IN THEIR CEASELESS pursuit of records, a clutch of Ballygunner hurlers are aiming to break new ground.
On Sunday, Stephen O’Keeffe will play in his 10th Munster Club SHC final. That’s not just more than any other player, it’s more than any other team has reached in the competition’s 61-year history.
Philip and Pauric Mahony would’ve joined ‘Socky’ on that mark but for a missed final in 2015 when one brother was suspended and the other injured.
That trio had to wait 10 years to collect their first provincial trophy. If they defeat Éire Óg Ennis at Semple Stadium (3pm throw-in), they will tie the individual record with five medals.
That landmark has endured for almost half a century since the great Blackrock team of the ‘70s. The hauls of John Horgan, Frank Cummins, Ray Cummins, Pat Kavanagh, Donie Collins, Pat Moylan, and Andy Creagh have been unmatched in the intervening years.
They could now be joined by a cohort that also includes Ian Kenny, Peter Hogan, Michael Mahony, Billy O’Keeffe, Conor Sheahan, Tadhg Foley, and Harry Ruddle.
Victory would also put the Gunners clear atop the Munster roll of honour on six titles since their 2001 breakthrough.
When Stephen O’Keeffe, Philip, and Pauric Mahony first stepped onto the Ballygunner team back in the late noughties, they were joining icons of that landmark triumph in Paul Flynn and Fergal Hartley.
Advertisement
Hartley had played alongside the Mahonys’ father, Micheál, in ‘01. Now, they play alongside Hartley’s son, Mark, a promising Waterford underage star.
The 2009 Munster final was their first. O’Keeffe and Philip Mahony were 18. Pauric, a year younger, at 17.
Pauric Mahony reacts to the final whistle after the 2009 defeat to Newtownshandrum. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
One week before their provincial debuts, O’Keeffe and the Mahonys were filling numbers 1, 6, and 11 as Ballygunner captured the Déise minor hurling championship. They have held those positions at senior level across the subsequent decades.
One week after that two-point defeat to Newtownshandrum, they combined to complete a personal clean sweep by adding the U21 crown to their minor and senior county titles.
In an echo of their semi-final victory over Sarsfields a fortnight ago, Pauric also played through an ankle injury to secure their subsequent U21 four-in-a-row from the jaws of defeat with a last-gasp winning goal.
They have grown up gunslinging their way through such tussles. O’Keeffe and Philip Mahony won back-to-back Harty and Croke Cups together under future Waterford manager Derek McGrath at De La Salle College.
The 15-year-old Pauric joined them for the latter success, in 2008, scoring goals in both the drawn and replayed All-Ireland final against Thurles CBS.
Credit was shared around between O’Keeffe’s “quite stupendous diving save” in the Harty final, while McGrath believed the key to their success was the fact they “brought everybody back and that freed up our centre-back, Philip Mahony”. A tactic which remains familiar to Ballygunner’s opponents over the years.
“It’s all come from the same core group that’s been together since we were five or six years of age,” Pauric Mahony said after their 12th Waterford title in succession.
“There was very little there. We picked stones off the pitch up in Ballygunner to get the place ready so we’d have a second pitch.
“When this group of players were coming up, there wasn’t numbers… It’s been in the last 10-15 years where the numbers have blown up in the Ballygunner area.”
Across that first decade of senior hurling, success flowed more freely in Waterford than beyond the county bounds. There were losses to Cratloe and Thurles Sarsfields, while Na Piarsaigh of Limerick would become their nemesis across a 2011 semi-final and 2015 and ‘17 finals.
That rivalry has been transformed since their 2018 reversal on a day when Pauric Mahony and O’Keeffe both netted placed balls.
Ballygunner’s Philip Mahony and Pauric Mahony celebrate after their 2022 All-Ireland triumph. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Such has been the Gunners’ dominance, they have eliminated the Limerick champions in each of the last seven seasons, including four victories over Na Piarsaigh. Their Gaelic Grounds raids have become an annual feature in recent years.
Their post-Covid titles were achieved by convincing margins over Kilmallock (14 points), Ballyea (nine), and Clonlara (13), while 2022 delivered a historic All-Ireland thanks to Harry Ruddle’s famous goal.
Their provincial three-in-a-row was bookended by upsets against Borris-Ileigh in 2019 and Sarsfields last December. If Éire Óg are to cause a similar surprise, they must end a six-game losing streak by Clare champions against the Gunners.
