A WEEK AFTER the damburst of joy after their Limerick breakthrough, Doon experienced the flipside at the same venue when stepping into the Munster arena.
They pushed champions Ballygunner all the way, but for manager Derek McGrath it was the presence of a key opposition player – who he is well acquainted with – that proved the difference maker in yesterday’s quarter-final.
Stephen O’Keeffe brought down two first-half Doon point attempts underneath his crossbar, while stopping goalbound efforts from Eddie Stokes and Pat Ryan in either half.
But it was his miraculous save early in the second half from Jack Ryan, at a stage when Doon were ahead by four points, that was the standout moment.
#GAABEO 32 nóim @DoonGaaClub 0-13 (13)@ballygunnerHc 0-9 (9)
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) November 3, 2024
Sábháil den scoth ag Stephen O Keefe
Could this be the turning point in the Game??#GAA #Hurling
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“Everything they had, every sinew in their body went into it,” said McGrath of his Doon team’s display.
“The regret is there were opportunities there, Stephen’s brilliance.
“Jack did everything right. We’d said during the week that Stephen, you have to bring it right in on top of him if you want to score on him. He did that to be fair. Just a brilliant save.
“He’s the greatest goalie that Waterford has ever had. He’s one of the greatest goalies. Go back and look at the 2007 and 2008 All-Ireland College finals and look at the saves he made against Thurles CBS, Kilkenny CBS, he’s doing that all his life and a nice chap into the bargain.
“Unsurprising in the fact that he saves goals, but the totality of effort from Doon was just very special to behold but Ballygunner found a way. Great team, great champions.”
After stringing together 11 Waterford titles in a row and as they chase a fourth Munster championship in succession, Ballygunner’s brilliance is clear to see.
McGrath doesn’t hide his admiration for a club that are local rivals of his native De La Salle.
“I’ve said it before, a lot of rubbish spouted about the area and the catchment area and the numbers etc. I see a lot of families there. I see the Hutchinsons, I see the Mahonys and obviously the co-relations to the Mahonys through the Fitzgeralds etc, four or five families at the core of it. All good people doing the right thing.
“They’re phenomenal fellas and fellas that probably, we say when SOK and Barry and Philip left the Waterford scene, they’re getting the kick then, out of the Shane O’Sullivans of the world.
“When they go back to Ballygunner, they bring that kind of high performance environment to their own clubs. And I couldn’t thank them enough for everything they’ve done for us in school and on a personal level.”
His own Doon players faced a testing challenge in returning to action just a week after that magical Limerick final win for the club, but McGrath and the players were determined not to hide beind the schedule.
“It probably was (hard), but there was plenty of excuses there. In terms of the general perception it was that Doon’s first one, so they’re on the beer for the week. And there’s elements of that that are very true in terms of just maybe two or three days.
“If you look at the experience of Richie English, Barry Murphy, Pat Ryan, Darragh O’Donovan, Adam (English), I think I said it was 19 All-Ireland medals between panellists etc in the room, so it’s a fair starting point.
“We said all week we didn’t want to get into the mentality of, ‘look we’ve had a great year anyway, we’ve kind of ended a famine.’ We tried to go to the end and I think we did as good as we could, so if that makes sense. I think Ballygunner will get a lot from it as well, as might other teams.”
“We focused a lot on the start of the game because Ballygunner have come and what they’ve done to Sars and Ballyea and Kilruane after having that eight or nine week break.
“I think we had the motivational angle, it was good for us. There was a bit of freedom in our play.
“I thought we were on top and we were troubling them with the running game, I think there was something in that for us. We were good at the offloads and we were getting a bit of joy out of that but just sustaining it was difficult.”
It was a cracking 40 alright. The improvement in accuracy vs their form in last couple of games was amazing. Thought young Coughlan brought a great tempo to the game and the backrow response to it was a delight to watch.
It was a very very good 40 ,
We have struggled to out teams away and points in the right direction
Diarmaid Kilgallon was on fire, particularly in the first half. Many thanks to Dian Bleuler who was outstanding for every game.
Strange going for a 6-2 split against the Dragons.
@Fagin Strauss: have we any other backs that were actually fit to go on the bench?
@Fagin Strauss: Shows how important a game it was imo. Going into any game you cant prepare for cr€pness.
@Thesaltyurchin: completely agree ,
This game had the potential to be a rough night
Against the worst team in the league. Then lost the second half 19-7. Take the points and move on but not a good 80 overall
@adizlack93: Nobody said the 80 was good but there is more context to the 2nd half.
@adizlack93: praise be the oracle has spoketh
@adizlack93: with a backrower in the centre, another backrower on the wing, a winger in the centre, and an academy hooker at blindside flanker. And they damn near got another score right at the end. Calm down.
Burns was excellent. Munster look much better with him at 10.
@Justin Robinson: Was average imo, some sloppy passes at crucial times, looks tired after 20, glorious open kicking tho, talk of Flannery coming back but after tonights game I’d keep Billy just where he is lol! If Tony B isn’t going to grab it Munster need cover there.
@Thesaltyurchin: has flannery delivered the goods at 10 for ulster?
@Brenda Collins: Not by a long shot imo, but has been dogged by injury AND they’re not playing great rn, tho I still fancy Ulster to make playoffs and potentially be a problem. Ben Brownlee the next player for a potential move to Munster.