HUTCH A MASSIVE BOOST IN BID FOR SUCCESS

HAVING watched him make a brilliant cameo for Ballygunner while still a Brighton footballer, Paudie Mahony was made up that Dessie Hutchinson came back for good.

The injured Mahony says he hasn’t been surprised by the impact 24- year- old Hutchinson has made in the Waterford attack tack in their march to o the All- Ireland d final.

“First of all, I’ve seen how hard he works on and off the field,” said Hutchinson’s clubmate.

“And I remember a couple of years ago when he was under- 21 and was home for a weekend, he won’t mind me saying it now but at the time, Brighton didn’t know he was togging out for Ballygunner under- 21s but he came on with 20 minutes to go in the game and he hadn’t trained or done anything and he was just lethal inside.

“At that stage he hadn’t picked up a hurley in five years and he got a couple of points, if he had started we probably would have won the match.

“So we knew when he came back that he’d pick it up fairly quickly and he hasn’t left the hurley out of his hands since he’s come home.

“It’s great to see him and hopefully he can do it again on Sunday.”

Mahony ( inset) says that Hutchinson’s background in full- time football - he spent five years with Brighton, from the age of 16 - is brought to bear in his commitment to his club and county.

“He’s one of the first there at every training getting his h work done, his activation a and all that kind of stuff,” s he said.

“You see his whole approach outside rather than t just coming co into training train or a match, how he looks after himself.

“The way hurling is anyway you are nearly living a professional lifestyle, but it’s an amateur sport.

“He sets a good standard and even for the young lads I see in the club in Ballygunner they look up to him already and he’s there two years.

“He’s a great influence on them, very positive and he’s not afraid to have a word with a lad as well which is a great sign of a player.”

Mahony added: “He’s confident, a real team player and for an inside forward with the talent he has, he is all for bringing other lads into the game.

“You saw the pass he gave Jack Fagan in the quarter- final - that epitomises it, really.”