Hurling' Waterford's win over Tipperary yesterday; DECIES EARN DATE WITH CHAMPIONS.

Byline: By MICHAEL SCULLY

WATERFORD'S reward for their thrilling Guinness All-Ireland quarter-final defeat of Tipperary at Croke Park yesterday is a last-four meeting with reigning champions Cork.

Inspired by Ken McGrath, Justin McCarthy's side held off Tipp in the best of the four quarter-finals played over the weekend but now face an uphill task against a Cork outfit that beat the Decies twice in the Championship last year.

The other semi-final pits Kilkenny against Clare in a rematch of last year's League final, which the Cats won.

However, Anthony Daly's Clare will fancy their chances of causing an upset after destroying Wexford at Headquarters in yesterday's first semi-final.

Tony Carmody, Tony Griffin, Niall Gilligan and goalscorer Diarmuid McMahon ran riot against injury-plagued Wexford to record a 12-point victory.

On Saturday, a disappointing crowd turned out for the attractive double-header at Semple Stadium in Thurles.

After dominating the first half, Cork were given the fright of their lives by resurgent Limerick before winning by a single point.

And Kilkenny earned their progress to the semi-finals with a brilliant display of hurling in the first-half -only for shell-shocked Galway to stage a second-half comeback that almost resulted in a remarkable victory.

CAPTION(S):

DECIES DELIGHT: John Mullane and Eoin McGrath celebrate

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Title Annotation:	Sport
Publication:	The Mirror (London, England)
Date:	Jul 24, 2006
Words:	209
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