O'Sullivan, one of many Cappoquin hero's.

These truly are great times if you are involved in the GAA in Waterford and the club you are involved with has a connection with the Blackwater River.

Earlier this year Lismore Camogie Club got the ball rolling, winning the All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Club Championship beating Ballyhale Shamrocks from Kilkenny at the second attempt.

Throughout the year the Cathedral Town side had some other great wins at different grades, culminating in the side captained for the second year in a row by Shona Curran retaining the County Senior Camogie Championship and then going on to retain the Munster Intermediate title won for the fourth time in the clubs history a few years back.

Within the GAA, both the men’s and women’s games, there is great rivalry between neighbouring sides. There would be great respect between rivals but there is nothing like one of the sides having some success to spur on the other to try and achieve what their neighbours had done.

With a few years now Camogie is being played in Cappoquin and the game is prospering and in 2014 while not exactly achieving what Lismore did, the Corner-stone ladies had a great year culminating in them winning the County Intermediate Championship and had one of their players as the captain of the Waterford Under 16 team that won the 2014 All-Ireland ‘B’ Camogie Championship.

The Blackwater does not flow through Modeligo, but the Finisk River does flow through the parish before emptying into the Blackwater close to Dromana Bridge, a short distance down river from Cappoquin.

Modeligo too are having a great 2014 winning four different competitions and on December 7 they will play Cork Champions Castlemartyr in the Munster Junior Club hurling final at Mallow, which of course is also on the Blackwater.

But it is not just the Lismore and Cappoquin Camogie Clubs and the Modeligo GAA Club that 2014 is proving to be a successful year.

2014 is also proving to be a year to remember for the Cappoquin-Affane GAA Club.

At the start of the year they would be expected to be one of the teams to be challenging hardest to win the Western Intermediate Championship, but were not the favourites. To win the county final they would have been a little further down the pecking order of those expected to challenge to see who would represent Waterford in the Munster Club Championship, as clubs in the east of the county are often the side most favoured to be granted this honour.

However, the Cornerstone men defied all. They proved to be the best in the west, beating Tourin, Abbeyside and Brickeys in the group stages of the championship, loosing only to An Rinn who were playing senior in 2013. The Cornerstone men however would gain revenge for that defeat beating the side from the Déise Gaeltacht in the divisional semi final before going on to beat neighbours Ballinameela in the Western final at Fraher Field.

In the county final Saint Saviours, the surprise winners of the East Waterford Championship put it up to 50 minutes of that game before Cappoquin’s greater experience saw them win a first County Intermediate Hurling title since 1976.

The Cornerstone men first stab of playing at provincial level was to be a successful one as they beat a fancied Feakle side at Sixmilebridge in the Munster semi final, having received a walk over in the quarter finals as the Tipperary Championship was not complete on time.

However, all that the Cappoquin-Affane Club have achieved in 2014 and possibly for a long number of years prior to this was eclipsed on Saturday afternoon last when heading up river they arrived at Mallow to play a fancied Bruff side in the Munster Final.

The Limerick Club went into last Saturday’s game as a warm a favourite you could get anywhere on an afternoon in November. And it is easy to work out why. The Limerick County Board decided to restructure their championships in 2014, dropping four sides that played senior in 2013 to play in a new Intermediate Premier Championship this year, and promote four sides from those that played Intermediate in 2013 to make up numbers.

There is some that will tell you that Bruff were unlucky to be relegated, as many reckoned them to be just outside the top six clubs within the county, but results did not go their way and they had to be relegated. Sometimes it’s hard to see big clubs go down a division, but if results do not go their way then it has to be. Remember in the not too distant past in soccer people were saying that Nottingham Forest and Leeds United two of the great sides of the 70’s were too big to go down but they did. Some might even find it hard to imagine now that you don’t even have to go back too far to find Manchester City playing in the third tier of English soccer.

Saturday November 22, 2014 will long live in the memories of people in Cappoquin.

They say goals win games and so it proved to be in  this game.

There was only one goal struck in this game, but the name of Killian O’Sullivan will be etched on the lips of Cappoquin people for a long time to come. A history of the town and its environs was put together in the last few years. It’s a good publication, but is hard to get now, one I would love to get my hands on at some stage. I don’t know if there is any plans to do an updated version of it or not, but if there is, the story of this game will have to be told and Killian will have to be mentioned in the piece.

