Ballygunner 2-28; Abbeyside-Ballinacourty 2-10
Ballygunner appear to have discovered the elixir of never-ending success as they banked their 11th successive Waterford SH title at Fraher field on Sunday with, if anything, even more enthusiasm and elan than when they set out on this all-conquering journey a decade ago.
Remarkably they are now unbeaten in 58 championship games and when you look at the zest and appetite they still possess when blitzing Abbeyside by an 18-point margin, then you just wonder when a chink of light will appear for other clubs in their slipstream.
They had heroes all over the park and if the main scoring was done by household names such as Pauric Mahoney with 11 points, and ace marksman Dessie Hutchinson (1-4) and Patrick Fitzgerald (1-1) with killer goals, then consider there were seven other scorers in their ranks who contributed a healthy 0-12 from all over the field.
You could argue that fortune didn’t favor the vanquished as they had the unenviable task of playing the hot favorites who had a strong breeze behind them in the opening half and were out of sight by the interval when they led by 1-17 to 0-5, a 15-point lead.
To say Abbeyside faced an uphill battle thereafter would be an understatement and while they tacked on 2-5 on the resumption, they were still outscored by their vaunted opponents by three points against the elements.
After a hectic opening minute full of physical exchanges, Gunners wing-back Ronan Power opened the scoring with a fine strike from just inside his own half.
With the star-studded winners’ forward line stroking over point from play, and while the losers battled three quick points from Michael O’Halloran and Michael Kiely, they were then met with an avalanche of scores as the ‘Gunners shot the next 1-8 to a solitary reply, Hutchinson, who earlier had scored a remarkable point, broke the hearts of the challengers with a daisy cutter that had Lar Power grasping at thin air.
Ballygunner’s Conor Tobin, left, and Kevin Mahony celebrate their club’s 11th consecutive Waterford title. [Inpho/James Crombie]
But to the challengers’ credit, they rallied well to register three of the next four points through Michael O’Halloran (two frees) and towering full-forward Michael Kiely, who kept Barry Coughlin busy on those occasions the ball fell his way.
The Mahony brothers have a huge appetite for work and scores and duly delivered on both fronts.
With logic dictating that Abbeyside were now playing more for pride than prestige, the Abbeyside crew sprung from the traps in the second half determined to make a fight of the occasion, with O’Halloran landing a brace of point and Maurice Power also hitting the target for a white flag.
When Michael Kiely slotted home the simplest of goals following a misjudgment of the sliotar’s trajectory by goalkeeper Stephen O’Keeffe and then Conor Prunty added a point to reduce the deficit to 10 points, you wondered if they could get beyond a respectable scoreline?
The answer came swiftly as Pauric Mahony cut loose to land a series of points. Kiely’s close-in free yielded a second goal for the losers but Mahony was relentlessly landing big points from all over the place as he proceeded to give one of the most towering performances witnessed in many a long day.
For Abbeyside, it will be a long winter mulling over the gap in class which they must bridge if they are to dethrone champions who seems to get stronger with each passing year.
For Ballygunner, there is the chance to show their wares in Munster and they would hope beyond as the dream of a second All Ireland club title lingers somewhere in their collective future map.
Ballygunner: S O’Keeffe (0-1); I Kenny, B Coughlin, T Foley; S O’Sullivan, P Mahony, R Power (0-1); C Sheahan (0-4), P Leavey; D Hutchinson (1-4), P Mahony (0-11, 0-6f) P Hogan (0-1); P Fitzgerald (1-1), K Mahony (0-3), M Mahony (0-1) Subs: C Power for P Fitzgerald (49), H Ruddle (0-1) for M Mahony (52), S Harney for S O’Sullivan (53), B O’Keeffe for K Mahony (55), C Tobin for P Hogan (57).
Abbeyside: L Power; S Whelan Barrett, C Prunty (0-1), B Looby; J Beresford, D Collins, E McInerney; M Power (0-1), W Beresford; M O'Halloran (0-5; 0-4f, 0-1 ‘65), R Walsh, B O'Connell; C Treen (0-2), M Kiely (2-1; 1-0 pen), E Kiely Subs: N Montgomery for E Kiely (26), C Foley for E McInerney (39), M Twomey for M Power (48), E Ahern for R Walsh (52), B Callaghan for M O’Halloran (56).
Ref: T Walsh (Modeligo).
Dr Crokes 1-15; Daingean Uí Chúis 0-11
Last year’s Kerry champions Daingean Uí Chúis had to play second fiddle this time round as Dr Crokes, under the baton of Kerry star Tony Brosnan, hit the high notes to win their ninth senior club football title in fine style.
Brosnan, who often blows hot and cold in the green and gold of his county colors, was on fire on this occasion as his nine points were largely responsible for giving Crokes the impetus to win their first title in six years.
Tony Brosnan was the key man for Dr. Crokes. [Inpho/Ryan Byrne]
With a keen September win in their backs for the first half hour, the Killarney men built up a five-point lead by the short whistle on a scoreline of 1-7 to 0-5. While by no means a sure margin when facing the elements, Dr Crokes went on to play the better football on the changeover and ended up with a seven-point victory for Pat O’Shea’s outfit.
While Brosnan rightly garnered the after-match headlines, his fellow countyman Dylan Geaney hit four after the break for Daingean as he tried to single-handedly pull them back into the dogfight.
From the off Crokes meant business and once they raised the game’s only green flag after five minutes thanks to Cian McMahon’s persistence, it was an uphill battle for the holders.
They tried their best to respond and three points without reply from Conor Geaney, Mícheál Geaney and Dylan Geaney made it a three-point game.
Crokes had the chance to double their advantage but Gavin O’Shea was thwarted by an excellent Niall Geaney save.
They pushed on to lead by five and for the neutral, a Daingean goal would have thrown the game into the melting pot. It nearly came in the 35th minute when Dylan Geaney's shot was brilliantly turned away by Shane Murphy.
That was the turning point as the winners hit a purple patch of scores from there to the end with the Geaneys valiantly trying to keep reigning champs afloat with their own score taking.
Dr Crokes: S Murphy; N O’Shea, F Fitzgerald, E Looney (0-1); C Keating, G White, B Looney; M O’Shea, M Potts; M Burns (0-4, 0-1f), G O’Shea, T Doyle; T Brosnan (0-9, 0-5f), D Shaw, C McMahon (1-1)
Subs: J Payne for N O’Shea (36 mins, inj), K O’Leary for Doyle (55), D Naughten (capt.) for McMahon (62), M Cooper for Potts (65).
Daingean Uí Chúis: G H Curran; C Flannery, C O’Sullivan, S Óg Ó Moráin; N Geaney, T L O’Sullivan, D O’Sullivan; B O’Sullivan, L O’Connor; B O’Connor, P Geaney (capt.) (0-3, 0-1f), M Geaney (0-1); D Geaney (0-5), C Geaney (0-3, 0-1f), C Bambury Subs: M O’Flaherty for B O’Connor (50), M Ó Flannúra for Ó Moráin (51), T de Brún for D O’Sullivan (58), Bn Ó Céilleachair for C Geanyey (62)
Ref: S Mulvihill (St Senan’s).
