Waterford hero Stephen Bennett: 'We're fed up of being finished hurling in May'

Stephen Bennett of Waterford scores a goal past Darragh Lohan of Clare. Pic: Natasha Barton, Inpho

Two-goal Waterford hero Stephen Bennett is desperate to make it out of the Munster round robin in 2025.

The 2020 All-Star scored 2-4 in the second half and 2-8 in total on his 100th appearance to help the Déise defeat reigning All-Ireland champions Clare on home turf. That's now a staggering 40 goals and 554 points in white and blue for the Ballysaggart scoregetter.

"That's something I'll look back on in a few years. I'm just delighted with the two points. I would have sat out on the bench if we could have won two points today. We've been so nearly there all the time. We need to just go away and get another win. Get out of the group, get to a Munster final or get to the All-Ireland series. We're fed up of being finished hurling in May. We've Limerick in six days' time so we'll focus on that now."

Bennett admitted that he lost his footing in converting the penalty on 44 minutes. "I fell over! We'll take it! It was like a John Terry moment! Look, it went in, I was happy. I didn't see it go in."

Clare goalkeeper Eibhear Quilligan is beaten for Waterford's first goal, a penalty by Stephen Bennett, during the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 2 match between Waterford and Clare at Walsh Park in Waterford. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Waterford manager Peter Queally hailed Bennett's second-half heroics. "Funnily enough, I would have said Stephen has had better games! He was quiet in the first half but he had a brilliant second half. This is something about Stephen I have noticed in the last few years. Looking back on the analysis last year, Stevie was very injury-affected. When we look back on the Limerick game and the Clare game last year, we took Stephen off after 50 minutes because that's all he had in him. I was thinking to myself 'why did we do that?' 

"Thinking back, he was injured or coming back from injury and he hadn't a lot of training done. I said to Eoin Kelly and Dan Shanahan 'we ain't doing it this year!' I don't care how bad he's going, there's so much in this fella. If you think back on the league game here against Dublin, that was only his second game in six months. That day and that last three or four minutes, he provided the pass for Patrick Curran's goal and point in injury time. That sums up Stephen. There's no end to him with his work rate and his energy and what he can contribute."

The Waterford faithful, among a sellout crowd of 12,078, also played their part. "It means so much to us, it means so much to those players to get them behind us. We know how passionate they are. It's like breaking up with someone, we missed them in the last few years! It was great to get them back today and to see the buzz. I knew when the announcer announced with two minutes to go 'no supporters on the field', you were going to have some job holding these back here! They deserve it. They've been behind us through thick and thin."

He wants his team to back up that performance against Limerick in six days' time. Treaty boss John Kiely and coach Paul Kinnerk watched on from the stand. "Our eyes are wide open as regards where it leaves us. We were in this position last year. We have to get something out of next Saturday's match. We're at home to Limerick; it's so important that we get results in these home games and make it a bit of a fortress and make it a place that is hard to come to. We can't use the six day turnaround as an excuse. We have to come with all guns blazing against Limerick next Saturday night and try and get a result."

Bringing the same energy and intensity is a must. "I always felt coming into this game that the freshness was more important than the game last week. We did have that energy all through the game. The secret now, if there's a way of cracking it, is to get the emotion back down and get those energy levels way up again on Saturday night and bring the same energy, intensity, aggression and work rate that we had today."