Ardmore Crowned Munster Champions

Ardmore became the third West Waterford Club following on from Ballysaggart and Modeligo in 2013 and 2014 to win a Munster Junior Club Hurling title at Mallow on Sunday when they overcame Ballybacon/Grange from South Tipperary having six points to spare at the end of the hour.

Ardmore went into the game as favourites to win the title but they had to do it the hard way as Cork Referee Nathan Wall issued the Round Tower side with three red cards over the course of the hour, the first two being straight red cards in the first half of the game, and had a second player sent off in the second half as a result of picking up two yellow cards, while the Tipperary side also had a man sent off two minutes from time.

The Waterford Champions at the end of the first half had a 1-7 to 1-6 advantage showing on the scoreboard despite heading to the dressing rooms with just 13 players on the field.

Former inter county footballer Wayne Hennessey was the first to he issued with a red card by the Cork referee following a challenge on Michael O’Sullivan on 23 minutes and he was followed to the line on the stroke of half time by goalkeeper Jack Walsh after he struck full forward Declan Walsh in a scramble for the ball in around the Ardmore goal line as he netted his sides first goal of the game, after he was picked out by Billy Hewitt after Brendan Cummins had landed a free in around the danger zone for Ardmore.

Former Waterford inter county player Seamus Prendergast netted the first goal of the game on five minutes for the winners following up on a loose ball in the Ballybacon/Grange square after former Tipperary goalkeeper Brendan Landers had brought off a good save from James Flavin and it was Prendergast who was quickest to react to follow up on the rebound, and when he pointed a free a minute later to give his side 1-3 to 0-1 lead things were looking extremely good for the side who have clocked up some very impressive finishing results since beating Saint Mary’s in the Western Final a few weeks back.

To the credit of the South Tipperary side they refused to throw in the towel despite Ardmore’s early dominance, and three frees from Aaron Lonergan and a point from Daniel O’Regan brought them to within touching distance of Ardmore, and when Declan Walsh netted deep in added time at the end of the opening thirty, there was just one point between the sides.

On the resumption the South Tipperary side seemed unclear as to what to do with their numerical advantage and needed just over five minutes of the half to register the halves first score when Brendan Cummins who finished as top scorer for his side put over a free.

However the South Tipperary Champions failed to build on this score and it was in fact the side with a numerical disadvantage that proved to be the better of the two sides over the rest of the game.

Ardmore’s response to Ballybacon/Grange levelling matters was quick and decisive.

Seamus Prendergast netted a second goal less than two minutes after Cummins had levelled matters and when David Gartland struck for a third Ardmore goal sixty four seconds later the writing was on the wall for the South Tipperary side if they did not respond in similar action in just as quick as time.

But the Tipperary Champions even with a two man advantage had no response and it was Seamus Prendergast and James Flavin that landed the next two scores which gave them a 3-9 to 1-7 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Seamus Prendergast was sent off with four minutes of normal time in the game still to play after he was issued with a second yellow card by the Cork Referee who favoured giving out Red and Yellow cards in the month of December than Christmas Cards and he was soon followed to the line by Eoin Walsh.

Ballybacon/Grange did manage a late goal courtesy of a late Brendan Cummins free, beating a seven man Ardmore line guarding their net, but that score put a mere gloss on the final score.

Seamus Prendergast was best for Ardmore in this game finishing with 2-5 behind his name on the score sheet while there was also impressive performances from David Gartland, James Flavin, Kenny Murphy, Seamus Keating and team Captain Declan Prendergast, while for the South Tipperary side despite three goals going past them and playing with a numerical advantage for most of this game Brendan Cummins was most impressive with Colin O’Gorman, Craig Carrigan, Michael O’Sullivan, Brian Dillon, Daniel O’Regan, Declan Walsh and Billy Hewitt impressed most.

Ardmore: Jack Walsh; Niall Hennessy, Declan Prendergast, Daniel Power; Gavin Williams, Seamus Keating, Richie Hennessy; Kenny Murphy, Wayne Hennessy; James Flavin, David Gartland, John Gartland; James Kennedy, Seamus Prendergast, Kieran Conway. Subs: Eoghan O'Shea for James Kennedy (half-time), James O'Donnell for Kieran Conway (half time), Eoin Conway for John Gartland (60).

Scorers: Seamus Prendergast (2-5, 0-2 frees); David Gartland (1-1); James Kennedy, James Flavin (0-2 each); Eoin O’Shea (0-1).

Ballybacon/Grange: Brendan Cummins; Philip Walsh, Eoin Walsh, Craig Carrigan; Michael Barlow, Colin O'Gorman, Sean Nagle; Michael O'Sullivan, Brian Dillon; Daniel O'Regan, Billy Hewitt, Gerry Cronin; Aidan Savage, Declan Walsh Aaron Lonergan. Subs: Stephen Lambert for Philip Walsh (15), Gavin Whelan for Gerry Cronin (half time), Johnny English for Aidan Savage (50), Colm O'Shaughnessy for Craig Carrigan (55) and James O'Mahoney for Michael O'Sullivan (59).

Scorers: Brendan Cummins (1-2, 1-1 frees, 0-1 65); Declan Walsh (1-0), Aaron Lonergan (0-3, frees); Daniel O’Regan (0-2); Aidan Savage (0-1).

Referee: Nathan Wall (Cork).