Waterford win on their own terms

On the back of his left hand, Derek McGrath sported a circled number five.

Nobody in the media auditorium asked about the penned figure, but then they didn’t need to. Waterford’s regular number five, Tadhg de Búrca, was never far away from the thoughts and actions of this Waterford group.

After the player’s unsuccessful plea to the Disputes Resolution Authority concluded in the small hours of Friday morning, McGrath promised Waterford would win through to an All-Ireland final and de Búrca’s team-mates delivered. It is a first September decider for the county in nine years, a second in 54, and it will be against a county that has never beaten them in championship? Like Galway, they too can dare to imagine.