Gunners to Succeed in Drive for Five

Ballygunner and Abbeyside clash for the second time in this year’s County Senior Hurling Championship this coming Sunday when the two battle it out to see who will take from the steps of the stand in Fraher Field, the Waterford News and Star Cup which they will have procession of for the next twelve months.

For whichever side does take the prize home with them it will be a day to remember. Should the city side emerge as victors they will be crowned champions for the fifth time in a row, something should it happen will be only the third time it has happened in the history of the championship in Waterford having already been achieved by Erin’s Own and Mount Sion but the Gunner’s still will have some work to do if they are to better what their city rivals achieved as both won nine in a row, the Poleberry side winning their nine between 1927 and 1935 while the Monastery Club side repeated the fete between 1953 and 1961 and were stopped from winning a tenth final in a row in 1962 when they were beaten by Erin’s Own on a 5-7 to 1-4 score line.

Should Abbeyside win the competition this coming Sunday they will take the winner’s prize into ‘The Village’ for the very first time, having previously appeared in only five county finals in 1955, 1957, 1964, 1969 and their most recent appearance in 2008.

When the two sides met in the first round of games in the group section of the competition back on April 1 it was the reigning champions that emerged winners on a 1-12 to 0-7 score line at Fraher Field.

After that game things got a little too easy for the champions in the group stages of the competition as they featured to two very one sided games first beating last year’s intermediate champions An Rinn 0-27 to 1-8 at Fraher Field and then beat Abbeyside 7-29 to 0-10 at the same venue.

For Abbeyside in the group section of the competition things were also easier in their two remaining group games as they firstly beat Ballyduff 2-9 to 0-10 while they finished off the group stages of the competition with a 5-19 to 1-9 win over An Rinn.

Ballygunner with maximum points from three games automatically qualified for the quarter final stages of the competition as group winners and they were joined there by Abbeyside who finished as the best second placed team after the group stages, so avoiding a potential banana skin first round knockout game.

In their quarter final game Ballygunner played their toughest game of the year when they beat Roanmore 1-16 to 1-13 at Walsh Park while at the same stage of the competition Abbeyside proved too strong for Tallow at Fraher Field on a 2-22 to 0-10 score line.

Abbeyside were the first of these two sides to play in the semi finals where they had a brilliant 0-14 to 0-13 win over a De La Salle side that most would be expected to challenge Ballygunner hardest for this year’s title.

A little under 24 hours later at Walsh Park Passage were expected to put it up to Ballygunner in the second semi final, but those expecting a close game were to be left disappointed as Ballygunner minus the services of a number of players which helped them win last year ran out easy winners on a 3-23 to 1-4 winners.

The reigning champions will go into this weekend’s game as the warmest of favourites and most while giving Abbeyside a good chance will be expecting Ballygunner to have that little bit too much for their opponents.

While most will be expecting Ballygunner to win, nobody in Ballygunner will be underestimating the challenge of Abbeyside.

They will not need any telling that their drive for five could be achieved with twelve months had they beaten Passage in the county final five years ago.

They will not need any reminding that back in 2013 Passage then coached by Peter Queally, now in charge of Abbeyside were trailing by seven points with seven minutes to go and many were filing out onto Keane’s Road but Passage came storming back and won the game by three points, and no doubt the former Inter County star will be telling his charges since they qualified for this game that if Passage can do what they did, winning a first ever senior title, then so too can the side he is in charge of this year if they are within touching distance of the reigning champions with ten minutes of the game remaining.

Most neutrals will be fancying Ballygunner to win this one, but in saying that most neutrals could not have seen Abbeyside getting within sixty minutes of winning a first senior hurling title this year, and that they are where they are they have to be given a chance.

For me, Ballygunner will complete their drive for five this weekend and go on at having a stab at the Munster Championship where (be they be Ballygunner or Abbeyside) will play Midleton (regardless of the result in the Cork County Final next weekend) at a Waterford venue, but in saying this, this is my head talking. My heart would love to see Abbeyside win.

Question: Is 2018 the first time in the history of the Waterford Senior Hurling Championship since it began to be played on a round robin league system in the early rounds, where the two teams in the county final and the two teams in the relegation play off all competed in the same group. The answer to the question I am not sure of, but I would say it is the first time it happened.