Almost 62,000 were at
a sodden Croke Park to
witness another heart-
breaking Waterford semi-
final loss. Cork bainisteoir
John Allen introduced
Cathal Naughton at the
end of the third quarter and
the Newtownshandrum
youngster hit a quick 1-1
which helped the Rebels to
a 1-16 to 1-15 win.A year of contrasting
semi-finals. Cork and Clare
couldn’t produce a goal
between them while Galway
and Kilkenny kept the
umpires tending the green
flag busy notching nine in
total. Niall Healy hit a hat-
trick as the Corribsiders held
on resisting a fierce late rally
from the Leinster champions
to win 5-18 to 4-18.More than 80,000 were back
12 months later to see if
Waterford could break their
semi-final hoodoo but alas
they couldn’t. First-quarter
goals from Donie Ryan and
Andrew O’Shaughnessy gave
Limerick a lead they would
not relinquish although Na
Déise did come close on a
couple of occasions before
losing 2-15 to 5-11.2011 2012 2013
2004 2006
2005 2007Another Galway-Tipp thriller was
nearly overshadowed by Kilkenny
and Waterford. First time out Conor
Fogarty’s 74th minute point earned
the Leinster side a draw while the
replay at Thurles was another epic
with Colin Fennelly’s first-half brace
crucial in Kilkenny’s 2-19 to 2-17
success.
For the third year running just
a point separated Galway and
Tipperary with Joe Canning’s
wonder-strike deciding the issue.
Waterford had lost five semi-finals
since their 2008 success but goals
from Jamie Barron and Austin
Gleeson in the second period helped
them defeat Cork 4-19 to 0-20.How to describe two of the greatest
‘semi’s’ ever in the space allotted
is not even worth trying. Suffice to
say after Clare and Galway drew
1-30 each nobody thought Cork and
Limerick would serve up better the
following day. They did as Limerick
won by 3-32 to 2-31. Galway won
the replay at Thurles by a point.Another Waterford ‘last four’ defeat
was overshadowed by Dublin’s first
semi-final appearance since 1948.
It wasn’t a winning return for the
Metropolitans but they gave the
reigning All-Ireland champions a
fright before succumbing on a 0-18
to 1-19 scoreline with Lar Corbett
grabbing the all-important goal.
Having met in three successive
All-Ireland finals, Kilkenny and
Tipperary rejoined battle at the
penultimate stage. When Tipperary
led by a point at the change of ends
it looked like a classic was in the
offing but Kilkenny outscored their
opponents by 3-15 to 0-5 in the
second period to romp home.For the first time since 1996
Kilkenny failed to make the ‘last
four’. Cork and Dublin were first
up with the Leesiders winning by
1-24 to 1-19 with Patrick Horgan
grabbing the Rebel major. Darach
Honan scored the only goal in
the other ‘semi’ as Clare eased by
Limerick by 1-22 to 0-18.Goals win games and that
was amply demonstrated by
Kilkenny as they defeated
Waterford for a place in the
final. Despite a lethargic
opening 35 minutes the
Black and Amber led thanks
to goals from Henry Shefflin
(2) and Eddie Brennan and
held on to deny Na Déise by
3-12 to 0-18.
2016 2017 2018