Yes the ghosts of September Sunday 2008 were banished forever. Yes the hurling pride of our great county was resplendently restored. And yes every player in white and blue gave his all in a game that will rank amongst the very best that Croke Park has hosted in years if indeed not decades.

Alas, however, all of the heroics, all of the effort, endeavour,andcommitment, still came up marginally short against a supreme opposition that now stands just seventy minutes away from winning a fourth All-Ireland title on the trot. No argument about the result either, but the champions will, I’m certain, be the first to acknowledge the searching test they were put under, and just how perilously close they skirted with the possibility of defeat more than once as this wonderful battle for supremacy unfolded.

The inevitable questions probably have already been asked many times over in the post mortems that have followed since last Sunday. What might have been had Declan Prendergast been on the edge of the defensive square with Aidan Kearney outonthewing?WhatifEoin Kelly had been moved outfieldearlierthanhewas,especially when he looked all coopedupatcornerforward? And what if Dan the Man hadn’t been left sitting on the benchforfiftythreeminutes?

Legitimate questions for sure, but then, of course, hindsight always has been a mighty animal. The honest truth of is that the Cats were puttotheverypinoftheircollar to survive this one but also that they fully deserved their win over the entirety of this thrilling game.

I wouldn’t entertain criticism of either the players or management after this stupendous and heart stopping effort,thoughthegreatpityis thattheyweren’trewardedas they might have been at the end of it all.

EARLY DRAMA

Drama heaped upon drama only added to this lavish sporting spectacle, and more than 60,000 fans didn’t have to wait long for the first consignment of it. Inside fifteen seconds Henry Shefflin - - mostdefinitelyKingHenryon this day - -slotted Kilkenny into the lead with the first of his personal, and match winning, 1-14 contribution and the Cats were off to the proverbial flyer.

Five seconds later the first of a whole plethora of yellow cards were brandished by referee Barry Kelly - -Eoin McGrath and Tommy Walsh the recipients, but if these hinted a bruising battle to follow that would prove to be wellwideofthemark.Instead it was free, fast flowing, fluent,andqualityhurlingallthe way with champions and challengers matching each other in every facet of this compelling game.

MULLANE’S LANDMARK POINT The first of the game’s five goals wasn’t long in coming. Just five minutes on the clock in fact and Kilkenny’s two-point lead was wiped out by a superlative strike by Shane Walsh after great work by Kevin Moran. Already however King Henry was posing serious problems for Aidan Kearney at number three and it was he who set up Eddie BrennanfortheCatsleadgoal on thirteen minutes - -1-4 to 1-3.

If it wouldn’t prove to be another of those special John Mullane days his masterful point after seven minutes deserves to be especially recorded. It was the De La Salle’s maestro one hundred point in senior inter county championship hurling, and when you tag on the dozen goals he has also scored in that time it isn’t difficult to understand his contribution to the county cause over the years.

The concession by our defence of a second goal in the26thminutewillprobably leave Aidan Kearney with a nightmare or two for a while. He could, should, have cut out a ball that he allowed slip past him, and with Shefflin waiting in glorious isolation mereyardsfromClintonHennessy’s citadel we all knew what the outcome would be even before he rattled the rigging.

Thatopenedupaworrying six point gap, 2-9 to 1-6, and convinced the electrical trio also that it was time to move Declan Prendergast to the fringe of the square in a direct swap with the Tallow club-man. To be fair Shefflin continued to rifle over the points both from play and frees, but at least he was curtailed in his goal seeking endeavours by the Ardmore man.

Although we still trailed - - having shot eight wides to Kilkenny’sfour - -bythosesix points at half time, 2-12 to 1-9, Kilkenny didn’t need to be told just how major a battle they were now involved in.

There was never even a remote possibility of a collapse of any kind, and so it would prove as a great first halfgavewaytoanevenmore brilliant second one.

SHANE WALSH’S LIFELINER Within three minutes of the restart Shane Walsh regis-tered his, and the team’s second goal, and this time it was that trusty boot of his that we have seen so often in action on the football field that hat the champions reeling.

Walsh’s gaining of possessionwasmasterlyinitself,but it was the sublime finish that had Croke Park rocking. When Eoin Kelly followed with a pointed free the deficit was down to just two.

But Kilkenny aren’t where they are without a significant degree of greatness and four successive points - -three of them from the irrepressible Shefflin - -seemed to have finally stemmed what was threatening to become a raging Deise tide.

Dan The Man was thrown into the fray in the 53rd minute, but when Shefflin rifled over two more points from play the margin had widened to seven, and our mighty challenge seemed finally to be about to peter out.

Not on this day however. These hurlers of ours were in no mood o any kind to go down without the mother of all fights although we were still those seven points adrift with just nine minutes left on the clock.

What thrilling closing minutes however they proved to be. In all their championship games this year Waterford have stubbornly refused to accept what might have lookedliketheinevitable,and the side’s third goal in the 63rd minute was no less than they deserved.

Yes there may have been an element of good fortune about it as Kelly’s perfectly flighted “65’’ deceived the defensive wall and ended up in the back of the net, but that “65’’ came at the expense of a penalty that should definitely have been awarded following a blatant foul on big Dan. Seconds later Ken McGrath replaced his brother Eoin, but yet again it was Shefflin who steadied rapidly fraying Kilkenny nerves with effectively the brace of points that finally killed off our challenge.

The final score did come our way, and what a majestic one it was too as Kelly connected with the ball in full flight and only the brilliance of goalkeeper P. J. Ryan managed to deflect it over the bar and deny us a fourth goal.

In many ways that superlative score by Kelly mirrored theteam’soveralldisplay,and while players, mentors, and fans were all left to wallow in the disappointment of defeat it was one of those hurling days when the team did itself and its county a whole lot proud. MAGNIFICENT BRICK

No one could be faulted on the score of commitment, but wehadmanyplayerstoowho turned in near flawless exhibitions. Foremost among them was the magnificent Michael “Brick’’ Walsh at centre back, now in disputably thebestnumbersixinpresent day hurling.

The ageless Tony Browne simply defies all logic; Eoin Murphy thundered into the game with every passing minute; Eoin Kelly and Shane O’Sullivan gave it their all and more, while Stephen Molumphy, two goal Shane Walsh, and Kevin Moran did so many good things too on a day when in truth every Waterford player contributed in his own meaningful way.

The dream of championshipgloryisoverforanother year, but after that inauspicious start against Limerick back in June so much of the lost ground has been regained. Role on 2010.

Meanwhile, of course, the Cats of are champion in every sense, and while we showed that they are a fair way off being unbeatable either Tipp or Limerick will face a task of monumental proportions to do just that on Sept. 6th All-Ireland final day.

REFEREE KELLY

One final comment. I have never been a fan of referee Barry Kelly and am less so after this one. No, his decisions didn’t influence the eventual outcome but many ofthemweremystifying - -to say the very least.

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