Kilkenny...3-12 Waterford...0-18: Recent controversies in abeyance, hurling sprang into life yesterday with a fine Guinness All-Ireland hurling semi-final in front of a crowd of 51,263. After a first half that had left Waterford dangling over the precipice, hanging on to Paul Flynn for dear life, the second half provided a clamorous struggle in which Kilkenny needed all their self-possession to stay clear on the scoreboard.

The crowd rose to Waterford's comeback and the noise reached a crescendo in the 52nd minute when Séamus Prendergast capped a solo run with a point that seemed to bring his team to within two points. But he had fouled the ball and the raw urgency of Waterford's momentum died a little.

By then Michael Walsh had taken a point when a goal suggested itself but despite six minutes without a score Waterford came again at the end. The defence had to scramble away a pinball shot after Flynn mis-hit a free and the ball dropped into the goalmouth. An alert Tommy Walsh completed the clearance and James McGarry had to be smart to cut out another late chance.

Replacement forward Jack Kennedy ended up with three points from play and another player introduced, Paul O'Brien, whose late goal beat Tipperary, had the chance to square the match in the 67th minute but was unable to pick it first time and the inimitable JJ Delaney swooped to avert the danger.

After the recent interlude of tactical engineering, yesterday's match climaxed in uninhibited, sweeping play from end to end as Waterford drove high ball in from all over the field and Kilkenny, calm in the storm, broke down the attacks and worked the ball out on the counter-attack.

So the champions rode out the ultimate challenge of three hectic weeks to reach next month's final when the stakes will be a remarkable third successive title.

The Munster champions had to endure the latest chapter in their chronicle of semi-final misery with a third defeat at this stage in seven years. They will bitterly regret some genuine hard luck in the first half and a couple of pivotal misses after the break but they could have little cause for genuine complaint. They lost to the better team.

Six seeks after winning their province, Waterford were nervous and tentative in contrast to Kilkenny's busy start. The champions put the match practice of the past two weeks to good use and whereas they did look tired at various stages they were hungry and did enough to keep the game beyond their opponents' reach.

Waterford's litany of woe was extensive. The heavy rain left the pitch even more treacherous than usual and damped down any advantage they might have got from their abundance of pace. They started badly with Henry Shefflin burning Declan Prendergast for his team's first goal, a rasping finish from a tight angle, reminiscent of Eoin Kelly's for Waterford in the Munster final.

Shefflin had been passed fit to play before the start and with a certain degree of anxiety in the air concerning how the injury might affect him.

Kilkenny needn't have worried. Although his accuracy was a little askew (as it had been last week before the eye injury), Shefflin posed the usual threat, as evidenced by the two goals he plundered.

Yet it would be unfair to Kilkenny to say Waterford were simply unlucky. The point where poor performances overlap with good performances from the opposition can sometimes be hard to pinpoint but one look at the reversal of fortune suffered by Dan Shanahan tells the story.

Six goals in four matches was Shanahan's starting tally yesterday but he was comprehensively snuffed out. Delaney, who is hurling better than in his laureate year of 2003, repeatedly foiled the big Lismore forward despite conceding about six inches in height.

And the one occasion Shanahan took a clean catch, in the first half, he motored down the wing not, as previously, clear of cover but with two more defenders harrying and snapping at him with the result that the possession was lost.

Switches into full forward found Noel Hickey no more hospitable and the big wing forward ended the afternoon scoreless. Michael Kavanagh celebrated his new lease of life with another perceptive display of marking and sweeping along the full-back line.

Whereas the half-time score of 3-6 to 0-11 was something of a wonder from Waterford's point of view - not unlike the Munster final - their proximity on the scoreboard owed more to Kilkenny's inaccuracy than their own sharp-edged opportunism. With one exception.

Flynn's first-half display was remarkable and accounted for all but one of his team's total. Every shot he took on was beset with pressure. One miss and the damage to morale would have outweighed the loss on the scoreboard.

He didn't fluff a line and although one dropped short in the second half and he saw less action, this was an awesome display, especially as he had to act unsupported for so long with John Mullane's suspension biting deep.

His accuracy was, however, struggling to keep track of the disasters at the back. Having narrowed the margin to two, Waterford sustained a couple of hammer blows in the 24th and 33rd minutes. First John Hoyne, starting at centre forward and doing his bit in the overall successful battle to limit Ken McGrath's influence, broke through the middle and released Eddie Brennan whose shot was well saved by debutant Ian O'Regan.

Declan Prendergast had the rebound covered but fell as he attempted a pick-up and Brennan swept the loose ball home. Hoyne was again involved in the third goal - his interception of Michael Walsh's despairing hand-pass ended with a shot that initially looked to be going wide but instead dropped invitingly for the lurking Shefflin to raise his second green flag.

Kilkenny have a five-week break until the final. They'll want to work on a couple of things: they gave away too many frees in the first half yesterday and racked up too many wides. But they're there.

KILKENNY: 1. J McGarry; 2. M Kavanagh, 3. N Hickey, 4. J Ryall; 5. T Walsh, 6. P Barry, 7. JJ Delaney; 8. D Lyng, 9. K Coogan (0-1); 13. E Brennan (1-1), 11. J Hoyne, 14. DJ Carey (0-2, one free); 15. J Fitzpatrick (0-1), 10. M Comerford (0-3), 12. H Shefflin (2-4, points from frees).

WATERFORD: 1. I O'Regan; 4. E Murphy, 3. D Prendergast, 2. J Murray; 7. T Browne, 6. K McGrath, 5. B Phelan; 8. D Bennett, 10. E Kelly (0-1); 14. D Shanahan, 9. M Walsh (0-1), 15. P Flynn (0-13, eight frees, one 45); 12. S O'Sullivan, 11. S Prendergast, 13. E McGrath. Subs: 20. J Kennedy (0-3) for O'Sullivan (half-time); 19. P O'Brien for E McGrath (59 mins).

Referee: A MacSuibhne (Dublin).