Mullane: I've never been so proud of this team

Five-time All-Star forward John Mullane says the future is bright for Waterford hurling following the county's historic All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship final victory at Croke Park today.

Mullane proudly watched on as the Déise youngsters beat Galway by 1-21 to 0-16 to end a 65-year wait for All-Ireland success at this grade, adding to Waterford's only previous minor victories in 1929 and 1948.

This had looked an unlikely scenario after Sean Power's charges lost a Munster final replay to Limerick in July, but Waterford overcame Antrim and Kilkenny in the All-Ireland phase and then toppled Galway this afternoon with a storming finish (outscoring the westerners by 1-6 to 0-1 in the final 10 minutes).

Mullane underlined how significant a result this is for a county starved of All-Ireland hurling glory at all levels - their only U-21 title was won in 1992, and their two senior wins were back in 1948 and 1959.

"As a Waterford man, I've never been so proud of this team. I think they got their due reward today, I think they were the best team in this competition throughout the summer," Mullane told RTÉ Radio 1 afterwards.

"You can't believe the lift this can give to a county. We love our hurling down in Waterford. Waterford people will be celebrating all over the world tonight."

The 32-year-old, who announced his retirement from inter-county hurling last January, was enthused by the spread of scores among the Waterford forwards with Patrick Curran hitting 1-7 (0-4f, 0-1 '65') and Stephen Bennett (0-4), Michael Kearney (0-4) and Colm Roche (0-3) also shooting accurately from play.

But Mullane gave special mention to the 60 minutes produced by talismanic centre-back Austin Gleeson, who converted a free and really inspired his side when Galway got back on level terms in the second half.

"They had to bring their 'A' game to the table and they kept their best performance for All-Ireland final day. 1-21 was fantastic scoring.

"Fantastic displays from Shane Bennett, Stephen Bennett, Michael Kearney, Patrick Curran. But Austin Gleeson was just out of this world today, he gave a manic performance."

There were 11 different clubs represented in the Waterford team selected by manager Power - Dungarvan led the way with three starters - and Mullane views this as another positive development for the Déise.

"The most pleasing thing for me if you look at the (match) programme, just look at the spread of clubs there. The future is looking good for Waterford, I believe that Waterford have as good a one to nine in the country. To a man, they were all fantastic."