Double delight on the cards as focus turns to bigger ball

With Alan Aherne

THE EMPHATIC margin of Sunday’s Pettitt’s Senior hurling championship final victory certainly caught me by surprise. While I had tipped St. Martin’s to triumph, it was a tentative vote, and I expected the game to go right down to the wire.

Indeed, as I considered the possible outcome once again with the weekend drawing near, the more I wondered if the superior experience of Oulart-The Ballagh would get them over the line one more time.

The answer was delivered in very impressive fashion by a St. Martin’s crew more than capable of dominating the local hurling scene for many years to come.

As worthy champions they will get all the plaudits and that’s exactly as it should be. The losers are quickly forgotten, but my admiration for Oulart-The Ballagh hasn’t lessened in any way.

Indeed, their achievements were put in very clear perspective during the half-time break when the Buffers Alley jubilee winners of 1991 and 1992 were presented to the crowd.

Above all, that ceremony reminded me that I’m getting on in years because I can clearly remember each and every one of that formidable outfit during their playing days.

The 1980 final is the first I can recall, and from that point right through to the end of my teenage years, it was either Buffers Alley or Rathnure winning on the big day with just one exception when Faythe Harriers pipped the former in 1981.

It’s hard to believe that 1992 was the last of the Alley’s twelve titles, but it’s even more incredible to consider that Oulart-The Ballagh have won 13 since then.

When Sunday’s jubilee team beat them 25 years ago, it was a fifth final loss for the red and blacks who were still seeking an elusive first crown at the time, so their achievements since then deserve a special place in Wexford hurling history.

Incidentally, I was asked if Oulart-The Ballagh had ever amassed such a low total in a final, but they actually registered less on five previous occasions: 1-5 versus Rathnure in 1974, 1-6 and 1-5 respectively against the Alley in 1982 and 1992, a mere 0-6 in the 2006 replay loss to Rathnure, and finally 1-8 when losing to St. Martin’s nine years ago.

While I agonised over my prediction for the hurling decider, I have a more definite view on the outcome of Sunday’s football clash.

The progress of Starlights from relegation contestants last season to a first final since 2007 has been superb, and it highlights the fact that town teams in particular can be transformed into genuine contenders virtually overnight.

Having said that, I cannot see the Enniscorthy men denying St. Martin’s the double, and in actual fact I expect the double-seekers to win with plenty to spare, perhaps six points or more.

I hope I’m wrong as all neutrals would long to witness a closer contest, but pound for pound I just simply think that the 2013 champions have better players all over the field than their rivals.

One thing I do expect to see is a final where football will come first. Starlights manager Joe Hagan is a shrewd operator and was unfortunate not to get Gusserane over the line in 2014.

He will have learned a lot with regard to what the big day entails from that one-point loss to St. Anne’s, but more importantly he got the chance to study St. Martin’s closely in their recent drawn semi-final and replay.

Trying to mix it with the men in maroon or indulge in off the ball messing is an exercise in futility and, at any rate, the main strength of Starlights lies in the ball-playing ability of speedy young attackers like Darragh Pepper, Aaron Dobbs and Ryan Mahon.

That’s why I reckon it will be a decent game of football, but having come this far St. Martin’s won’t be caught unless they have a complete off-day and the underdogs play out of their skins.

The omens also favour the saints. The last double winners were neighbouring St. Anne’s in 2000, and do you remember the beaten finalists?

Yes, it was Oulart-The Ballagh and Starlights, although the football was played first that year. I’ll be surprised if history isn’t repeated on Sunday, but the very best of luck to both teams.