Six in the bag for Gunners after Mahony masterclass
HAD a stranger walked into a picturesque Walsh Park yesterday and watched the celebrations, they could easily have been forgiven for thinking that titles are a rarity in Ballygunner such was the enthusiasm which greeted their sixth title in-a-row.
Success has become a familiar feeling for the Gunners but it’s something that’s never taken for granted and when they were asked serious questions by city rivals De La Salle in the closing period, they responded like champions.
It had earlier looked like another cakewalk for Ballygunner when former Brighton and Hove Albion soccer star Dessie Hutchinson fired an early goal to help Darragh O’Sullivan’s side into a commanding nine-point lead but De La Salle eventually found their footing with Eddie Meaney’s 20th-minute strike proving crucial.
That gave Bryan ‘Bull’ Phelan’s side some impetus and with Meaney and Cormac McCann proving elusive up front with the wind at their backs, the lead was down to two at the end of the third quarter and all the momentum was with the underdogs. De La Salle would only hit two points in the final 20 minute though as Ballygunner took complete control to fire eight unanswered points and leave them in dreamland once again with former All-Star goalkeeper Stephen O’Keeffe outlining where their bottomless motivation comes from.
“A lot of people would have questioned the hunger to come back after winning the Munster because it was no secret that the Munster was our aim for a good few years, we finally got it and as soon as we got it we wanted more,” O’Keeffe said.
“It was a very natural thing and coming back this year, the last memory of the club championship was losing the (All-Ireland) semi-final to Ballyhale so it’s still a bad feeling to finish out on, it didn’t feel like we reached the summit and that there was nowhere else to go.
Difference
“The county championship was 12 months ago, that’s a long time ago and we knew we were going to be up against it in the county, we’ve lost county finals as well and the difference between winning and losing is enough to get you right.”
De La Salle must have thought it was the 2017 final all over again in the opening exchanges and when Ballygunner sprinted out of the blocks, it looked like it would be another uncomfortable day at the office.
Pauric Mahony delivered yet another outstanding display and he was on the mark inside 30 seconds with his positioning causing all sorts of problems for Waterford team-mate Kevin Moran as he pilfered three points from play inside nine minutes.
A goal by Hutchinson after five minutes – after being teed up beautifully by Michael Mahony – put early daylight between the sides as De La Salle’s possession-based style struggled against the elements and a packed Ballygunner defence.
Hutchinson sent them nine ahead, 1-7 to 0-1, with a point at the end of the first quarter before Meaney handed De La Salle a lifeline after breaking onto a Jack Fagan sideline and clinically firing past O’Keeffe.
The long-ball approach began to pay dividends as they changed tack and scrapped much of the short passing with two points from Meaney – as well as efforts from Fagan and captain Jake Dillon – leaving them within three on the stroke of halftime.
While De La Salle amazingly had no scoreable frees throughout the entire contest, two routine Mahony frees left the red-hot favourites with a healthy half-time lead, 1-11 to 1-6.
Ballygunner were keeping De La Salle at arm’s length but McCann thundered into the game after a quiet opening half and fired three points within eight minutes before Meaney
left just two in it with a majestic score in the 44th minute, 1-15 to 1-13.
To achieve the ‘mix for six’, Ballygunner would have to dig deep and their response was devastating. Points from Paddy Leavy, Barry O’Sullivan, Mahony (two), Peter Hogan (two), Hutchinson and substitute Conor Power averted any danger in a matter of minutes and it was all she wrote.
The Munster champions negotiated the first hurdle of their defence, the next will be against Clare champions Sixmilebridge on November 3 with O’Sullivan quick to praise and outlining how their six-in-a-row achievement marks them down as the greatest side in the club’s rich history.
“When you question these lads, they really dig deep. They’re a phenomenal bunch of people. You put them together, they live together, they’re friends, they’re together on a Saturday evening or a Sunday morning having their breakfast together,” O’Sullivan said of his history-makers.
“Six in a row is phenomenal, and to get that hunger every year. The dressing-room in Clonea for the first-round game – that’s where this was won, because they were going again. And that’s testament to those guys.”
While De La Salle came up significantly short in a final once again against Ballygunner, there was much to admire about the grit and determination shown by Phelan’s men – something he exhibited as a player with the Déise – and they are still the most likely to eventually dethrone the kings.