Waterford players celebrating following an excellent Electric Ireland MHC Semi-Final win over Kilkenny. Photo by Matt Browne/Sportsfile
Electric Ireland MHC Semi-Final
Waterford 2-21 Kilkenny 2-18
A wonderful contest at Chadwicks Wexford Park ebbed and flowed, but was ultimately decided by a 10-minute spell in the second half when Waterford came from behind and shot 1-6 without reply to leave their worthy opponents with too much to do.
Kilkenny had had their moments. They started both halves at a lightning pace, shooting 1-2 and 0-5 in the first 5 minutes in each half.
Ollie O’ Donovan showed tremendous stickwork and vision to control and lay off to Cian Byrne in the opening seconds. The flying corner forward burst through, shortened the grip and batted home.
The opening pace was relentless. The hurling was skilful and direct as the sides traded three points apiece in six minutes.
The excellent Kevin Buggy was on an inordinate amount of ball, but missed a couple that could have stretched Kilkenny’s lead. Hugo Quann and Shane Power landed monster efforts to cut the deficit to the minimum.
Gearóid O’Shea then flexed his muscles. He shot a point and took a pass from Tommy Kennedy who grabbed the resultant puck out. The midfielder burst through, passed out to Cormac Spain who pulled on a bouncing ball to raise a green flag.
Kilkenny had a few more misses, but Byrne and Jake Mullen kept them in touch. They needed it, because at the other end Shane Power, Shanahan, and Spain were finding their range, each shooting two in the first half, each with at least one for the highlight reel.
Trailing by three at half-time, Kilkenny had another explosive start to the second half and this time their scores went unanswered, with Eoin Brennan coming to the fore with a brace.
However, it would be Cormac Spain who had the biggest say. With the game in the melting pot, Waterford hit their purple patch. 1-2 belonged to Spain, including a splendid goal. Shane Power and O’ Shea also both hit a pair of inspirational long-range scores to put the Déise in a formidable position.
They were scores worthy of winning any game. There was a late scare, when a bullet from sub Adam Maher left only three in it in injury time. He was everywhere late on and had another shot blocked that would have levelled it. The Waterford defenders showed courage and threw bodies in the way to haul themselves over the line and reach their first minor final since 2013.
Scorers for Waterford: Cormac Spain 2-6 (5fs), Shane Power 0-4, Jamie Shanahan 0-3, Gearóid O’ Shea 0-3, Hugo Quann 0-1, Caoillin Reville 0-1, Jack Power 0-1, Dylan Murphy 0-1, Eanna McHugh 0-1.
Scorers for Kilkenny: Jake Mullen 0-6 (5fs), Cian Byrne 1-2, Adam Maher 1-0, Kevin Buggy 0-3, Eoin Brennan 0-2, Ollie O’ Donovan 0-2, Diarmuid Behan 0-1, Brian Hickey 0-1, Conor Holohan 0-1.
Waterford: James Comerford; Conor Lynch, Daragh Murphy, Darragh Keane; Bradley Penkert, Hugo Quann, Tommy Kennedy; Eanna McHugh, Gearóid O’ Shea; Pierce Quann, Jack Power, Shane Power; Dylan Murphy, Cormac Spain, Jamie Shanahan
Subs: Caoillin Reville for Penkert 56.
Kilkenny: Jake O’ Doherty; Oisín Henderson, Larry Phelan, Darragh Hickey; Ben Nevin, Josh Dowling, PJ Mackey; Diarmuid Behan, Brian Hickey; Kevin Buggy, Ollie O’ Donovan, Jake Mullen ; Eoin Brennan, Conor Holohan, Cian Byrne
Subs: Adam Maher for Byrne 46, Kealan Barcoe for Hickey 54, Sean Hanrahan for Mullen 60.
Referee: Eamonn Furlong (Wexford).
