It took a strong finish from Waterford to finally shrug off 14-man Antrim at Fraher Field on Sunday as Davy Fitzgerald's side remained unbeaten in Division One.
Austin Gleeson's introduction in the second half paid off as he landed five points down the stretch as the visitors appeared to just run out of steam in the closing stages having been a man short from the 23rd minutes when Eoghan Campbell was shown a straight red for an off-the-ball tangle with Reuben Halloran.
However, the Saffrons remained well in contention for long stages and were level with 10 to play before the hosts suddenly clicked and pulled clear.
Patrick Curran's goal from a penalty shortly after the break was also crucial with Antrim's Gerard Walsh seeing his own effort spectacularly saved by Shaun O'Brien who also saved a penalty in the corresponding fixture in Belfast last year.
Had this gone in, it would have left just two between the teams with the game moving towards added time, but the save seemed to finally shut the door on Antrim.
With the wind at their backs, Antrim opened quite brightly with Keelan Molloy landing early, but Patrick Curran levelled immediately.
The visitors were looking quite comfortable in possession as they began to find their range with Michael Bradley firing over and Conal Cunning with the first of half a dozen first-half scores.
Curran and Jamie Barron begged the visitors back, but three on the spin from Antrim was a fair reward for their play.
Playing into the wind, Waterford were forced to try and work the ball a little closer to goal for shots centre-back Callum Lyons popped up with two in the opening period,
That big moment came on 23 minutes when Campbell was dismissed, but the visitors would remain a step ahead going into the half as Cunning continued to convert frees and Gerard Walsh landed one from deep to help Antrim into a 0-11 to 0-09 advantage at the break.
Cunning extended the Antrim lead from free early in the second period, but with the elements in their favour, Waterford began to go long and after DJ Foran was denied by Tiernan Smyth after making a great catch, the tactic paid off as another route-one approach led to a foul on Neil Montgomery by Stephen Rooney inside the penalty area and Curran blasted home the reward to tie the game.
Despite this latest setback, Antrim continued to stay in the hunt with Cunning on target from frees, but Waterford were more effective in open play as Lyons hit his third of the afternoon from deep.
Niall O'Connor and Jack Prendergast traded points with Cunning then nudging the visitors back in front for the final time on 56 minutes only to be cancelled out by Conor Prunty who split the posts from deep inside his own half.
Just as it seemed we were in for a tense finish, Gleeson nudged the hosts ahead again and this was the first of a run of five points on the spin inside of four minutes with Prunty landing another from deep, while Jack Fagan and DJ Foran got in on the act.
This was the gap on 68 minutes when Antrim were awarded a penalty of their own as Paddy Burke was deemed to have been denied a goalscoring opportunity outside the area by Calum Lyons and although Gerard Walsh struck his effort well, O'Brien made an acrobatic save.
That was effectively that as Gleeson reeled off a hat-trick of late scores including a beauty from play to seal Waterford's victory and leave Antrim still searing for their first points of the campaign.
Waterford: Shaun O'Brien; Conor Gleeson, Conor Prunty (0-02), Conor Ryan (0-01); Shane McNulty, Calum Lyons (0-03), Jack Fagan (0-01); Gavin Fives, Paddy Leavey (0-01); Jamie Barron (0-01), Patrick Curran (1-04, 1-00 pen, 0-02 frees), Neil Montgomery (0-01); Jack Prendergast (0-01), DJ Foran (0-01), Reuben Halloran
Subs: Carthach Daly for S McNulty (HT), Austin Gleeson (0-05, 4 frees) for R Halleron (45), Padraig Fitzgerald (0-01) for P Curran (54), Patrick Fitzgerald for N Montgomery (61), Colin Dunford for P Leavey (66)
Antrim: Tiernan Smyth; Paddy Burke, Ryan McGarry, Stephen Rooney; Gerard Walsh (0-01 free), Eoghan Campbell, Conal Bohill; Michael Bradley (0-01), Paul Boyle (0-01); Keelan Molloy (0-02), Niall McKenna, Neil McManus; Conal Cunning (0-11, 10 frees), James McNaughton, Seaan Elliott.
Subs: Niall O'Connor (0-01) for C Bohill (33), Eoin O'Neill for S Elliott (HT), Nigel Elliott for N McManus (46), Joe Maskey for P Boyle (57), Rian McMullan for N McKenna (70+3)
Referee: Fergal Horgan (Tipperary)
