Kilkenny are through to another All-Ireland final after squeezing out neighbours Waterford by 2-19 to 2-17 in a riveting contest at Semple Stadium.

A crowd of 30,358 was treated to everything that one would expect in top-class hurling as both sides gave their all and the outcome remained in the balance all the way to the final whistle.

Waterford had a chance to force extra time when Pauric Mahony (0-9) shaped up to a free from the halfway line in the fifth minute of injury time but Cats goalkeeper Eoin Murphy pulled his shot down from above the crossbar and Richie Hogan added the insurance point for Brian Cody's irrepressible charges.

Late points from Reid (free), Michael Fennelly (who departed the game late on with a nasty-looking ankle injury) and Walter Walsh assured the Leinster champions - who notched eight of the last ten points of the first half - of a 2-10 to 2-7 advantage at the end of a truly sensational opening period that saw superb Man of the Match Colin Fennelly net twice for the Cats in between Waterford majors from Austin Gleeson and Jake Dillon.

The Noresiders had trailed by 2-5 to 2-2 with 15 minutes left before the break but hit a purple patch to move three in front by the short whistle.

Kilkenny's Colin Fennelly celebrates scoring his second goal. ©INPHO/Ken Sutton.

There was dramatic news in the Cats camp prior to throw-in when word emerged that Cody had made three late changes to his starting XV: Mark Bergin, Liam Blanchfield - who clipped over the opening point inside the first minute and added two more - and veteran Eoin Larkin all came in with Kieran Joyce, John Power and Jonjo Farrell making way.

The challengers just made one amendment to the team they named earlier in the week - Stephen Bennett getting the nod ahead of Colin Dunford - and their first attack culminated in Gleeson planting a low shot to the far corner of the net from an acute angle in the fifth minute after gathering a Michael Walsh pass. The young Waterford centre back then added a point to make it 1-1 to 0-1.

Colin Fennelly tied the scores up when he arrowed a terrific shot to the top right corner in the eighth minute and the Kilkenny full forward smashed his second major to the back of the Waterford net from close range less than three minutes later to edge his team three ahead.

Mahony pointed twice either side of one from Reid and the beaten Munster finalists also plundered a second goal in the 20^th minute courtesy of Dillon - a precise shot to the far top right corner, bookended by points from Jamie Barron and Shane Bennett - as Derek McGrath's men surged back ahead, 2-5 to 2-2!

Blanchfield, Hogan and Reid (free) pointed to leave the sides level for the second time and the former bagged his third before Mahony (free) did likewise - 2-6 each after 32 minutes. Larkin's point was cancelled out by another Mahony free before Reid, Fennelly and Walsh brought the curtain down on the first half.

Kilkenny's Paul Murphy with Pauric Mahony of Waterford. ©INPHO/Ken Sutton.

A superb Reid free stretched the gap in the first minute of the second half but a Mahony brace halved the deficit before Padraig Walsh, Hogan and Reid (free) pounced to make it a five-point match. Shane Bennett replied with a sweet strike from distance and Na Deise kept coming with points from Mahony (free) and substitute Maurice Shanahan before Padraig Walsh hammered over his second on 51 minutes - 2-15 to 2-12.

Hogan and Gleeson traded scores and Mahony converted a free to leave two in it with nine minutes left in this pulsating encounter. Mahony's ninth pont left the minimum between the teams with three minutes left and Barron tied the scores up on 69 minutes with a wonderful point from the left wing. We then witnessed the most dramatic of denouements as Reid clipped over two injury-time Kilkenny frees before Shanahan replied and Hogan slotted with the last strike of an astonishing match.

It could have gone either way. And, yet, Kilkenny won again, as they always seem to do.

Kilkenny - E Murphy; P Murphy, J Holden, S Prendergast; P Walsh (0-2), M Bergin, C Buckley; C Fogarty, M Fennelly; W Walsh (0-1), TJ Reid (0-7, 6f), L Blanchfield (0-3); E Larkin (0-1), C Fennelly (2-1), R Hogan (0-4). Subs: L Ryan for M Fennelly, JJ Farrell for M Bergin, K Kelly for L Blanchfield.

Waterford - S O'Keeffe; S Fives, B Coughlan, N Connors; C Gleeson, T de Burca, Philip Mahony; J Barron (0-3), K Moran; Pauric Mahony (0-9, 8f), A Gleeson (1-1), M Walsh; J Dillon (1-0), Shane Bennett (0-2), Stephen Bennett. Subs: M Shanahan (0-2) for Stephen Bennett, Patrick Curran for Shane Bennett, T Devine for J Dillon.

Referee - J McGrath.

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