Draw best result for fans

Waterford 4-13, Limerick 4-13

It was a view tempered by the realisation that a flukey refereeing decision at a stage when Pat Aherne made some critical mistakes could have given the advantage to one side.

Yet, in a sense it was almost a moral victory for the youthful Limerick team who were nine points behind after 20 minutes.

Notably, after scores were level at 4-12 for the fifth time, in the 66th minute, the referee ignored a blatant foul on Limerick substitute Ollie Moran and soon afterwards took no action when Dave Bennett was knocked after wasting a good opportunity of a goal for Waterford.

And, after another bad call against Fergal Hartley, which was changed to a throw-in, Paul Flynn had Waterford in front from a massive free five yards behind his own 70 yards line.

As the tension mounted, Ken McGrath was wide for the holders before Eoin Foley gained possession after defender Damien Reale had a shot blocked and put over the equalising point.

That was in the second of the three additional minutes allowed and while Waterford players and officials were seen to remonstrate with the referee as he walked off the field, this was one occasion when a draw was definitely the fairest outcome.

In a manner reminiscent of the counties' last meeting, in Pairc Ui Chaoimh two years ago when Limerick won after being eleven points behind, David Keane's well-prepared side staged a magnificent comeback. It was a fitting testament to the character in the team because of the way they had been almost totally outplayed at both ends of the field. Paul Flynn, who finished with 3-3, had followed two early points with a 6th minute goal and a second goal from the recalled John Mullane in the 14th minute, helped them to a 2-5 to 0-2 lead.

In retrospect, it was to the credit of the Limerick management that they remained calm, resisting the move to make changes. Interestingly, the first one they did make (in the 25th minute), was one of the more obvious ones taking Brian Geary out of centre-back, where he was struggling against Ken McGrath. Peter Lawlor swopped with him and was one of the players most influential in achieving a steady improvement which was to see the deficit wiped out nearing half-time.

There was an improvement for Limerick at midfield where Ciaran Carey was prominent for a while alongside a very committed Clem Smith, who was a bit indisciplined at stages but, the biggest change occurred in attack.

Brian Begley used his strength and experience to win vital ball after moving to centre-forward (in the process curbing Fergal Hartley) and Donncha Sheehan roamed at will to create regular openings. Additionally, Conor Fitzgerald was to the forefront, hitting some good frees and Andrew O'Shaughnessy started to contribute.

O'Shaughness, with an opportunist goal in the 26th minute lifted Limerick spirits. And, a penalty he won in the 35th minute - expertly scored by team captain Mark Foley - had them on level terms. More significantly, it ignited their challenge at a hugely important stage of the game. And while an injury-time score from Eoin Kelly had Waterford back in front, 2-8 to 2-7, youthful Limerick had successfully thrown down the gauntlet to the favourites.

Crucially for Waterford, Mullane made a costly error by (illegally) hand-passing a goal when he had plenty of time to kick the ball to the net two minutes into the second half. But, Flynn made amends in the 43rd minute with a goal from a penalty awarded to team captain Tony Browne, who was at his best in the second half. And, to give credit to Justin McCarthy's side, they regained a psychological advantage to the extent by continuing to force the pace.

And, that was under the pressure of a vibrant Limerick performance in which Mark Foley was now hugely influential in defence, before veteran Stephen McDonagh came in to make a vital contribution (interestingly, as manager Dave Keane had forceast he would!). Likewise, Lawlor remained a potent force at centre-back, while the attack was further boost by the outstanding play of Niall Moran.

Substitute Patrick Kirby helped set up Conor Fitzgerald for Limerick's third goal, in the 46th minute (interestingly, after the referee had overlooked a foul on Paul Flynn at the other end), but in another four minutes Waterford had the ball in the net again. Flynn was the scorer, calmly kicking to the net after goalkeeper Timmy Houlihan lost control off his hurley.

Dave Bennett had a second miss from a scorable free as Waterford were hard-pressed to defend a goal lead before Limerick came back to draw level through a hard-earned goal from Moran. That was in the 58th minute and shortly afterwards they led for the first time with a delightful point from O'Shaughnessy - when he sold a dummy to Brian Greene far out on the right wing.

However, the real drama was to come with the referee the focus of attention after an Eoin Kelly point was negatived by the Limerick full-back T.J. Ryan. Two more scores were to come before the final whistle sounded and only then was one reminded of the real cost of not having the game televised.

It wasn't the most convincing of refereeing performances from Pat Aherne, who laboured under the handicap of poor umpires. To his credit, he did referee efficiently enough for a good part of the game except that he made more mistakes than are acceptable in a game of this importance.

Scores for Waterford: P. Flynn 3-3 (1-2 frees); J. Mullane 1-0; D. Bennett 0-3 (0-1 free); E. Kelly 0-3; K. McGrath 0-3; A. Moloney 0-1.

Limerick: C. Fitzgerald 1-4 (0-2 frees); A. O'Shaughnessy, M. Foley (1-0 free) and N. Moran 1-1 each; B. Begley 0-2; P. Kirby (free), D. Sheehan, E. Foley and T.J. Ryan 0-1 each.

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

Subs: E. McGrath for S. Prendergast (second half); E. Murphy for Kirwan and D. Shanahan for E. McGrath (61st minute); M. Welsh for Moloney (65th).

LIMERICK: T. Houlihan; D. Reale, T.J. Ryan, E. Mulcahy; P. Lawlor, B. Geary, M. Foley (capt.); C. Carey, C. Smith; C. Fitzgerald, N. Moran, B. Foley; A. O'Shaughnessy, B. Begley, D. Sheehan.

Subs: P. Kirby for Foley (second half); E. Foley for Carey (38th minute); S. McDonagh for Mulcahy (39th); P. O'Dwyer for Geary (56th); O. Moran for Sheehan (62nd).

Referee: P. Aherne (Carlow).

*Attendance: 34,505.