To do so, they’ll have to trouble those long-serving pillars of Ballygunner’s golden age.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
3 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Ballygunner's stalwarts eye landmark Munster final record
IN THEIR CEASELESS pursuit of records, a clutch of Ballygunner hurlers are aiming to break new ground.
On Sunday, Stephen O’Keeffe will play in his 10th Munster Club SHC final. That’s not just more than any other player, it’s more than any other team has reached in the competition’s 61-year history.
Philip and Pauric Mahony would’ve joined ‘Socky’ on that mark but for a missed final in 2015 when one brother was suspended and the other injured.
That trio had to wait 10 years to collect their first provincial trophy. If they defeat Éire Óg Ennis at Semple Stadium (3pm throw-in), they will tie the individual record with five medals.
That landmark has endured for almost half a century since the great Blackrock team of the ‘70s. The hauls of John Horgan, Frank Cummins, Ray Cummins, Pat Kavanagh, Donie Collins, Pat Moylan, and Andy Creagh have been unmatched in the intervening years.
They could now be joined by a cohort that also includes Ian Kenny, Peter Hogan, Michael Mahony, Billy O’Keeffe, Conor Sheahan, Tadhg Foley, and Harry Ruddle.
Victory would also put the Gunners clear atop the Munster roll of honour on six titles since their 2001 breakthrough.
When Stephen O’Keeffe, Philip, and Pauric Mahony first stepped onto the Ballygunner team back in the late noughties, they were joining icons of that landmark triumph in Paul Flynn and Fergal Hartley.
Hartley had played alongside the Mahonys’ father, Micheál, in ‘01. Now, they play alongside Hartley’s son, Mark, a promising Waterford underage star.
The 2009 Munster final was their first. O’Keeffe and Philip Mahony were 18. Pauric, a year younger, at 17.
One week before their provincial debuts, O’Keeffe and the Mahonys were filling numbers 1, 6, and 11 as Ballygunner captured the Déise minor hurling championship. They have held those positions at senior level across the subsequent decades.
One week after that two-point defeat to Newtownshandrum, they combined to complete a personal clean sweep by adding the U21 crown to their minor and senior county titles.
In an echo of their semi-final victory over Sarsfields a fortnight ago, Pauric also played through an ankle injury to secure their subsequent U21 four-in-a-row from the jaws of defeat with a last-gasp winning goal.
They have grown up gunslinging their way through such tussles. O’Keeffe and Philip Mahony won back-to-back Harty and Croke Cups together under future Waterford manager Derek McGrath at De La Salle College.
The 15-year-old Pauric joined them for the latter success, in 2008, scoring goals in both the drawn and replayed All-Ireland final against Thurles CBS.
Credit was shared around between O’Keeffe’s “quite stupendous diving save” in the Harty final, while McGrath believed the key to their success was the fact they “brought everybody back and that freed up our centre-back, Philip Mahony”. A tactic which remains familiar to Ballygunner’s opponents over the years.
“It’s all come from the same core group that’s been together since we were five or six years of age,” Pauric Mahony said after their 12th Waterford title in succession.
“When this group of players were coming up, there wasn’t numbers… It’s been in the last 10-15 years where the numbers have blown up in the Ballygunner area.”
Across that first decade of senior hurling, success flowed more freely in Waterford than beyond the county bounds. There were losses to Cratloe and Thurles Sarsfields, while Na Piarsaigh of Limerick would become their nemesis across a 2011 semi-final and 2015 and ‘17 finals.
That rivalry has been transformed since their 2018 reversal on a day when Pauric Mahony and O’Keeffe both netted placed balls.
Such has been the Gunners’ dominance, they have eliminated the Limerick champions in each of the last seven seasons, including four victories over Na Piarsaigh. Their Gaelic Grounds raids have become an annual feature in recent years.
Their post-Covid titles were achieved by convincing margins over Kilmallock (14 points), Ballyea (nine), and Clonlara (13), while 2022 delivered a historic All-Ireland thanks to Harry Ruddle’s famous goal.
Their provincial three-in-a-row was bookended by upsets against Borris-Ileigh in 2019 and Sarsfields last December. If Éire Óg are to cause a similar surprise, they must end a six-game losing streak by Clare champions against the Gunners.
To do so, they’ll have to trouble those long-serving pillars of Ballygunner’s golden age.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Ballygunner GAA Hurling Munster Club SHC Waterford GAA