Pauric Mahony had another fine game for the Déise but he will be haunted by his late free that dropped short and cost his team a tilt at extra time.
Waterford must look at the 2016 All-Ireland final from afar following a pulsating semi-final replay against Kilkenny.
Derek McGrath’s men battled their hearts out but Kilkenny kept answering great scores with daggers of their own.
Bravo @KilkennyCLG and @WaterfordGAA 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 https://t.co/kQMtXuDwwd
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 13, 2016
Deep, deep into injury time, though, and Waterford were awarded a free that would have levelled matters. Mahony stepped up. It’s what he does.
65 metres out and at an angle, he had the direction but not the distance. It dropped just short, Eoin Murphy plucking the ball from sky and Kilkenny broke forward, Richie Hogan finally killing them off with a towering score.
At the final whistle, Mahony sank to his knees and asked for the ground to swallow him; shield him from reality for just a few seconds.
The first two people over to the distraught Ballygunner man were a Kilkenny player and a fan that had stormed the pitch. She wanted to celebrate but, touchingly, stopped to commiserate.
Fair play to this Cats fan #omahony pic.twitter.com/WRAljVh0MF
— Patrick McCarry (@patmccarry) August 13, 2016
This is what makes hurling a sport we simply love.
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