De La Salle and Ballinacourty in Munster Championship Action this Sunday

It’s a big weekend for Waterford Football on the inter county scene as two of our County champions enter the Munster Club Championship.

Intermediate Champions – De La Salle make the relatively short journey to Clonmel to take on Tipperary champions – Ballyporeen while Waterford’s Senior Football Champions Ballinacourty make the very short trip across the bridge into Dungarvan to play Limerick side Dromcollogher-Broadford in Fraher Field.

De La Salle are no strangers to the Munster Club Championship, but this time around, things are a little different as it is the first time that the club will be competing for the first time.

Ballyporeen are also new to this level of competition. They are one of the stronger football sides in South Tipperary, but they have never competed in the Munster Club Championship before.

When they last won silverware, which happened to be the Intermediate Football Championship back in 1992, only the senior champions in each county advanced to play in the Munster Club Championships.

The premier county side enter this weekends game on the back of a 1-15 to 2-8 victory over Borrisokane in the County Final and will fancy their chances of pulling off a win in this game, on a pitch that they will be familiar with, and will be able to call upon a number of players that that have played at all levels of football for Tipperary over the past number of years.

However, De La Salle will not allow them to have things all their own way.

Travelling to South Tipperary will not faze the Gracedieu based outfit.

Over the past few years and two in particular while best known to most as a hurling club, they are equally as good at football.

Last year they won the Eastern Intermediate Final but were unlucky to go under to Ballinameela in the County Final, while this year they went all the way, proving to be too strong for Ballyduff Upper in the recent county final at Fraher Field.

While De La Salle and Ballyporeen are going through their paces in Clonmel, 26 miles down the road Ballinacourty and Dromcollogher-Broadford will be doing likewise at Fraher Field.

The Limerick side recently won their seventh Senior Football Championship after they beat Monaleen 2-9 to 2-7 at Newcastlewest.

Playing with the aid of the wind at their backs that day, the Limerick representatives in this years championship did not have the most ideal of starts, conceding a goal inside three minutes of the game starting, but despite hitting eleven wide’s over the course of the hour they recovered well to run out winners.

The winners despite their poor start held a 1-4 to 1-1 lead at the break.

Centre back Dee O’Leary hit the winners first score on thirteen minutes. Killian Phair and Michael Reidy then landed points to level matters on eighteen minutes.

Ger Collins edged Monaleen back in front ten minutes from the break, but the eventual winners finished the half front as Killian Phair pointed from a free and Micheál Reddy slammed to the net three minutes from the break.

While the losers began the second half the stronger of the two sides as Graham O’Connell and Ger Collins landed points, the winners again assumed supremacy kicking 1-3 in row to go back in front, the winners second goal coming from Killian Phair.

While Dromcollogher-Broadford and Monaleen were fighting it out in the Limerick County Final at Newcastlewest, Ballinacourty at the same time on the same day were doing likewise with Stradbally in the Waterford final at Fraher Field.

Ballinacourty went into that game as the underdog but emerged as convincing winners, beating Stradbally 0-12 to 0-5.

Gary Hurney put in a Man of the Match performance for the side in green and white in that game, kicking two of his sides scores and was involved in all that they did on the day.

The opening exchanges as expected proved to be very tight. With the sides locked at 0-3 a piece, there would be those suggesting that another attempt could well be needed to find a winner, but Ballinacourty put in a solid last few minutes of the game and went in at the break leading 0-6 to 0-3.

Despite Ballinacourty having their numbers cut just before the break when John Hurney received his marching orders from John Condon who was refereeing his first senior final, Ballinacourty in the second half with Mark Fives, Gary Hurney, Michael O’Halloran, Mark Ferncombe and John Power all landing scores they were always on top despite their numerical disadvantage for much of the game, something that was evened up when Paddy Kiely was ordered off in the last quarter of the game by the An Rinn Club man.

Both sides will run onto Fraher Field on Sunday in a confident mood of advancing to the next faze of the competition.

Both sides have amassed some great experience in recent years.

The Visitors may go into the game as the slightest of favourites, having won the more silverware in recent years, including the Munster Club Championship back in 2008.

However, Ballinacourty will be no push overs. While a pitch is a pitch and is the same for both sides, the Ballinacourty players will know every blade of grass on the field as well as they know the players they have within the panel and this has to count for something as should a huge local support.

The winners of this game are due to play the Clare Champions in the Munster Semi Final, but with the Clare County Board running into problems to complete their programme of games as a result of suspending competitions to allow their senior hurlers have a free run at the All-Ireland Championships, there is a slight chance that the winners could advance straight to a Munster Final in a few weeks time.

A double win for the Waterford clubs this weekend is a tough ask. Both Ballinacourty and De La Salle are up against very good opposition, but it is very possible that both could advance.