Waterford 1-21
Galway 0-16

Waterford are celebrating their first All-Ireland minor hurling triumph since 1948 after outscoring Galway by 1-6 to 0-1 in the last 10 minutes of an exciting Croke Park curtain-raiser.

Full forward Patrick Curran posted 1-7 (0-5 from placed balls) as the Deise - who were beaten twice in a roller-coaster eight-game campaign - put on a superb display to avenge their final defeat to Galway 21 years ago. That was the first of six Irish Press Cups the Tribesmen have won under Mattie Murphy, but the Gort man couldn't work the oracle on this occasion as an outstanding Waterford team finished with a flourish to end the county's long wait for All-Ireland honours.

Despite Waterford being the better team, the result was in the balance with 14 minutes remaining when Brian Molloy's first score from play levelled the game at 0-15 each. Waterford, who had led by 0-12 to 0-9 at half-time, had just seen a five-point lead wiped out, but they remained composed and grabbed the next four points before Curran scored the game's only goal in the 56th minute to end the game as a contest.

The Waterford full forward and man of the match was ably assisted in the scoring stakes by Stephen Bennett and Mikey Kearney who scored four points each from play. But overall, this was a magnificent Waterford performance and there were joyous scenes when their full back and captain Kevin Daly raised the Irish Press Cup afterwards.

While Waterford lined out as per programme, Galway made one change which saw Jack Hastings come in for the injured Brian Burke and line out at midfield. Waterford got off to the better start thanks to two Patrick Curran frees - the second a wonderful effort from inside his own half - inside the first two minutes.

Brian Molloy drew a foul and converted the resultant free himself to open Galway's account in the fourth minute. But the beaten Munster finalists restored their two-point advantage when Stephen Bennett collected Conor Gleeson's delivery and fired over two minutes later.

Scores from team captain Darragh Dolan and Conor Whelan had the Tribesmen level by the ninth minute before a superb Adrian Morrissey sideline from under the Hogan Stand gave them the lead for the first time. A foul on Colm Roche produced the equaliser from Curran at the end of the first quarter and was the catalyst for a fine period of Deise dominance that yielded six points without reply.

Roche burst into the game with two points in quick succession before Galway goalkeeper Cathal Tuohy needed to be alert to save from Mikey Kearney at the expense of a '65' which the unerring Curran slotted over.

There was no respite for Mattie Murphy's boys at this juncture as Kearney gained possession from Tuohy's puck-out and sent the ball straight back over the bar for Waterford's eighth score. Curran was then upended, and after receiving treatment, split the posts for a fifth time to give Waterford a 0-9 to 0-4 lead.

Ronan O'Meara eventually broke the Deise's scoring sequence with Galway's first point in 11 minutes before Tuohy came to their rescue once again with a fine save from Bennett, who had scored nine goals coming into the final. As Dolan registered Galway's seventh wide, Curran slotted over his sixth point and first from play to restore his side's five-point cushion, 0-10 to 0-5, with 25 minutes elapsed.

Galway were struggling, but changes to their attack had the desired effect as unanswered points from Dolan and Ronan O'Meara (two) narrowed the gap to two after 29 minutes. Bennett responded with a classy score, only for Dolan to reply at the opposite end.

On the stroke of half-time, DJ Foran put his mark on the final with a great score from the right to leave Waterford three clear at the end of a highly entertaining first half.

Sean Power's side resumed with scores from Mikey Kearney and Patrick Curran to regain a five-point advantage. Indeed, Galway would have been further behind but for another great save by Tuohy to deny Bennett in the lead-up to Kearney's point.

Galway then hit another purple patch that saw them hit four points without reply to leave the minimum in it again. Molloy sent over a brace of frees, while O'Meara and sub Brian Burke also raised white flags before Kearney made it 0-15 to 0-13 at the end of the third quarter.

Two more Molloy points (one free) had the teams level in the 46th minute. It was up for grabs now, and Waterford regained the lead through midfielder Tom Devine with 10 minutes to go. They never looked back after that as further points from centre back Austin Gleeson (free), Roche and Kearney pushed out their lead to four points.

Then, with four minutes remaining, Curran blocked Darragh O'Donoghue's attempted clearance from Tuohy's short puck-out and fired to the net to put the result beyond doubt. In just six minutes, Waterford had hit 1-4 without reply.

Shane Cooney replied with a free, but the game was up for Galway as Stephen Bennett tagged on two late points to send the Waterford faithful into raptures.

Scorers - Waterford: Patrick Curran 1-7 (4f, 165), Stephen Bennett 0-4, Michael Kearney 0-4, Colm Roche 0-3, DJ Foran 0-1, Tom Devin 0-1, Austin Gleeson 0-1, (1f). Galway: Brian Molloy 0-5 (4f), Ronan O'Meara 0-4, Darragh Dolan 0-3, Conor Whelan 0-1, Adrian Morrissey 0-1, Brian Burke 0-1, Shane Cooney (0-1).

Waterford: Gavin Power; William Hahessey, Kevin Daly (C), Cian Leamy; Michéal Harney, Austin Gleeson, Shane Bennett; Mark O'Brien, Tom Devine ; Stephen Bennett, DJ Foran, Michael Kearney; Adam Farrell , Patrick Curran, Colm Roche. Subs: Cormac Curran for Foran (37), Conor Gleeson for Farrell (44), Paul O'Connor for Roche (57), Brian Whelan for Shane Bennett (59), Sam O'Neill for Hahessey (59).

Galway: Cathal Tuohy; Maidhc Ó Conghaile, Darragh O'Donoghue, Michael Connelly; Sean Linnane, Shane Cooney, Richard Doyle; Eanna Burke, Darragh Dolan (c); Conor Whelan, Ronan O'Meara, Adrian Morrissey; Brian Molloy, Jack Hastings, Conor Shaughnessy. Subs: Vincent Doyle for Richard Doyle (24), Eamon Brannigan for Linanne (HT), Brian Burke for Whelan (37), Ronan Bellew for Hastings (52), Shane Burke for Eanna Burke (57).

Referee: Cathal McAllister (Cork). Tweet

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