It looked like Derek McGrath’s men had thrown it away, no, they were just looking for 20 more minutes of hurling.
Waterford and Kilkenny played out two titanic clashes last year as their All-Ireland semi-final went to a replay.
Saturday night’s qualifier clash in Semple Stadium proved to be just as enthralling, if not more, with Waterford eventually triumphing over the Cats for their first time since 1959.
Waterford were by far-and-away the better team in Semple Stadium.
The Déise’s dominance granted them a well-deserved eight-point cushion in normal time. With only 11-minutes left to play they were leading by 2-15 to 1-10.
Job done, right?
Kilkenny hadn’t shown up at all, if it wasn’t for T.J Reid they would’ve been a lot further behind. By the 60th minute, only four of Kilkenny’s scores hadn’t come from the Ballyhale Shamrock man’s stick.
It speaks volumes about this Kilkenny team that they, as always, never gave up. You write them off at your peril.
They fought back to level it with a last-gasp goal, and of course, it was that man Reid again. He finished up with a tally of 2-12, but that wasn’t enough for the Cats.
Kilkenny might have been expected to kick-on in extra-time, given that they had all the momentum having kept Waterford scoreless for the last 15-minutes of normal time
There was only one team in the game in extra-time, however, and that was Derek McGrath’s men.
HIGHLIGHTS!
Enjoy all 6 goals as @WaterfordGAA beat @KilkennyCLG 4-23 to 2-22 AET in a pulsating All-Ireland SHC Qualifier! #GAA #GAAclips pic.twitter.com/1EljbaHbfR— eir Sport (@eirSport) July 8, 2017
It may have been their younger legs, or it may have been the hurt of last year that drove them on, but Waterford weren’t going to be denied.
Richie Hogan had been substituted by Brian Cody in the 63rd minute of play.
Hogan’s struggles this year have gone hand-in-hand with his county’s. The Danesfort man just hasn’t been on song this year with a back injury troubling him over the last while. He has been substituted in their three Championship games so far this year.
What was bizarre about his reintroduction was that Michael Fennelly appeared to go down to the Kilkenny manager and urged him to bring Hogan back on.
“Richie Hogan is coming on now, what’s very interesting is that Michael Fennelly came down to Brian Cody and he had a quick chat, he looked up to the stand and Richie is coming in. It’s very unusual for a manager like Brian to converse with a player like that,” said Damian Lawlor on Sky Sports.
That’s not something you see too often, especially with Brian Cody.
Hogan’s re-introduction to the game didn’t do much to change the outcome of the game.
Jamie Barron’s superb solo goal was soon followed by a Maurice Shanahan special three-pointer.
Waterford weren’t to be denied and eventually won out on a scoreline of 4-23 to 2-22.
What a game of hurling it was, though.
