A power-packed second half from Waterford propelled them to a two-point victory over Kerry in the first round TG4 Munster Championship encounter at Austin Stack Park Tralee.
The Déise outscored the hosts by 0-10 to 0-03 in the second period as they used their running power to great effect.
In a repeat of last year's final, it was Waterford who held the aces after a very entertaining contest where Brid McMaugh struck four points and Kellyann Hogan hit 1-05.
Niamh Ní Chonchúir opened the scoring for Kerry before Kellyann Hogan replied for the visitors three minutes later.
Kerry struck a brilliant goal in the fifth minute through Rachel Dwyer after some excellent work from the marauding Caoimhe Evans.
Hogan again replied with a free, but then came Kerry’s second goal in the 10th minute. Anna Galvin played a ball into Leah McMahon and the speedster was fouled as she crashed the ball off the crossbar. Síofra Ó Shea stepped up and made no mistake from the resulting penalty.
Galvin and O’Shea added further points before Eve Power replied for the Déise to make it 2-03 to 0-03 before O’Shea struck a brilliant two-point free for the Kingdom in the 23rd minute.
In a portent for what was to come in the second half, Waterford dominated the last 10 minutes of the game, outscoring Kerry by 0-04 to 0-01 with Hogan from a free and from play, Bríd McMaugh and Emma Murray slotting over, whilst the only Kerry reply came from O’Shea and Kerry led by 2-06 to 0-07.
The Kingdom started brightly in the second half with a Caoimhe Evans score before points from McMaugh and a free from substitute Chloe Fennell got Waterford going.
Aoife Dillane got a point back for Kerry when she might have gone for goal but soon Waterford took over around the middle of the field with McMaugh, McGregor, Walsh, Chloe Fennell (two frees), and Hogan adding scores and Kerry’s only reply coming from the boot of McMahon.
Waterford kept attacking and Karen McGrath was brought down for a penalty by Ciara Butler, who was sinbinned, in the 57th minute that McGregor struck off the butt of the post.
Reduced to 14 players, Kerry attacked for all their worth but the final score of the contest fell to Power to seal a brilliant win for the Déise.
Waterford: K Gardner; C Murray, L Mulcahy, A McGrath; R Browne, R Casey, K McGrath; E Murray, E Power (0-02); Á O’Neill, K Hogan (0-05, 3f), K Murray (0-01); M Daly, B McMaugh (0-04), L McGregor (0-01).
Subs: C Fennell (0-03f) for A McGrath HT, C Walsh (0-01) for M Daly 53, L Ní hArta for R Browne 60.
Kerry: C Butler; R Rahilly, D Kearney, E Lynch; A O’Connell, E Costello, A Dillane (0-01); A Galvin (0-01), M O’Connell; K Enright, N Ní Chonchúir (0-01), C Evans (0-01); L McMahon (0-01), S O’Shea (1-04, 1-00 pen), R Dwyer.
Subs: N Carmody for K Enright 40, J Lucey for R Dwyer (1-00) 49, N Quinn for L McMahon 57, ME Bolger for C Evans 58, E Ní Lasighin for S O’Shea 63.
Referee: Conor McCarthy (Cork).
