Munster SHC Semi-final/Waterford v Tipperary: So golden an age has this been for Waterford in Munster that the county is chasing an unprecedented third successive championship win over Tipperary in tomorrow's Guinness provincial semi-final in Cork.
It's accordingly easy to forget that only a last-minute goal secured the most recent win two years ago to this weekend.
It wouldn't be Waterford without some serious injury intrigue and this year caps the lot. Eoin Kelly stands suspended, John Mullane is on the bench having just had a plate removed from his broken wrist and Ken McGrath has been named despite his fractured thumb being out of a metal brace for only a few days.
The affliction of this damage to three of their leading four players has depressed the mood in Waterford and that, combined with Tipp's morale getting the jump-leads treatment in the win over Limerick, has pushed this match into the undecided column - a status that looked unlikely before Justin McCarthy's serial woes. His Tipperary counterpart, Michael Keating, has his own injury problem with Philip Maher named in the team after limping out of a club match last weekend but the mood in the county is predominantly up.
There may be a hint of desperation in the naming of McGrath. In a recent challenge with Wexford, the middle of the Waterford defence was opened up for four goals in the first 25 minutes. Tom Feeney remains at full back but McCarthy and his selectors will want McGrath in front of him.
Facing whoever takes the position will be Redser O'Grady, who the last day may have missed more than the Department of Justice but his overall play was forceful and industrious and Waterford will be aware of the need to curb him. Should McGrath not be fit, Brian Phelan - who ably deputed for him two years ago in the second half - could slot in with James Murray coming in at wing back.
The need to curb is, however, at its most urgent elsewhere. Eoin Kelly's 14 points three weeks ago were a treat to watch unless you were from Limerick. He clocked the same total, 2-8 - 2-4 from play, in this fixture two years ago.
In Waterford's free-form fashion they have named Tony Browne at corner back on Kelly but whether someone in his 30s and used to playing farther out is the ideal choice is doubtful.
Denis Coffey has the pace but not the experience so it may fall to Eoin Murphy to show he learned something from the experience of 2004.
But the most serious problem for Waterford may be farther up the field. Without their own Eoin Kelly and Mullane, the scoring options look limited. Dan Shanahan has a big-match pedigree and Paul Flynn can do anything although two years ago he was subdued.
Séamus Prendergast is struggling with a hamstring and from there the list of proven scorers runs out.
Waterford have in the past made a virtue of flying starts in the championship but this year Tipp are already ahead of them and, if they avoid the catastrophic opening that leaked two goals to Limerick, can book a return date with Cork for this year's Munster final.
TIPPERARY: B Cummins; D Fanning, P Maher, P Curran; E Corcoran, C O'Mahoney, H Moloney; C Morrissey, S McGrath; J Carroll, G O'Grady, J O'Brien; D Fitzgerald, M Webster, E Kelly.
WATERFORD: C Hennessy; D Coffey, T Feeney, T Browne; B Phelan, K McGrath, E Murphy; M Walsh, D Bennett; D Shanahan, J Kennedy, G O'Connor; E McGrath, S Prendergast, P Flynn.
