A week after the kiss of death was apparently bestowed, Waterford's corpse rose with all the freshness of a new-born babe and the inbred wisdom of a gaggle of hurlers on the ditch.
The theory that three championship matches on successive Sundays would bring tired and aching limbs with mental fatigue was emphatically rubbished in a one-sided Guinness All-Ireland hurling quarter-final in which reincarnated Waterford, the beaten Munster finalists, thoroughly outplayed Connacht champions Galway to eventually claim a 10-point winning margin at Croke Park yesterday.
Waterford have learnt many lessons on their hurling odyssey this summer, and yesterday they put them all into practice. Their stickwork was generally sharper than Galway's but, just as importantly, their minds and legs worked quicker too, proving that there is simply no substitute for match fitness.
The back-door route into the All-Ireland series allowed Waterford to demonstrate that the previous Sunday's performance against Clare was unworthy of their new status in the game, and the reward for a response that mixed sublime skills with physical presence is a semi-final date with Kilkenny on August 16th.
Galway had too few answers to the questions posed by Waterford, who proved that they have the hunger for battle. A pre-match re-jigging of the Waterford forward unit saw only Dan Shanahan and Paul Flynn line out as selected. The moves proved to be resounding successes: Ken McGrath's switch to the wing-forward position gave him a significant advantage in height and physique over his marker Padraig Kelly; Sean Daly was a highly-effective full forward; Anthony Kirwan worked tirelessly in the centre-half forward role, and Dave Bennett responded to the challenge of playing in an unfamiliar position by doing extremely well at corner forward.
Yet, the engine of the Waterford machine worked away in midfield. Tony Browne turned in another tour de force, chasing and harrying whenever a Galwayman managed to beat him to the sliotar, and using it sensibly when (most of the time) he grabbed it in his clutches. Browne contributed five points to his team's total, a mixture of frees, 65s and a quite superb sideline cut that raised the Waterford vocal chords to a crescendo in the disappointing attendance of 26,052.
Galway rarely looked capable of turning the game. In attack, only Joe Rabbitte gave any indication that he was ready and able for the task at hand and it was indicative of his side's problems that he was moved away from the full forward position in an attempt to breathe some life into their ailing challenge.
Daragh Coen, who didn't manage to convert a first-half penalty and generally failed to make any real impact, was eventually substituted and Kevin Broderick was effectively marked out of the game by Stephen Frampton and only showed his true potential in patches.
Galway led once in the match, when Coen pointed a second minute free. It was for an all-too-brief moment, however, and once Browne pointed a 65 to level matters, the tide was already turning. Indeed, Waterford got the boost of a goal in the ninth minute which put them in front for the first time when Browne's slightly mis-hit 65 fell short of the target but Daly, big and strong and loitering with intent on the edge of the square, doubled it to the back of the net.
Waterford's first-half performance was quite superb and, if the ubiquitous Browne - who'd been on the physiotherapist's bench on many of the days preceding the match - exemplified their spirit, Ken McGrath personified their level of skill. Time and time again McGrath stretched the Galway defence, varying his tactics with the maturity of someone who has been around the block; one time catching a puck-out from his goalkeeper Brendan Landers and, in one synchronised movement, turning and swatting it over the bar, another time taking a sideline pass from Browne and flicking it up and pointing before the men in maroon knew it had happened. Galway were already deep in trouble when handed a lifeline they refused to accept. In the 34th minute, Fergal Hartley and Browne combined to drag Rabbitte to his knees but, from the resultant penalty, Coen's weak shot was deflected around the upright by defender Brian Flannery.
By half-time, Waterford had waltzed into a 1-9 to 0-5 lead. The early skirmishes on the resumption suggested, wrongly, that Galway had discovered the fire in their bellies. Landers was forced to hurl his body in front of a fierce drive from Coen within a minute of the second-half throw-in and Ollie Fahy deftly pointed a moment or so later.
However, Waterford didn't wilt for too long. Kirwan continued to work hard and was rewarded with a point; Paul Flynn demonstrated his skills with a wonderful pick-up and point and Dan Shanahan came increasingly into the game, also securing a point a minute after a Galway shot thundered back off the crossbar. That incident occurred when Liam Burke passed to substitute Justin Campbell, whose effort rebounded off the woodwork to Rabbitte, who could only nurse the ball wide. When Burke finally found a hole in the Waterford defence (and the netting too!) to score Galway's goal - in the 67th minute - the writing was already well and truly on the wall for the westerners, and it merely doctored up the scoreline. It was Waterford's day.
