A second-half masterclass gave 14-man Cork a 3-18 to 0-16 semi-final victory over Waterford at Walsh Park.

In front of a crowd of 3,717, the winners sealed their place in the Munster decider with second half goals from Anthony Spillane (2) and Alan Cadogan.

The unerring score-taking of Austin Gleeson had helped the home team take a narrow 0-11 to -10 lead into the break.

Waterford threatened to pull away on a number of occasions during that opening half-hour but brilliant goalkeeping from Patrick Collins thwarted them not once, not twice, but thrice in the first half.

Na Deise led by 0-7 to 0-5 after 15 minutes, with Gleeson knocking over their seventh point.

The Mount Sion sensation had also registered the first two points of the match before Cadogan opened the Rebels' account. Ray Barry and Jake Dillon added to the hosts' tally and centre forward Colm Spillane kept the Leesiders ticking over before Cadogan made it four apiece after ten minutes.

Gavin O'Brien edged the Waterford men back in front and Gleeson and Cadogan exchanged points, with the former supplying all four of Na Deise's scores between the 13th and 19th minutes - 0-9 to 0-7.

Robert O'Shea's accuracy from frees was proving a potent weapon for the visitors - his finish and a point from Cadogan levelled the scores up again with seven minutes left before the break.

Gleeson (free) and O'Shea traded points before the former clipped over yet another free (his sixth point) to give his side a one-point interval advantage.

Another O'Shea free tied the score up straight after the restart and Cadogan found the net in the fourth minute of the second half to propel the Rebel County into a 1-11 to 0-11 lead.

Ryan Donnelly and Shane O'Keeffe swapped points before O'Shea (free), Spillane and Killian Burke points steered the Rebels into a 1-15 to 0-13 lead after 42 minutes. The visitors received a massive blow when wing back Cormac Murphy received a straight red card but it would prove to be only a temporary setback.

Instead of panicking, they responded by notching their second goal, full forward Anthony Spillane providing the finish to leave eight points between them with a quarter of the match left to play…

Points from O'Keeffe and Anthony Spillane left the match well and truly out of Waterford's reach with ten minutes left, 2-18 to 0-14.

Spillane claimed his second goal four minutes from the end to apply a little icing to the cake.

Cork - P Collins; S Murphy, C Barry, C Buckley; K Kavanagh, C Burke (0-1), C Murphy; D Brosnan, R Cahalane; S O'Keeffe (0-2), C Spillane (0-3), M Collins; A Cadogan (1-4), A Spillane (2-1), R O'Shea (0-7, 4f, 1'65). Subs: M Sugrue for D Brosnan, K McIntyre for C Spillane, C Walsh for A Spillane.

Waterford - S Barry; S Roche, K Daly, S McNulty; M Harney, T De Burca (0-1), R Barry (0-1); C Dunford, M Kearney; J Barron (0-1), A Gleeson (0-7, 3f, 2'65), G O'Brien (0-2); D Breathnach, R Donnelly (0-1), J Dillon (0-3, 1f). Subs: S Bennett for D Breathnach, K Power for M Harney, T Devine for M Kearney.

Referee - F Horgan. Tweet

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