Ballyduff Lower and Mayfield to battle it out for First Munster Final Crown

This could well be a very good weekend for the Ballyduff Lower G.A.A. Club.

On Saturday evening they along with Lismore and The Nire are vying for the Club of the Year award at the Local Bar sponsored county G.A.A. Awards at Lawlors Hotel in Dungarvan.

Lismore having won a West Waterford, County and Munster Final Intermediate Hurling tribble would be a worthy winner. Then it could be argued that so to could The Nire after winning the County Senior Football Championship and reaching the Munster Final last weekend, where they lost out to Kerry kingpins Dr. Crokes at Mallow.

If Lismore and The Nire would be worthy winners, then so to would be Ballyduff Lower.

They have had a great year, winning the East Junior Hurling and Football Double and going on to beat Saint Mary’s in the Junior Hurling County Final and losing out to Colligan in controversial circumstances in the County Junior Football Final after a replay.

Waterford’s record in this Championship is hardly the best. Only Ballysaggart three years ago Modeligo 12 months later have won the competition, when they beat Castlemartyr at Mallow two years ago.

Ballyduff Lower will make the journey to Mallow on Sunday morning for a 1-30pm start confident that they claim only a second title at this level for Waterford.

Like Modeligo, they face opposition from Cork, as they take on Mayfield from the outskirts of Cork City.

The Kilmeaden side have impressed this year.

They came through the league section of the East Waterford championship with little or no difficulties.

In the semi-final they again had little difficulty getting past Tramore beating their neighbours with a massive 25 points to spare and in the Eastern Final they again proved too strong for Ballydurn.

The Reds had their most stern test in the county final when they took on Saint Mary’s who were appearing in the final for the second year in a row, but again proved to be the better side, running out with nine points to spare at Fraher Field.

Ballyduff’s first game in the Munster Championship was against Kerry’s Kilgarvan and again they proved too strong winning with ten points to spare at Walsh Park.

It was back to the Keane’s Road venue for the Munster Semi Final for their last competitive hurling game where they beat the Tipperary representatives Ballybacon/Grange with eight points to spare which set up this Sunday’s final against the Cork side.

The Cork side like Ballyduff Lower head to Mallow on Sunday on the back of a good year.

In the Seanduan Divisional Championship, they had wins over St. Finbarr’s, Bishopstown and Blackrock before beating Brian Dillon’s in the final on a 0-15 to 1-11 score line.

In the four games in the divisional championship they hit on average 27 points a game, scoring seven goals in their semi final win over Blackrock, while conceding just over an average of 12 points a game.

The Cork side in total have played 9 championship games between Divisional, County and Munster Championships this year and have averaged an impressive 29 points a game while conceded on average of just eleven points.

In their last two games, they have recorded big wins over Limerick side Mayfield and then Clare champions Bodyke.

If presented with chances on Sunday afternoon, the Cork side will cause Ballyduff Lower lots of heartache.

Right throughout their team they have some good players in the likes of Shane Duggan, Shane Kelly, Patrick Duggan, Kevin Punch, Nicky Kelly and David O’Neill.

While Ballyduff Lower will fancy their chances in this one, they will need all their players to be at their very best.

John O’Leary has been very good for them at Full back, Brian Power is a quality free taker, while former inter county hurler Jack Kennedy in attack has caused plenty of worries for the opposition this year.

But they are by no means relying on these players as in the likes of Dylan Reade, Declan Cheasty, Eoin Cummins as well as Calum and Jack Lyons they have some quality players.

Titles are never easily won and Ballyduff Lower will not need telling this going into this weekend’s game. They will have been bitterly disappointed two weeks ago to lose out to Colligan.

The Cork side will go into the game as the favourites, but Ballyduff Lower have the potential to win here. Will they is hard to tell right now. They recently suffered two successive relegations, but a win here and possibly a win in Dungarvan about 15 hours ahead of this game would mean the club would end the year on a high and show that they are heading in the right direction.