Cork selector Martin Bowen has lauded Davy Fitzgerald's Waterford side for the resilience they have shown to reach this year's All-Ireland SHC final. Cork and Waterford both exited the Munster SHC early this summer but reached the last four, with the Rebels exiting to All-Ireland Champions Kilkenny and the Deise overcoming Tipperary by two points to reach their first All-Ireland decider in 45 years. Bowen described Waterford's performance against the Premier County as 'superhuman' to out the Munster Champions and take their place in the ultimate decider alongside the Black Cats. "It certainly didn't look good for Waterford when they lost to Clare in the first round of the Munster Championship," he said. "But you have to give credit to Waterford for the amazing way they've turned things around since the start of the qualifiers. "They made people sit up and take notice when they beat an Offaly team who had scored a convincing win over Limerick, and then showed a lot of resilience and composure in the tight game against Wexford. "Waterford, of course, were underdogs for the game against Tipperary, and it didn't look good when Tipp fought back from six points down to be level at half-time. "But they were so determined to avoid yet another semi-final defeat that they produced a superhuman effort to come out on top." Viewing their chances against Kilkenny next month, the Rebels selector believes that while the defending champions will be favourites he thinks anything can happen in a local derby, particularly with the form Waterford are carrying into the final. "After their impressive performance against us in the semi-final, Kilkenny will be favourites to do the three-in-a-row. "But then again that's a huge plus for Waterford, as just like the match against Tipperary, the expectations for them won't be that high. "As well, it's a local derby match, and in those type of situations, form sometimes doesn't count for that much." Tweet

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