Davy believes win is start of change as Cahill glad to be "still alive" in the championship

STILL ALIVE: Tipp still in this year's championship despite loss to Waterford. Pic: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane

Waterford 1-24 Tipperary 0-21 

When the final whistle sounded on a first Waterford Munster championship win in 406 days, those in the old stand press box immediately turned to the television behind us to watch the last two minutes of action from the Gaelic Grounds.

Cork had narrowed the deficit to the minimum. If they could engineer an equaliser, Tipperary, who began the day second in the table, were eliminated on the basis of an inferior score difference to both Cork and Limerick.

Limerick held on at home, Tipp held on in the championship.

A few moments later, the announcer cleared his throat and began reading out the Limerick-Cork result over the Thurles tannoy. There were Tipp backroom team members standing out on the field with hands over their heads dreading what they might hear.

What they heard left them drenched in relief.

There’ll be no Munster final for Liam Cahill’s men. But given how close they came to exiting the championship around 5.30pm yesterday, they were just thankful for their third-place finish in the round-robin. It's a round-robin they finish with just one win from four outings.

The optimism that flowed after drawing with Limerick has been reduced to a trickle.

“We are still alive. And once we are alive, we have a chance,” smiled Cahill afterwards.

Even accounting for the absence of the injured Cathal Barrett and Jake Morris, and the early departure of Gearoid O’Connor (ankle), Tipp were miles off the pace.

To be honest, we’re still not sure if it was the exertions of the weekend previous against Limerick that had them lifeless or had they allowed themselves to believe the loose talk that all they had to do was show up here and the two points would fall into their lap.

So many of the Tipp players you typically associate with bringing the vigour and spark to battle were nowhere to be seen. All of the energy and appetite for work came from the Waterford corner. A Waterford corner playing for nothing more than pride and minus the injured Austin Gleeson and Jamie Barron.

Calum Lyons and Jack Prendergast combined to hook and hassle Gearoid O’Connor out over the sideline at the end of the first quarter. Mark Fitzgerald was way out in front of Seamus Callanan to collect an incoming Tipp delivery on 34 minutes. The play ended with a Stephen Bennett converted free.

In the passage before it, a terrible delivery arrived straight down the avenue of regular Waterford goalkeeper-turner-sweeper Billy Nolan. He sauntered unchallenged past halfway and split the posts with all the ease of a man out for a Sunday stroll.

The back-to-back white flags were part of a Waterford five-in-a-row. 0-17 to 0-7 they led. Inside forwards Dessie Hutchinson and Patrick Fitzgerald - and inside they played - both had three ticks from play beside their name.

Summing up the inability of the Tipp forwards to pose any sort of similar threat was the stat showing no Tipp score from play in the opening 13 minutes and closing 18 minutes of the half.

Tipp's graph rose only slightly in the second period. In the end, it was Limerick, down the road in TUS Gaelic Grounds, who gave them a big helping hand into the All-Ireland series.

To Waterford. They went loudly from this hurling summer. But for 14 wides, their winning margin would have been comfortably into double digits. The energy tabled right from the off had been a missing person since their comeback efforts against Limerick in Round 1 five weeks ago.

The already eliminated Déise were so full of running. So full of purpose.

Half-back Jack Fagan had hit three from play by the 12th minute. His third, to shove the visitors 0-7 to 0-1 in front, represented Waterford’s 11th point attempt of the game. Tipperary, by contrast, hadn’t managed a single shot from play by this juncture.

Ahead by 0-17 to 0-8 at the break, a five-in-a-row from their opponents shrunk the deficit to five on 46 minutes. Waterford needed to catch a second wind. They were gifted that second wind on 52 minutes.

Goalkeeper Rhys Shelly dropped a long delivery. Then Bryan O’Mara fumbled possession. Hutchinson stole in and shook the net. Waterford’s first goal in three months put them 1-19 to 0-13 clear.

The victory was only Waterford’s second in four seasons of the provincial round-robin. A victory, said Davy, that can mark the beginning of a change in fortunes in the county.

“There are one or two things outside of hurling that we need to put right. We started that today. I'm so happy for the team. Waterford are not bottlers, and we proved that today.” 

One question remains outstanding, though. Where was this display when they were still alive in the championship?

Scorers for Waterford: S Bennett (0-9, 0-7 frees); D Hutchinson (1-3); J Fagan, P Fitzgerald (0-3 each); N Montgomery (0-2); C Lyons, B Nolan, P Hogan, P Curran (0-1 each).

Scorers for Tipperary: N McGrath (0-7, 0-4 frees, 0-3 65s); G O’Connor (0-4, 0-3 frees); S Callanan (0-3); R Maher (0-2, 0-1 free); E Connolly, A Tynan, M Kehoe, B McGrath, C Bowe (0-1 each).

Waterford: S O’Brien; M Fitzgerald, C Gleeson, I Daly; J Fagan, C Lyons, D Lyons; P Leavey, N Montgomery; P Hogan, S Bennett, J Prendergast; B Nolan, Patrick Fitzgerald, D Hutchinson.

Subs: P Curran for Hutchinson (temporary, 8-10 mins); C Ryan for Gleeson (blood, 26-30 mins); P Curran for Montgomery (56); C Dunford for Prendergast, K Mahony for Hogan (both 61); DJ Foran for P Fitzgerald (66); C Ryan for Gleeson (74).

Tipperary: R Shelly; B O’Mara, M Breen, R Maher; E Connolly, D McCormack, B McGrath; S Kennedy, C Stakelum; A Tynan, N McGrath, G O’Connor; P Maher, S Callanan, M Kehoe.

Subs: C Bowe for O’Connor (25 mins, inj); J Ryan for B McGrath (blood, 43-50); J Ryan for B McGrath (53); S Ryan for Stakelum (54); J McGrath for P Maher (61); J Fogarty for Kehoe (67).

Referee: J Keenan (Wicklow).