By Daragh Ó Conchúir 

Tipperary will go into their Liberty Insurance All-Ireland semi-final as rank outsiders against champions Cork but having returned to this stage for the first time in 10 years, are not ready to end their season yet.

Captain Orla O'Dwyer was exultant as Tipperary survived a determined fightback by Waterford in the second-half to win out by 1-14 to 1-7 and make it to the last four.

"We knew we couldn't underestimate Waterford, they're a super team, up and coming," said O'Dwyer, who scored three points and was named Liberty Insurance Player of the Match.

"We're delighted. We came out all guns blazing. We felt we hadn't given our true performance yet and we have done that today.

"We can't wait now for the semi-final. We just kept going and our workrate was super. I can't be more proud of the girls. It's brilliant. Hopefully now into the semi-final, win that again and go on again.

"Waterford are very strong. We knew that and everyone has their purple patch. We knew we couldn't drop our heads and had to keep going and that's what we did. It's all about mentality as well. Our bodies just kept us going. I think Tipperary is on the way up and hopefully we stay going."

Manager Bill Mullaney pointed out that his charges had shown composure in the face of intense pressure on countless occasions already this year, not least when scoring an injury-time goal to beat Offaly in the round-robin stages.

So when Waterford got to within two points, he was confident the players would pull through.

"We've been in this situation all year. We've been down two or three points and came back to win it. Against Offaly, it was the last puck of the game. Their character, you can't question. When it got back to two points, we steadied, we drove on, we got a point and I thought we were the better team overall.

"I'm delighted for all of them girls. They've got great character."

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