If ever one of theses fly-on-the-wall documentary makers gains access to the Limerick hurling camp, they would surely focus primarily on Richie Bennis. The award for the most colourful GAA character of 2007 is already a done deal and lord knows how much entertainment could be gained from a microphone on his lapel during a game.

This morning Bennis finds himself loitering at the gates of hurling's Olympus. A heroic figure as a player when Limerick last won the All-Ireland title in 1973, Bennis is 70 minutes away from repeating the ultimate achievement as a manager. And all this after just one winter with this group of alleged underachievers. Scratch that theory anyway. After 15 minutes of this titanic struggle he turned to the Limerick faithful in the Lower Hogan stand - flapping his arms wildly - to corral their support. They replied with an almighty roar. He edged onto the field midway through the second-half, when Limerick were in full-scale time-wasting mode, to see what could be done. A Limerick free quickly became a throw-in. Afterwards he laughed off the verbal exchange with referee Séamus Roche but if Waterford had prevailed yesterday Limerick would have had grievance with several second-half calls.

When RTÉ first got hold of him, seconds after the final whistle, he was still in match mode. "We got five (goals) and Dan the Man got none!" he said in reference to the obvious priority of taming Waterford's Dan Shanahan.

By the time the print and radio reporters cornered him he had, much to our dismay, calmed. Still, he remained insightful. "Unbelievable. It's what we dreamed of. We set out at the start of the year and we wanted to get to the All-Ireland semi-final and when we got there we got a small bit greedy. And we're still going to get greedy. I'm involved with teams all my life. I'm 62 years of age and I've never met a more honest bunch. You can't ask any more than that."

Bennis is the glue that binds a management team of vast hurling minds. Selector Bernie Hartigan and trainer Gary Kirby came in for particular plaudits from several players in yesterday's jubilant aftermath.

"Awesome. We were saying in training that if we were a few points down 10 minutes into the second half we could make a dogfight of it. We knew we could do it if we were still in there in the last 10 minutes. Definitely the best hurling we have produced in the last decade," said two-goal hero Donie Ryan.

The Munster team charged with stopping Kilkenny's march to retaining their title is no longer Waterford or Cork but Limerick. A group littered with under-21 All-Ireland winners are finally rediscovering the majesty of those younger days.

Television's man of the match Andrew O'Shaughnessy gave us the most sober insight into what brought Limerick to this remarkable performance. "It's all about the top six inches. We knew we had the get the head right first and foremost. We have matured. Most of us are now up around 26, 27 and we realise you only have a short time at this level. We are a step closer to our goal.

"We got our chances today and we took them. In the Munster final we didn't take them. Well, they didn't go in. Waterford, what with the matches against Cork, their first touch, have been the highlight of the year."

Down the corridor defeated manager Justin McCarthy stuck his head out the door to deliver what may prove his last ever post-match reaction. This Waterford team are national league and Munster champions but on five visits to All-Ireland semi-finals they remain winless. "The ultimate goal was always our aim," McCarthy admitted. "Three games in 14 days was always going to be tough going. Maybe it is a jinx in semi-finals. We were chasing the game for long periods. I knew we would get back but in fairness to Limerick they never faltered.

"We had a very successful year. Won two trophies, which is unusual for Waterford and we have been building the team. Players have come through. Others might have to look at it now but we just have to keep going." But what of his own future? "I'll see. . ." and he trailed off.

Is this the end of Waterford as we know them? "I hope not," added Bennis. "Genuinely, my heart goes out to them. They've tried for the last number of years and so near and yet so far."