Ballygunner 4-19 Kilruane MacDonaghs 0-14
As Ballygunner manager Darragh O’Sullivan explained, his team have a blueprint for dealing with the long break between the Waterford county final and the opening round in the Munster hurling championship.
That much looked obvious in the dynamic movement of the All-Ireland champions, their freshness and polish. For the second year running they have annihilated a club coming from a competitive county title race, both coincidentally by 17 points.
O’Sullivan was magnanimous in his acknowledgment of Kilruane’s heroic campaign that came to a halt on Sunday, as a third match in 15 days – a week after beating Kiladangan in a replayed final for a first Tipp crown in 37 years – proved beyond them.
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“You’d have to be happy with the performance overall. We were convincing winners in the end but the reality is that I don’t think the scoreboard was a true reflection of where Kilruane were. Their legs ran out in the end you could understand why that was.”
The Tipp winners came out enthusiastically and competed in the opening exchanges with Cian Darcy shooting two points to keep the contest level at 0-2 each. There immediately followed a goal chance for Willie Cleary which came to nothing because of Philip Mahony’s hook – further proof of the champions’ alertness.
From there, it was a simple progression of Ballygunner pulling away inexorably and Kilruane trying to keep in touch but even the occasional unanswered couple of points were just grabbing ledges in a landslide.
The champions’ energy and ambition was striking even after the eight-week hiatus. Dessie Hutchinson, this championship’s player of the year last season, was uncontainable. His stick darted out like a lizard’s tongue to immobilise any incoming ball and his ability to manufacture a square foot of space was all he needed to fire over points – three between the fifth and ninth minute. When a fourth effort flew wide, the Kilruane support – plentiful in a meagre 1,621 attendance – treated it like an exorcism.
Nor was he the undisputed go-to man because Patrick Fitzgerald ended the day with 1-4 and Kevin Mahony with 2-2 whereas Hutchinson made do with his 0-3.
He did however play a vital creative role as the match unfolded, transforming another possession into a 19th-minute chance for Kevin Mahony with a clever flick into space but Páidí Williams in the goal made a great save.
In the second half, Hutchinson ranged out from full forward to draw the cover and fire smouldering deliveries into the path of onrushing players. This eventually paid off when Harry Ruddle, hero of last February’s All-Ireland final deliverance, availed of the opportunity for another well-struck, if less momentous, goal.
The match was done and dusted in the minutes before half-time. Initially, it looked as though captain, Jerome Cahill with a determined turnover and counter-attacking score, followed by Eoin Hogan’s long strike from defence, had – at 0-7 to 0-11 – accomplished the task of getting in at the break still in contention, a position they had exploited wonderfully well in the replayed county final.
Instead, a quick, precise move between Pauric Mahony, Peter Hogan and the crisply finishing Fitzgerald pushed the lead out to seven at the break.
“We started reasonably well in the first half and the goal before half-time probably put the game to bed. That’s really what happened,” summarised O’Sullivan.
His Kilruane counterpart wasn’t arguing. “The goal before half-time and the goal after it, they’re a quality team. They’ll kill you in those situations – they’ll just punish you.”
Kevin Mahony’s first goal was part of a coup de grace of 1-1 within two minutes of the restart. He cut in from the right, looked to be fouled but when he got no official confirmation from the referee, fired the ball into the net when on the ground.
At 0-7 to 2-12 Kilruane needed goals to keep it respectable and Kian O’Kelly who battled away for little return, thundered through the middle but shot straight at Stephen O’Keeffe.
After Ruddle’s goal, Mahony got his second, turning his marker and shooting home.
The contrasting preparations for this Munster quarter-final were reflected in contrasting destinations.
Ballygunner’s season is only starting, as they seek to win back-to-back All-Irelands whereas Kilruane reached the end of the road that has led to both terrific achievement and something more profound.
“Monday night was a fantastic night,” said their manager Liam O’Kelly. “Dillon Quirke’s mother and father came down; Declan Ryan and the wife (uncle and aunt of the late Tipperary hurler) came down to meet us in Cloughjordan.
“We’ve formed a massive bond with Clonoulty over this year in recognition of Dillon. It was a fantastic night on Monday and on Tuesday we had a get together with Kiladangan inside in a pub in Nenagh; we all came together.
“We’ve a bus journey home and I don’t know when the bus will get home, I’ve no idea when that bus will get home. I told the players this morning, don’t bring your car because you won’t be driving your car home tonight.”
Darragh O’Sullivan turns his focus to Sunday week’s semi-final, a summit meeting with 2016 All-Ireland winners Na Piarsaigh in Limerick.
“It’s a huge match. In fairness it’s two juggernauts coming up against each other. For Ballygunner to go into the Gaelic Grounds to take on one of the best teams in the country is exciting.”
BALLYGUNNER: S O’Keeffe; I Kenny (jc), B Coughlan, T Foley; S O’Sullivan, P Mahony, R Power; C Sheahan, P Leavey; Pauric Mahony (0-6, 0-3f), M Mahony, P Hogan (0-1); P Fitzgerald (1-4), K Mahony (2-2), D Hutchinson (jc; 0-3). Subs: 18. B O’Keeffe (0-2) for M Mahony (33 mins), 17. H Ruddle (1-0) for Hogan (43 mins), J Foley (0-1) for Fitzgerald (48 mins), T Gallagher for Power (50 mins), T O’Sullivan for K Mahony (53 mins).
KILRUANE MacDONAGHS: P Williams; A Morgan, J Peters, K Cahill; N O’Meara (0-1), J Cleary, E Hogan (0-1); C Austin, M O’Neill; W Cleary (0-5f), S McAdams (0-1), J Cahill (capt; 0-2); T Cleary, K O’Kelly (0-1), C Darcy (0-3). Subs: S Hennessy for Morgan (15 mins – temporary substitution, not reversed), C Williams for O’Meara (43 mins); C Cleary for Austin (45); E Carroll for W Cleary (53 mins), R Grace for K Cahill (58); R Austin for T Cleary (58).
Referee: Niall Malone (Clare)
