Ballygunner star displayed flashes of Ring, claims McCarthy

Cometh the hour, cometh the man, the saying goes. In a euphoric winning Waterford dressingroom on Saturday night there was unanimity on who that man was.

Enigmatic he can be at times, but when Paul Flynn is at the top of his form there are few more exciting or spectacular sights on the hurling field.

When team boss Justin McCarthy talks about Flynn’s display “being reminiscent of Christy Ring” then you have an insight into just how highly the Deise manager rated the Ballygunner star’s performance.

Flynn ended the game with a personal tally of 1-7, and when you add that to his 3-3 contribution in the drawn thriller that combined total of 4-10 leaves no room for argument about the impact he made over the two legs of this semi-final.

Despite his undoubted genius, he has never been one to seek the headlines.

Typically then he sat almost unobtrusively in a crowded dressingroom and when asked for comment was at pains to stress that the victory was down to a team effort.

Ultimately it was down to the sheer class of his performance, a performance that illuminated an otherwise drab replay that didn’t come within a million miles of the epic drawn game six days earlier.

That didn’t concern Justin McCarthy however. “Far better to win a poor game than lose a thriller,” he said.

But McCarthy was in no doubt that Paul Flynn represented the man difference between the teams on the night.

“He picked off some magnificent scores when we really needed them,” the manager said.

He offered, as part explanation for the game not living up to expectations, the tension charged atmosphere that enveloped Semple Stadium.

“It was incredibly tense out there,” McCarthy said.

However the Waterford manager was never in any doubt about the outcome.

“I felt we were always in control and I also thought we were fresher than Limerick. None of our fellows were down after the drawn game and we came to Semple Stadium absolutely confident in our ability to win this replay.”

McCarthy revealed that on June 29th he will be directly involved in his fourteenth Munster hurling final in varying capacities.

“It is still the same feeling though I will admit I am looking forward to this upcoming one more than most,” said McCarthy.

His fellow selectors Colm Bonnar and Seamie Hannon were adamant that victory went to the better side.

“That said however I am mightily relieved that it is all over and we are in the final yet again,” Bonnar said.

For Seamie Hannon the occasion presented him with the opportunity to proclaim, “I told you so.”

“After the drawn game I said that we were still the Munster champions and that we would still be the champions when the replay was over.

"I can’t wait for the Munster final and the opportunity that gives to win back to back titles for the county for an historic first time.”

“We would love to make Waterford hurling history by retaining our provincial title, and I can tell you the motivation and the determination is there to do just that,” said star centre back Fergal Hartley.