Waterford have only lost once to Galway in championship hurling.
Brian Flannery was part of the Déise team that defeated the Tribesmen in the 1998 All Ireland quarter final at Croke Park. He saved a first half penalty from Darragh Coen in front of Hill 16. "I remember it well. I'd say it was the worst hit penalty ever in Croke Park! I knocked it out for a 65 and I remember jumping around a bit. Dickie Murphy from Wexford was reffing and he started laughing at me 'My granny would have stopped that!' There's a beautiful picture in my mother's kitchen of the save. It looks well in the photograph, diving on my knees to save it but as I said, it was a poorly hit penalty."
A week earlier, Gerald McCarthy's side lost a controversial Munster final replay to Clare. "It was quite unique. It was our third weekend in a row playing and the perception was that three weeks in a row was going to be too much for us. It was the first time the Waterford senior hurlers played championship in Croke Park since 1963. We went up the night before and Gerald McCarthy knew someone in Croke Park so he got the groundsman to open it up for us the Saturday night before the game so we walked the pitch. At the time, there were very few Waterford players who had played in Croke Park. A couple of lads were on the '92 minor team but other than that, most of the panel had never been on the grass in Croke Park. Good management by Gerald McCarthy."
Listen back to the full interview with Brian Flannery from Friday's Lár Na Páirce.
