The most fragile of the teams contesting tomorrow's National Hurling League semi-finals is probably Waterford. In the past the county has had a few brushes with League celebrity only to see them turn into not merely lost opportunities but fully-fledged disasters.

This year's quiet progress under Gerald McCarthy, now in his second year in charge of the county, recalls the run of three years ago. Waterford reached the penultimate stage of the competition in 1995, only to lose badly and stumble into Tipperary's propellers after a calamitous championship match.

Tony Mansfield was in charge then as he was when the county won the under-21 All-Ireland in 1992 and on the last occasion Waterford reached a Munster final, 1989 (another disastrous tilt with Tipperary). He believes the team has matured since 1995 and is now ready to move onto a higher level of achievement.

"I think the players are beyond that now. People are looking forward to the game and the sense of expectation is different. In the past, it's stifled the team but this time, it's not up in the clouds and I'm confident they're going to perform. The team is relatively experienced, with a number of players around five years or so and someone like Billy O'Sullivan (around) since 1988.

"The trouble in 1995 was that Clare were a more seasoned team. They'd been through a couple of Munster finals. We weren't seasoned at that level. Even now, Limerick are more seasoned at that level but Waterford have been improving bit by bit. As I was told once, Waterford are on the bottom step of the ladder and they have to believe to be able to take the next step. In '95 we put everything into the league and were shattered when we lost so heavily."

Since last summer's championship exit at the hands of Limerick, McCarthy has had success with the team both in achieving a consistency of performance and also in getting results. Before Christmas the county won the South-East League, defeating Cork in the final. They then commenced the league campaign with a comfortable win over Tipperary, before Cork brought them back to earth.

Thereafter the campaign was a success, however. A big win over Laois was followed by a tense draw with Leinster champions Wexford, in which Waterford had the better of the exchanges and, finally, a defeat of Kilkenny in a match as critical for Waterford as it was for their neighbours.

Mansfield's under-21 charges are scattered throughout the team but it is a younger hurler who he introduced to senior level two years ago who has attracted much of the plaudits to date. Ken McGrath was described by the manager one of Waterford's opponents as "a lovely hurler who can keep the ball moving".

When he gave McGrath a championship debut against Tipperary in Walsh Park in 1996, Mansfield was criticised for hurrying the player. "The point is he wanted to play for the county. People gave out about playing someone who was too young, but he was able for it. Ken McGrath is a good hurler, very good at the moment, and I believe he could be a great intercounty hurler. There's nothing holding him back."

Waterford hasn't been short of great talent in recent years but the manner in which the talent has been exploited hasn't always been satisfactory.

"It's down to attitude and application. A player has to mind himself if he wants to hurl at the top level. I was at a match a couple of years ago watching a Clare club play. Beside me was Fr Harry Bohan (former Clare coach) and I said to him about one or two of the players: `Why isn't he on the county panel?' and I was told it was lifestyle, that they weren't able to follow the discipline laid down. That sums the whole thing up. Lifestyle can't be gadding around in nightclubs because at the top, you'll come up against fellas who are as good as you but don't do that.

"Jamesie O'Connor is a classic example of somebody who was a good hurler who made a great effort and ended up as one of the great players. Clare have that ethos."

The bridge between Waterford's ambitions and Clare's state of fulfilment won't be crossed in an afternoon but defeating a county which has won two of the last four Munster titles would be a start, another step on the ladder.