In the end it all happened as it was meant to: Tipperary, all vibed up after beating Limerick, would have too much momentum for a Waterford side forced to field rehabilitating star players in less than rehabilitated condition.

But with 15 minutes to go on a hot, sunny afternoon in Cork, the temperature rose again when Dan Shanahan's goal cut the margin to just two points and Waterford's driven recovery from a wretchedly inaccurate first-half display had nearly turned the Munster semi-final on its head. Tipp steadied and swiftly conjured a third goal for themselves and order was restored.

Once again Eoin Kelly's contribution was stunning, his 2-9 a point more than he'd snatched against Limerick and only a struck post early in the second half to spoil the catalogue of preternatural marksmanship.

Between his towering form and Joe Deane's display a week previously, corner forward All Stars are going to be hard to come by this season.

Tipperary manager Babs Keating was a relieved man afterwards. Having survived the menace of that second-half comeback he could contemplate a Munster final in three weeks against All-Ireland holders Cork.

It may be no further than Tipp progressed last year before he took over but two solid wins have buoyed up morale and with injuries clearing up, a provincial final unburdened by too much expectation is a happy prospect.

"I was very happy with our hurling and glad to get out of it. We made our mistakes and obviously Waterford did. We were very lucky we were so far ahead at half-time - Waterford were the team that missed all the chances.

"We've an awful lot to work on but there are no similarities between any two games and what's going to happen this day three weeks is going to be completely different. But I would say that that performance wouldn't be good enough to match Cork.

"There's a few areas on the field that we're concerned about and I'd say we'd be marking a few players at not more than five out of 10 and that we'd have to work on. Too many balls came into our area and came out of it too quickly."

Described as "brilliant" by his manager, Kelly killed the All Star talk deftly on his stick. "I don't know about All-Star awards but I'd take a win in the Munster championship any time. It's just great to be back in the final. We didn't perform last year and we want to put that right this time around. However, we know the step up that awaits. We're going to need a 20-man game against Cork and also a bit of luck. Looking back on how Cork played last Sunday we know we have homework to do if we're to try and stop them hurling.

"However, the big plus was the return of players like Lar Corbett and Paul Kelly who have both had their share of injuries. We need that sort of panel strength if we're going to compete with Cork and Kilkenny."

Waterford manager Justin McCarthy was heading for the qualifiers, a fate he must have known was on the cards when injury and suspension compromised or took away Ken McGrath and John Mullane and Waterford's Eoin Kelly.

"We got back in after half-time, picked up the pace but Corbett's goal was a big set back. Tipp were more consistent but then they had a game under their belts, which was a big help."