BALLYGUNNER ARE NOT new to Munster championship games or club final days, but yesterday felt different and significant for Waterford’s hurling best.
Take the scoring stats.
The dazzling tally of 3-20 that they posted matched the highest they have recorded in normal time in a game in their Munster adventures since 2009, which spans nine provincial campaigns, and that exact figure was struck earlier in this same season, at the expense of Ballyea last November.
In 2018 Ballygunner did hit 2-26 in a semi-final win over that same Clare side, but that comes with the caveat of occurring after extra-time.
So this was an eyecatching total to score on the second Sunday in January. Only twice previously had a victorious Munster senior club final team surpassed this Ballygunner figure – Blackrock with 8-12 in the 1975 final and Kilmallock with 1-32 in the 2014 final, albeit the latter game went to extra-time.
This success was achieved by 14 points. It was only the third win by a double-digit margin that Ballygunner have enjoyed in the 13 victories they have produced in games in Munster since 2009.
And there was the prize on offer, a Munster senior hurling crown and the third time that Ballygunner have raised that trophy into the air. That feat elevates them above local rivals Mount Sion and De La Salle, they are now the most successful Waterford team on that roll of honour. They are joint third overall, resting alongside a star-studded group (Sixmilebridge, Glen Rovers, Toomevara, Kilmallock and Newtownshandrum).
And after a back catalogue of misery, which has featured nine Munster final losses, Ballygunner will savour a day like this.
“We’ve had bleak days in Munster finals,” admitted manager Darragh O’Sullivan.
“I had a couple myself as a player, we’ve had them as a management, so we’ve a lot more bad days than good ones, but I’m buzzing to be honest.
“They were phenomenal, and people questioned whether we could play winter hurling. Today it was damp enough, dirty enough, the lads were really on point from start to finish.”
There was no disputing the sharpness of Ballygunner’s play. If they shipped the opening two points of the game, they careered away afterwards on the scoreboard – ahead by six at the first water break, nine at half-time, 15 by the second water break and 18 in the 60th minute, until Kilmallock bagged a consolation burst of 1-1.
There was an obvious contrast between Ballygunner’s last appearance in a Munster final in Cork, the mudbath in Páirc Uí Rinn in November 2019 when their challenge floundered in the conditions, and the immaculate Páirc Uí Chaoimh surface yesterday that was tailor-made for their smooth passing and incisive running.
Some of their play was mesmeric. Peter Hogan’s point before half-time and Dessie Hutchinson’s after the break were replica efforts – swift movements from deep in defence, a bunch of players contributing and a point to cap off the efforts.
32 nóim@ballygunnerHc 1-13@KilmallockGAA 0-05
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) January 9, 2022
An fear sin arís... Dessie Hutchinson! 🤩
A Dessie double opens the second half for Ballygunner! 👌@GAA_BEO @MunsterGAA #GAABEO #TheToughest
BEO/LIVE AR @TG4TV pic.twitter.com/D8omDuONOe
It’s natural to praise a team for overcoming the scars of previous losses, considering Ballygunner lost the 2015, 2017 and 2019 Munster deciders.
But this is an outfit that has been constantly evolving. Seven players from yesterday’s side didn’t start the 2018 success over Na Piarsaigh, with only Mikey Mahony of that group coming off the bench in that game.
Dessie Hutchinson is the glittering jewel, yet all the additions have bolstered the squad and helped ensure this unit is not weighed down by emotional baggage.
“A lot of us are there since 2009, so we’re on the road a long time and they ultimately bring the most out of us,” says Pauric Mahony, man-of-the-match in Ballygunner colours yesterday.
“They push us, they’re the ones setting the standards off the field in their preparation and their gym work. We weren’t acting like that when we were 18 or 19 years of age. They’re the foundations for the future and they’re definitely there now with these guys.
“It’d be wrong of the older lads to get caught up in what happened (before) when there’s a load of new lads coming in fresh, eager, bringing in new life and energy to the setup. They probably got a lot more out of a lot of the other lads that were there.
“There’s huge work goes in behind the scenes with this group. 2020 lockdown, lads really dedicating themselves off the field to get better and if this opportunity came again, we’d be in a better place for it and thankfully it’s paid off now.”
Their opposition had to be factored into the equation as well. Kilmallock had the help of rich tradition behind them, their club having a perfect record from three Munster senior final appearances, while this team was backboned with survivors from their 2014 win over Cratloe. There was also Limerick All-Ireland winners at their disposal from Barry Hennessy to Graeme Mulcahy at opposite ends of the pitch.
But emerging from the bearpit of the Limerick hurling scene could not brace them for this onslaught they faced.
“Ballygunner are a really good team, hats off to them straight away – but we’re not as bad as that, either,” said Kilmallock manager Tony Considine.
“It was just one of those days where it went wrong. But I’m very proud of the Kilmallock lads, they’ve had a fantastic year as well. Winning a tough Limerick championship, beating Midleton in a Munster semi-final and then getting to the club final – if you’d said that to us in May we’d have bitten your hand off.
“Today Ballygunner were at their best. Let’s be honest, they’re a class club side.They have eight Waterford titles in a row, and that tells you something about them.
They probably have bigger things in mind.”
Which brings us to Ballygunner’s future prospects. Unlike their two previous All-Ireland semi-final outings, 2002 and 2019, Ballygunner will not enter the next game after a long lay-off.
Instead that semi-final looms large in just a fortnight, a trip to Parnell Park to take on Slaughtneil from Derry, where they will attempt to reach an All-Ireland final for the first time.
The scale of this display drew parallels with what Ballyhale produced in the Leinster final before Christmas. They will both be installed as the pace-setters and are on opposite sides of the All-Ireland draw, yet St Thomas and Slaughtneil have merited claims and high ambitions as well.
For Ballygunner it is clear that they are in red-hot form heading towards national stage.
“If we probably had only won the one (Munster) in our careers, we maybe would have looked back and said we didn’t do ourselves justice,” says Mahony.
“But this team, we’re not looking behind us, we’re just looking ahead, we’re looking forward all the time. We’re going to relish the opportunity now to go and play Slaughtneil in two weeks.
“We don’t want to stop here now, as a group we want to achieve as much as possible. When you’re 24 or 25 years of age you think this is going to go on forever and then the next thing there’s a lot of us hitting 30 now kind of looking at the clock. You need to maximise these opportunities.”
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