Can the Nealon Cup stay in West Waterford or make its way to East Cork

Have you ever noticed how one result can change things.

Those that have an interest in Soccer and who read the daily papers or tune into Sky Sports for their daily fix of what is happening around the clubs will be all to familiar about the stories where they hear a manager has one, two or if he is lucky three games to save his job.

Some might not remember and those too young to remember might find it hard to believe that in the very early 1990’s after four years at the club with little or no success such stories did the rounds of a certain Alex Ferguson. Had those that sit around the board table at Old Trafford decided that enough was enough and decided to get rid of the Scots man, I wonder how the Roll of Honour would look at this point when it comes to Championship wins.

Here in Waterford for more years than most care to talk about, we have discussed the poor run of results Waterford Clubs had in the Munster Club Hurling Championships.

Some have boasted about our run of results in the senior championship, but lets be honest, since the start of the competition that is not great with only Mount Sion, Ballygunner and De La Salle winning the championship since it began.

The Monastery Men were the first Waterford side to win it. A long number of years passed before a Waterford side won it again when Ballygunner won it just after the turn of the Millennium, an achieved repeated by Mount Sion and almost a decade past before De La Salle became the third Waterford side to win it twice in 2010 and 2012.

However good you consider Waterford’s record at Senior Club Level to be, at Intermediate and Junior grades since its inception it has been very poor.

For many years since the second and third grade competitions were introduced Waterford Clubs struggled to win a game let alone reach a final.

Tramore in Junior and Ballyduff Upper in Intermediate did manage to reach a final, but defeat would be their lot.

However, last year Waterford’s poor run of results was forgotten about when Ballysaggart having won the western and County titles went on to beat the best that Cork, Tipperary and Limerick had to offer to win the Munster Final, and they were somewhat unlucky not to have won the All-Ireland at Croke Park as they let a huge lead early in the second half slip.

Heading into this years competitions Waterford clubs were on a bit of a high and all three were expected to fair well.

Ballygunner may have gone out at the first attempt against a strong Cratloe side at Walsh Park, but both Cappoquin and Modeligo have gone all the way to finals and this will give what ever clubs that come out the competitions at the end of 2015 will be even more confident than this years champions were.

Cappoquin of course have won the Intermediate final beating Bruff from Limerick at Mallow recently, a win that will not give their next door neighbours Modeligo much hope for when they travel to the same venue this Sunday to take on Cork champions Castlemartyr this Sunday.

Both sides head into the game confident that they can win, and both would be considered to be experienced outfits.

The East Cork side won the East Cork or Imokilly Divisional Championship in 2009, 2010, 2013 and again this year and went on a few weeks back to win a first county championship since 1964.

Modeligo are also an experienced side. They won the Junior Championship in 2008 first at Divisional level and then the county. They were somewhat unlucky to be relegated after a few years playing intermediate. Last year they reached the Western semi final where eventual champions Ballysaggart needed two attempts to beat them in Lismore.

This year they are having a great year, already having won four different competitions and if they were to win this Sunday they would end the year on an absolute high.

Under the guidance of former Ballyduff Upper and Waterford hurler a Pa Kearney who is a real up and coming quality coach, Modeligo have impressed winning the Junior Football League Final, the Western Intermediate League Final a competition that included the Junior teams, the Western Junior Hurling Championship, and the County Junior Final, and lets not forget that they were beaten by a strong Old Parish side in the semi final of the Junior Football Championship.

 Heading into this game its worth noting that is the champions of the third tier of Waterford hurling against the fourth tier champions in Cork, but don’t be fooled into thinking that the Cork side will be of a weaker standard.

They have come trough a tough divisional champions, beating Sarsfields in the Preliminary round game, a win that gave them a place in the quarter finals where they played and beat near neighbours Saint Ita’s. in the semi final they beat Sarsfields again after they came though a serious of three rounds of games for sides that loose in the preliminary or first round of the championship. The reds met Cobh in the divisional final and the outcome was the same as in their three previous games, a win.

In the county championship Castlemartyr needed two attempts to beat Newcestown and two attempts were also needed to bat Cloughduv in the semi finals. In the final Castlemartyr proved too strong for Ballinhassig on 0-18 to 0-10 score line.