His goal on 40 minutes have the Cornerstone men a 1-10 to 0-10 advantage, even if they did not put enough daylight between themselves and their opponents on the scoreboard to say that the game was wrapped up before they could actually say the day was going to be theirs.

In the closing minutes of the game the Limerick side tried everything in they could to break down a teak like Cappoquin defence that had the upper hand for much of the game and none more so than in the closing minutes of the game.

Eight minutes after O’Sullivan rattled the Bruff net, there was just one point between the sides after Shane Bulfin put over a brace of frees.  Remarkably however, a further nine minutes elapsed before either side would score again, when Colin Madden levelled matters three minutes from time for Bruff which had many suggesting that the game was going to go to extra time to find a winner.

Between Bulfin’s brace of scores and Madden’s effort which levelled matters the Limerick side had their share of chances to put more on the score board but Colin Madden and Sean Finn but missed chances to have green flags waved, when maybe the sensible thing to do was to take the easier option and pop the ball over the bar.

After the game I got a short low-down on the game down the phone. I can’t say the exact words used to describe Conor Murray’s performance for Cappoquin, but putting it politely he was good.

It was fitting therefore that the winning score would have him involved. His clearance found Killian O’Sullivan one minute short of the hour mark and he fired over the winner, another reason why he will be living in the memories of Cappoquin fold for some time to come.

For much of the first half it looked as though the Limerick sides could win this game comfortably.

22 minutes into the game they held a double score lead (0-8 to 0-4) with Shane Bulfin and Jason Hayes leading the way when it came to scoring. The Limerick side twice before this also lead by double scores 0-4 to 0-2 and 0-6 to 0-3.

However credit Cappoquin, through Andy Molumby, Paul Murray, Killian O’Sullivan and Shane O’Rourke they landed scores to go to the dressing rooms at the break trailing by just one 0-9 to 0-8.

Finan Murray levelled matters early in the second half for Cappoquin but the score was soon wiped out as Jason Hayes send his side back in front (0-10 to 0-9) but it was the last time they would lead in this game.

Shane O’Rourke not for the first time this year found the range from a placed ball to level matters once more and soon afterwards when Cappoquin Keith Landers who missed the win over Feakle put through Killian O’Sullivan to hit the games only goal, at the second attempt after his first effort was blocked by Conor McEniry, which handed the initiative to the side coached by Fintan O’Connor and managed by Fintan Murray.

The Limerick side did have a chance after Killian O’Sullivan landed what was the winner to get something from the game. A Shane Bulfin free dropped short and Mike O’Hara shot wide and at the very end inter county player Paul Browne had a long range free to send the game to extra time, but his effort was off target.

Cappoquin may now take a short break but will be back in the sports field again before too long preparing for an All-Ireland semi final against Antrim and Ulster Champions O’Donovan Rossa in late January.

The Cornerstone men will travel possibly to the Dublin or midlands region for that game with what could well prove to be a huge support, not just from Cappoquin but across the county behind them.

No game against Ulster opposition will be easy. Nobody in Cappoquin will need to be told this, but where-ever the game will be played they will travel to confident of securing a place in a February All-Ireland final at Croke Park, where if they were to win, I for one would not be surprised.

CAPPOQUIN: Donal O'Rourke; Timmy Looby, Colm Looby, Patrick Morrissey; David Cahillane, Conor Murray, Shane Murray; PJ Curran, Paul Murray; Shane O'Rourke, Keith Landers, Andy Molumby; Shane Coughlan, Finan Murray, Killian O'Sullivan. Subs: Aaron O'Sullivan for Shane Coughlan, Damien McCarthy for PJ Curran.

Scorers: Shane O'Rourke 0-5 (3fs, 0-1 65), Killian O'Sullivan 1-2, Finan Murray 0-2, Paul Murray, Keith Landers 0-1 each.

BRUFF: Eric Finn; Brian Finn, Conor McEniry, James O'Riordan; Dean Madden, Cian Madden, Bobby O'Brien; Paul Browne, Jason Hayes; Christopher Browne, Colin Madden, Paddy O'Leary; Shane Bulfin, John Cooke, Sean Finn. Subs: Mick O'Hara for John Cooke, Graham Whelan for Paddy O'Leary, Tony Burke for Christopher Browne.

Scorers: Shane Bulfin 0-6 (4fs), Jason Hayes 0-3, Colin Madden 0-2, Paul Browne, Christopher Browne 0-1 each.

Referee: Diarmuid Kirwan (Cork)