whether we will still be in charge is another matter..."

Dickie Murphy's excellent refereeing, unquestionably, was one of the highlights of the evening.

He applied the rules firmly and with his usual efficiency and managed to limit his mistakes to the minimum.

Scorers for Waterford: P. Flynn 1-7 (0-3 frees); D. Bennett 0-2 frees; E. Kelly, D. Shanahan and E. McGrath 0-1 each.

Limerick: C. Fitzgerald 0-6 (0-4 frees); E. Foley 0-3 (0-1 free); B. Begley 0-2; P. Kirby and C. Carey 0-1 each.

WATERFORD: S. Brenner; B. Greene, T. Feeney, E. Murphy; D. Prendergast, F. Hartley, J. Murray; T. Browne (capt.), P. Queally; A. Moloney, E. Kelly, D. Bennett; J. Mullane, K. McGrath, P. Flynn.

Subs: S. Prendergast for Browne (injured, 20th minute); M. Walsh for Bennett (46th); D. Shanahan for Moloney (injured, 48th); E. McGrath for Queally (61st); P. O'Brien for Mullane (73rd).

LIMERICK: T. Houlihan; S. McDonagh, T.J. Ryan, D. Reale; P. O'Dwyer, P. Lawlor, M. Foley (capt.); E. Foley, C. Smith; C. Fitzgerald, B. Begley, N. Moran; D. Sheehan, O. Moran, P. Kirby.

Subs: J. O'Brien for N. Moran (injured, 10th minute); C. Carey for Smith (21st); E. Mulcahy for Kirby (68th).

Referee: D. Murphy (Wexford).

Attendance: 28,245.