Waterford turned on the style to surprisingly thump Dublin by 4-13 to 0-12 at Walsh Park.

Shorn of many regulars, the hosts went in with a largely unfamiliar side but they produced a big display to send Anthony Daly's men home with their tails between their legs.

To make matters worse for Dublin, their All Star attacker Alan McCrabbe was removed from the pitch in an ambulance and the game was held up for over ten minutes in the second half as the stricken Dublin player received attention for a nasty-looking leg injury.

Waterford had the better of the first half and they were full value for their 1-10 to 0-6 interval lead.

The winners got off to a flying start with points from impressive debutant Maurice Shanahan (2) and midfielder Jamie Nagle as well as a goal from full forward Gary Hurney to roar into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead.

As the next four points were shared, Alan McCrabbe, who was playing deep, floated over a point to steady the Dubs at 0-3 to 1-6 after 20 minutes.

New full back Liam Lawlor was very impressive in the early stages as the Decies dominated.

Kevin Moran's injury-time point made it 1-9 to 0-6 and Shanahan - with his fifth point of the half - also had a late free as Davy Fitzgerald's side led by seven points at the short whistle.

Moran opened the second-half scoring with his fourth score of the afternoon to make it 1-11 to 0-6.

Shane Walsh claimed Waterford's second goal and this was cancelled out by a trio of Dublin points as the hosts led by 2-11 to 0-9. David Treacy pulled back a Dublin point but Anthony Daly's men had left themselves with too much to do.

There was a ten-minute stoppage following the injury to McCrabbe, who had to be removed by ambulance, and this meant the game finished late.

Waterford had further goals from captain Stephen Molumphy and Man of the Match Moran as they won with plenty to spare.

Waterford - C Hennessy; J Maher, L Lawlor, N Connors; D Prendergast, M Walsh, J Nagle (0-1); J Murray; K Moran (1-5), S Molumphy (1-1), M Shanahan (0-6, three frees, two 65s); S Walsh (1-0), G Hurney (1-0), T Connors. Subs: S Fives for Murray (49 mins), T Ryan for S Walsh (55 mins), M O'Neill (75 mins).

Dublin - G Maguire; N Corcoran, T Brady, O Gough; S Hiney, R Fallon, M O'Brien; J McCaffrey, J Boland; P Kelly, L Rushe (0-1), S Durkin (0-1); D Treacy (0-3), K Flynn (0-1), A McCrabbe (0-5, four frees). Subs: M Carton for O'Brien (22 mins), D Curtin for Boland, S Ryan for Kelly, J Kelly for Flynn (all 48 mins), P Ryan (0-1) for McCrabbe (56 mins, inj).

Ref: Diarmuid Kirwan (Cork) Tweet

Most Read Stories