All-Ireland Hurling Semi-Final - Kilkenny 2-23 Waterford 3-15:IT WASN'T the steepest demand ever laid at the door of a big match but yesterday's GAA All-Ireland hurling semi-final comfortably passed the test of being more competitive and entertaining than last year's rout of a final.

Waterford did what they could yesterday. On the rebound from last September’s humiliation, they arrived in Croke Park yesterday ready to battle and give it a lash.

They turned in their best performance of the past two championships and pushed the champions all the way.

Kilkenny were low-key, in keeping with their season to date, but there are limits to how far that gets opponents and the champions were ruthless in dealing with mistakes and inspired by another phenomenal performance by Henry Shefflin.

The Ballyhale forward is already established as the greatest hurler of his generation and yesterday he emphasised that status. As well as being a rapacious forward, he is a terrific leader – both by the example of his prolific totals and his voluble exhortations on the field. Yesterday he started as he intended to continue with a point after 15 seconds.

He had an immense influence on the match, dispatching all but one of his dead-ball opportunities over the bar, fastening like a vulture on to a gifted goal chance and generally causing havoc for an afternoon’s tally of 1-14.

Waterford can take solace from running the All-Ireland champions to five points after a determined display, which left Kilkenny with plenty to think about – not least the concession of three goals for the first time in four championships – in advance of the county’s attempt next month to win a fourth title on the spin and equal the record for successive victories, set by Cork in 1944.

The only unpleasant echo of last year came in an opening tussle between Tommy Walsh and Eoin McGrath, both of whom continued to scrap as referee Barry Kelly attempted to break up hostilities. Kelly showed yellow cards to both in the second minute and, mercifully, things settled thereafter.

Before the match the air was thick with speculation about what special tactical coup Waterford boss David Fitzgerald might spring.

As it happened the game followed a fairly conventional course and with the challengers raising their game it was noticeable that Kilkenny weren’t hurling with quite the anticipated assassin’s composure.

They coughed up quite a few chances in the first half and but for poor finishing by Waterford wouldn’t have been six up at half-time. During the course of the same half Waterford made five mistakes in defence that ended up in the concession of 1-4, a ruthlessness that defined the difference between the teams.

It had been expected Kilkenny would target the Waterford half backs – especially veteran Tony Browne, who emerged from what is expected to be his last appearance on the main stage with his head held high – for some hard running and also newly deployed full back Aidan Kearney’s perceived vulnerability under high ball.

Pre-throw-in switches – Eddie Brennan to the wing and Shefflin to full forward – appeared to substantiate these expectations. In the event, Waterford’s half backs, well anchored by Michael Walsh, did better than their full-back line, but ultimately 2-23 is a big score.

Waterford, however, started well and in the fifth minute took the lead with a goal engineered by Kevin Moran’s run and finished with aplomb by Shane Walsh.

Suitably heartened, Waterford had a good, early spell shooting points to extend the lead (by half-time all of the forwards had scored from play), but in the 13th minute the match swung back to Kilkenny and didn’t really budge thereafter.

Jackie Tyrrell, playing well on John Mullane who had one of his more frustrating days, came out from defence and hit a long ball up to Shefflin, who held the pass and laid off to the incoming Brennan and he fired in his team’s first goal.

Waterford’s resilience stopped the match from getting away and they restricted the opposing forwards, apart from Shefflin and Brennan, to manageable totals.

They were placed under further pressure in the 26th minute when Tommy Walsh’s long delivery was over-run by Kearney, leaving Shefflin clear to extract full price for the mistake.

In what neatly encapsulated the difference between the teams, Waterford made a worthy recovery from the goal, piecing together three points from Eoin Kelly frees in the five minutes that followed, but then watched Kilkenny finish the half with three in less than two minutes for a 2-12 to 1-9 lead.

Waterford struck three minutes after the restart. Browne’s long free broke to Walsh, who held off JJ Delaney and (reminding us that he once scored the winner against Kerry in a Munster under-21 football final) kicked his second goal before another Kelly free brought the margin back to two.

But with a frisson of expectation rippling around the ground, Shefflin stepped in like a sheriff restoring order to an unruly town, clipping two frees and finishing from play after Tommy Walsh’s splendid cross-field ball set up the chance.

The margin never moved significantly from those five points for most of the half.

Dan Shanahan was mobilised for the final quarter and had a hand in Waterford’s third goal, his presence when a shot from Kelly came back off the bar forcing Michael Kavanagh to scramble the ball out for a 65, which Kelly somehow rif- led all the way to the net.

Yet again Shefflin took control, nudging the margin back to six with a free and a 65.

Waterford, to their credit, kept coming forward and Kelly doubled on a Mullane hand pass for what would have been a spectacular goal but instead ended up as a point.

Defiant, but not enough.