The East Cork’s last competitive game was five weeks ago when they beat the Kerry Intermediate champions Kenmare in the quarter finals of the Munster Championship after which they received a bye to the final as the Clare Championship was not finished in time for them to have a team ready for the semi finals.

Modeligo also come into the game with an impressive string of results under their belts. They have played seven games, three of which were against the same opposition.

They began with a 1-16 to 1-16 draw against Colligan and then had a 0-21 to 0-11 win over Geraldine’s and then beat neighbours Saint Mary’s 2-12 to 1-13. Modeligo’s last game in the league section of the group stages of the competition saw them beat Colligan in a repeat of the first round of games on a 1-19 to 0-10 score line.

That result gave them a place in the Western Final where they played Colligan again who came through a semi final against Geraldine’s. In the final the final outcome was very similar to the previous game between the two neighbouring sides, this time Modeligo won 1-19 to 0-11.

In the county final Modeligo proved far too strong for Bunmahon winning 2-25 to 0-8 and last time out in the Munster semi final they put in an outstanding second half performance to beat Limerick champions Feohanagh-Castlemahon 2-17 to 2-12.

The East Cork side have some top quality players within their ranks for this game. Their most famous players will be the Lawton brothers Brian and Barry. Both have made a name for themselves in recent years.

Barry if part of the Cork Senior Hurling panel and is their top scorer this year putting up some very impressive tallies ranging from 0-6 in their first game against Cloughduv to 0-11 against Newcestown and 1-8 against Cobh.

Brian and Barra O Tuama were both involved with the Cork Intermediate’s this year who reached the All-Ireland Final against Kilkenny while Jimmy Smiddy is a very experienced player who played for group side Imokilly in the Cork Senior championship for many years.

Other Castlemartyr players to look out for this weekend who could inflict considerable hassle to Modeligo include Adrian Bowens, Rob O’Donovan, Eoin Ronayne, Ollie Smiddy, Seanie Hennessey, Enda McGovern and Jamie Stack.

Modeligo’s players will be known to many in Waterford and in particular to those in the west of the county.

As with all rural clubs there is plenty of family connections involved. Jamie, Michael and Shane Troy are brothers. So too are Pa, Seanie and Nicky O’Donovan. They are first cousins to former inter county hurler Pat Fitzgerald who was involved with Waterford in Justin McCarthy’s time involved and the first few months of Davy Fitzgerald’s tenure in charge.

Brian and Kieran McCarthy are also brothers, while others that are to be looked out for include Pa Walsh who is back from injury, Thomas ‘Tyler’ Walsh who joined Modeligo this year from Fourmilewater, Robbie Buckley who is a hard grafter, Tom Devine was part of a West Waterford Colleges and Waterford Minor panel that achieved so much in 2013, while on the bench and who could play a part in this game are the likes of Paudie McCarty, Tom Cashman, Seanie Hennessey and the experienced J.P. Ryan and Michael Power.

Where the Nealon Cup will find a resting place on Sunday evening is anybody’s question. Well it will be one of two places, it will find a home at Pat Shortt’s Bar in Castlemartyr or Deckie’s Bar in Modeligo. Which ever it ends up in provided there will be no need for a replay, there will be some mighty celebrations. For the side that looses out on Sunday, they can take something from the fact that 2014 for them was a great year and they will be a match for most in the intermediate grade within their own county in 2015.

The Cork side will go into the game as the favourites. Maybe in recent years they have achieved that little bit more than Modeligo and Club hurling in Cork is considered by some to be somewhat stronger than in Waterford.

But don’t write off Modeligo. They won their county final the same day as Cappoquin. On the night there were some great celebrations in both clubs. Maybe there was a little bit of an informal competition as to see who would finish up the later the following morning.

They will have seen the celebrations that took place just in the road after Cappoquin beat Bruff in the Munster Intermediate final recently, and they will be saying to themselves that what they can do we can do better.

Modeligo may go into the game as the underdog but they have the players within their team and as back up to help keep the title Ballysaggart won twelve months ago this weekend within the county. Will they win? I think they can.