Waterford were victorious today in the All-Ireland quarter-finals by a score of 2-21 Dublin 1-19, as the Déise proved their class in the second half with a dominant display.
The first half saw both sides trading points in a tight affair, that was level all the way to half time. Dublin opened the scoring, but Waterford put three points up early on, only to be pegged back by Dublin, which set a theme for the half as a whole. Derek McGrath's men knew they needed to up the tempo in the second half when they went in a point behind at the break, with Dublin leading 0-13 to 0-12.
Neither side made any changes at the half, but Waterford certainly came out firing faster as Shane Bennett rocketed them into the lead with a fantastic goal from the 21-yard line.
©INPHO/Cathal Noonan
From that point, Waterford began to add points, leaving Dublin trailing by six, and desperately needing a goal to try and get back into the game. That did eventually come from Mark Schutte, whose fantastic finish brought them to within four again at a score of 1-15 to 1-19. However, the trend of the game up to that point continued as the sides traded points, before an excellent goal from Maurice Shanahan put the game to bed with less than 10 minutes to go.
Dublin raced up the other end and had an opportunity from a free to try and pull a goal back, but a great block from Austin Gleeson, who put in a dominant performance throughout the game, meant that the men from the capital were left dejected.
©INPHO/James Crombie
The end of the match was marred by a red card for Liam Rushe for striking Shanahan in the face with his hurl, an expression of the frustration that he had felt as Dublin were gradually edged out of the game by Waterford throughout the second half.
Via Balls.ie
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