It's hard to beat the sense of caught breath at a championship match when a team is unexpectedly cresting the wave. It's harder still to beat the buzz that tingles around the ground when a match belatedly erupts into a contest. But it's hardest of all to beat three goals in six minutes.

That triple hit - courtesy of James Butler and Brian Begley (twice) - was the centrepiece of Limerick's remarkable win in yesterday's Guinness Munster hurling semi-final at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Waterford gave it their best shot early on and looked to have destroyed this eagerly awaited fixture within a quarter of an hour by which stage they led by a staggering 11 points, 2-6 to 0-1.

Afterwards Limerick's manager Eamonn Cregan said that the match had had many turning points. Throughout, those turning points were made possible by supreme composure under what must have been unbearable pressure. Scores patiently taken, tactical switches incisively made and performance levels undaunted by early catastrophes all played a role.

Twice Waterford looked likely winners. In the irrepressible opening movement, their forwards tore Limerick apart and the shocked attendance of 40,673 wondered what the precise dimensions of the rout would be. Then at the end of the second quarter when Limerick had failed to make significant inroads on the six-point interval lead, it looked as if Gerald McCarthy's team would be able to stay at arm's length until the end.

But the second and fourth quarters told the more influential story. At the end of each half Limerick made a decisive impact on the scoreboard, cumulatively outscoring their opponents by 4-6 to 0-4.

Back to the start. Within seconds of the throw-in Paul O'Grady (whose nearly flawless - seven out of eight - free-taking sustained his team throughout) had given Limerick the lead but it was to be 18 minutes before they troubled the scoreboard operator again.

In that time Waterford ran amok. The strange thing about this passage was that the impetus didn't wholly come from the blessed trinity of Tony Browne, Ken McGrath and Paul Flynn. The debutants in the full-forward line, John Mullane and Seamus Prendergast, got off to rocking good starts, Mullane persecuted Brian Geary until the less tolerant Clem Smith dropped back. Eventually the corner forward had to be replaced because of an injury, which looked like a pulled muscle or hamstring. Prendergast gave TJ Ryan the physical challenge Cork couldn't present and in the second minute he had plucked down a high ball, moved left inside his marker and pulled the ball back across Timmy Houlihan's goal and into the net.

Waterford then opened up and began to take their points. By the 16th minute every single forward had scored from play. Thrown in among the scores was Flynn's goal. Having been sent in by Mullane, the Ballygunner marksman swerved around Stephen McDonagh, picked his spot and Houlihan hardly moved. The scale of this domination was added to by Limerick's apparent ineptitude, fluffing the odd chance, racking up wides.

Drastic action was needed and taken. The switch that took Smith to the corner also brought Geary out to centre back and moved Ciaran Carey to the wing - ironically given that Waterford were thought likely to move McGrath on to Carey than vice versa. Things tightened up. At the far end, Ollie Moran worked tirelessly and effectively against the physical strength of Peter Queally to create a couple of chances but the scores weren't coming.

Until the 19th minute. Appropriately it was Ollie Moran who drove through on a single-minded run to within firing range and took the vital goal. It mightn't have seemed vital at the time with Waterford still eight points ahead but it set in motion the first phase of the comeback. By half-time the margin was down to six points - 1-3 to 2-7.

Jack Foley replaced the injured James Moran at centrefield and got a point on the restart but for a long time, Limerick couldn't make the gap close significantly. Yet the scoreline obscured the extent to which they were getting on top all around the field.

Mark Foley reproduced the form of the Cork match and won, scavenged and cleared a heap of ball. In the full-back line McDonagh was masterful, knowing when to commit and when to hold back. Impassively casting off the embarrassment of Flynn's goal, he dug in and seemed to be everywhere trouble threatened.

Carey's later move to centrefield was another success. Freed from the pressure of defending against McGrath, he used his experience and instincts to acquire ball and run at Waterford, creating time and space for his forwards. During the second half, it was McGrath who kept Waterford in it. His presence and accuracy earned three points for his team and kept them tantalisingly beyond Limerick's reach.

It was becoming clear that Limerick needed at least one goal to shave the margin, create a bit of momentum for themselves and pressurise their opponents. After a phase of loose shooting and prematurely desperate attempts at goal, Waterford cracked.

The second goal was as random as pinball, the sliotar ricocheting around the goal-mouth after Carey had soloed through to create an attack. Finally it was James Butler who pulled on the ball for a cracking goal. Still three points in it but Waterford's blood was clouding the water.

A minute later O'Grady nearly ended another episode of goal-mouth anarchy by squeezing in a goal but Brian Flannery preserved his line at the cost of a 65. O'Grady got his way however by dropping the ball into the square for a hitherto quiet Begley (in fairness, he was injured in a pre-match puck about) to catch, turn and goal.

Three minutes later the big full forward had done it again, this time from a Mark Foley ball. Although the time was still there, Waterford's cause looked out on a marble slab. In injury time Flynn hit the bar with a free which flew over for a point.

The last action saw Carey in his own goal-mouth fetching Browne's free and racing clear with an animated Cregan almost matching him step-for-step along the endline.

Suitably impressed, referee Pat Horan dispensed with 30 seconds of the recommended three minutes' injury-time (as he had at the end of the first half) and whistled Limerick into the Munster final against Tipperary and an eternity of fond reminiscence.

Limerick - 4-11 M O'Grady 0-7, all frees; B Begley 2-0; O Moran 1-1; J Butler 10; J Foley 0-2; J Moran 0-1.

Waterford - 2-14 P Flynn 1-4, points from frees; K McGrath 0-4; S Prendergast 10; T Browne 0-2, both frees; D Shanahan 0-1; F Hartley 0-1; J Mullane 0-1; M White 0-1 each.

Referee: P Horan (Offaly).

Attendance: 40,673.