Waterford young gun Colin Dunford just taking it all in his stride

Sometimes you forget they’re so young, of course. You look down from the stand at the collisions and the pace and the scores and you think inter-county hurlers are giants. Then they take off those helmets and quite a few of them look fresh-faced enough to be worried approaching a nightclub entrance.

Waterford boss Derek McGrath has stressed how young his players are - the Déise had four 20-year-olds in their starting attack last Sunday. One of them, Colin Dunford, is only three years away from playing Harty Cup with Dungarvan Colleges, but he’s not overawed by the big show.

“You take it in your stride,” says the sports and exercise student at Carlow IT.