Waterford Senior Hurling Final: Ballygunner 2-35 Mount Sion 1-16
Groundhog Day in Walsh Park but anyone in Waterford hoping that repetition might dull the appetite of Ballygunner would have been sorely disappointed on Sunday, the now 12-in-a-row champions swept aside what passed for the challenge of city rivals, Mount Sion.
After 17 seconds, the challengers’ captain PJ Fanning had shot a point but they had all of half a minute to savour being in the lead before the champions cut them open as Patrick Fitzgerald turned on a sixpence and darted in on goal.
His shot was blocked but Dessie Hutchinson was on hand to finish the job for his third goal in the last three minutes of championship hurling after his late, late brace just about saw off De La Salle in the semi-final.
If it appeared ominous, Austin Gleeson defied the vibes by slotting a couple of lineballs to keep Mount Sion in touch but from that single-point deficit in the eighth minute, 1-1 to 0-3, Ballygunner went on to land the next 10 points in 11 minutes – 1-11 to 0-3.
RM Block
That flushed the defiance out of the challengers, who simply endured the remaining 40 minutes as the score line expanded relentlessly. By half-time there was 17 in it, 2-19 to 0-8. At the final whistle, the margin had moved to 22, the biggest margin of the champions’ 12-year run of successful finals.
Not for 49 years had a team lost as heavily as Mount Sion: Portlaw’s 25-point dismembering of Tallow in 1976.
As usual, Ballygunner were wholly admirable in racking up their latest triumph. After a near-death experience in the semi-final, they unleashed their A game and it was irresistible.
The most conspicuous instrument of destruction was the veteran Pauric Mahony, whose marksmanship kept the scoreboard clicking throughout, a week after his appearance off the bench had been a key input to averting disaster against De La Salle.
Local journalist Tomás McCarthy pointed out in his programme notes that Mahony had accumulated 5-114 in 15 county final appearances and four MOTM awards along the way. This time, his total stretched to 5-125 and a fifth individual award.
Manager Jason Ryan paid tribute to the 33-year-old, who was making his first start, of the championship, having lately been working abroad.
“He was in Germany all this week. He trained in Germany and he had online meetings and he organised himself and he’s just incredibly dedicated, incredibly focused and just does everything to get himself right. Whatever has to be done, he just gets on with it and does it. Selfless. He does everything to help Ballygunner.”
So, it hadn’t been a big decision whether to start him?
“Jeanie Mac, he was pretty damn good the last day. Oh, mother of God, he’s so clever, so intelligent, gets to the right places, so calm. His frees were outstanding, yes, his contribution was huge.”
There were other outstanding contributions. Former Waterford goalkeeper Stephen O’Keeffe loomed large at the back, plucking down any attempted scores hit with insufficient conviction and strolling around, picking out killer deliveries into his team’s attack.
If things got a bit skittish at the back – which to be fair to the Philip Mahony anchored rearguard, wasn’t often – O’Keeffe could be relied on as an outlet to dispatch the ball as far away as possible,
Fitzgerald responded zealously to his red card in the semi-final, which could have undone the team, by proving a menace to Mount Sion and, having raided a goal off a long clearance in the 22nd minute, he finished with 1-3 from play.
Dessie Hutchinson, who has had a difficult past year, knuckled down to something approaching recognisable form and scored 1-6, again from play.
Even corner back Aaron O’Neill, who blitzed on to a loose ball and appeared to hit warp speed as he zoomed up the field, managed to raise a flag.
Mount Sion looked powerless in the face of the champions ultra-smart ball movement and liveliness down the wings. Peter Hogan in the 26th and 27th minutes, scored from the left and then popped up on the other side to hit another point.
Martin O’Neill’s frees kept Mount Sion’s total moving gently upwards and Stephen Roche’s runs caused occasional trouble but there was no sector from where they could threaten a plausible comeback. Austin Gleeson’s thrash at goal from a free popped out three minutes from time for replacement Jack Meaney to net the rebound.
The Gunners now ready themselves for the familiar task of adding Munster to this year’s roll of honour. For Ryan, in his first year, that’s the target after last season when the shock defeat by Sarsfields in the provincial final persuaded his predecessor Darragh O’Sullivan to step down.
“Yeah, absolutely. They’ve won three out of the last four, so it’s not a new piece for them. So, they’ll be working hard and again, they’re driven and motivated, so they’ll do everything they can to be in the best shape we can for travelling to Limerick in a number of weeks’ (eight) time.”
Off they go, again.
BALLYGUNNER: S O’Keeffe; A O’Neill (0-1), I Kenny, T Foley; H Ruddle (0-1), Philip Mahony, R Power (0-2); C Sheahan (0-3), P Leavey; M Mahony (jt-capt), Pauric Mahony (0-11, 7f), P Hogan (jt capt; 0-3); P Fitzgerald (1-3), D Hutchinson (1-6), K Mahony.
Subs: E Cuddihy (0-3) for K Mahony (inj, 6 mins), C Tobin (0-2) for P Mahony (47), E O’Brien for Kenny (51), C Power for Hogan (53), J Foley for Fitzgerald (54), B O’Keeffe for M Mahony (temp, 56-59).
1-16
MOUNT SION: I O’Regan; S O’Neill, B Flanagan, M Daykin; G Power, MF O’Neill, L O’Brien; A Gleeson (0-3, 2lb), PJ Fanning (capt; 0-3); A O’Regan, S Roche (0-2), J Gleeson (0-2); J Meaney; M O’Neill (0-4f), J Kennedy (0-1).
Subs: E Curran for Flanagan (24 mins), A Kirwan (0-1) for MF O’Neill (h-t), T Corcoran for Power (42), Jack Meaney (1-0) for Jamie Meaney (47), D Power for O’Regan (53).
Referee: A Kissane (Dunhill).
