Ardmore Are 60 Minutes from Croke Park Appearance

Ardmore will travel to Páirc Tailteann in Navan in droves on Sunday morning next in plenty of time for an All-Ireland semi final clash with Setanta from Donegal, knowing that they are just sixty minutes from a place in next month’s All-Ireland Junior Club All-Ireland Final.

The Round Tower men will travel to the County Meath venue on the back of a great 2017, replicating what Ballysaggart did in 2013 winning the Divisional, County and Munster Junior Club Championship titles, with some ease.

Last weekend at a function in Dungarvan they were rewarded for their efforts over 2017 when they were crowned Waterford’s Club of the Year and will look to bring the form shown since the end of April last year into this year and will be hoping to go that one step further than Ballysaggart did in the early part of 2014.

In the past twelve months to reach this stage, the Round Tower men have lost just twice in championship hurling, losing out to Saint Mary’s from Touraneena in the first round of the league section of the Western championship and against Tourin in the last round of league games, beating Colligan, Kilrossanty and Geraldines in between.

In the Western Semi Final they beat Colligan for the second time in the campaign and in the Western Finals they were pushed hard by a Saint Mary’s side that were looking to make it three titles in a row, but had to give second best to an Ardmore side that knocked over some late crucial scores to seal a narrow victory.

Ardmore’s County Final against Ballydurn at the WI T Arena at Carriganore proved to be all too easy for them as they won 5-17 to 0-9, and the Munster Championship proved just as easy for Ardmore as they recorded victories over Saint Patrick’s from Limerick on a 4-20 to 0-11 score line, against Boydke from Clare in the semi final on a 5-22 to 1-8 score line and then finished the Munster Final with 12 players against Ballybacon-Grange from Tipperary but won 3-11 to 2-8 at Mallow.

They will have to plan for this game without former inter county footballer Wayne Hennessy and regular goalkeeper Jack Walsh who were sent off on straight red cards against Ballybacon-Grange but should be able to call upon former Inter County hurler Seamus Prendergast who was also sent off in that game on two yellow cards.

Ardmore will go into the game as favourites, but they wont be underestimating the opposition from Donegal who are the counties Senior Champions from 2017.

Their 1-16 to 1-8 win over St Eunan’s in Ballybofey was their first Senior Championship win since 2008, but had contested the championship decider in the county over the three previous years which means that they are an experienced side.

In that win full forward Declan Coulter finished as top scorer with eight points, six of which came from placed balls while corner forward knocked over four points from placed balls and centre forward Colm Melaugh was player to have the sides only green flag waved.

Since then they have beaten Ballela  from Down 1-18 to 2-8 in the Ulster quarter finals, beat Gort na Mona from Antrim 1-20 to 1-6 in the semi final and in the Ulster Final back in early November beat Na Manga from Derry on a 2-17 to 3-11 score line, the latter two wins which were no mean achievement when you consider how strong club hurling can be in both Antrim and Derry down the years.

In their Ulster Final win Kevin Campbell was top scorer with 11 points all from placed balls and is clearly a player that will punish Ardmore for any indiscipline within shooting range of goal, while the already mentioned Declan Coulter is another live wire scoring 1-6 against the Derry side, while Bernard Lafferty netted their second major score that day.

Both sides have what looks a settled XV.

Ardmore as pointed out will be without Jack Walsh and Wayne Hennessy but will be able to call on the likes of Declan and Seamus Prendergast, Seamus Keating, John and David Gartland, Kenny Murphy, Richie and Niall Hennessy, James Flavin, and Kieran Conway, while the Ulster side will be calling upon the likes of Simon McMenamin, Martin Bonner, Niall Cleary, Richie Kee, Danny Cullen, Bernard Lafferty, Colm Melaugh, Mark Kane, Justin McBride and of course Declan Coulter and Kevin Campbell.

Nobody in Ardmore will be underestimating the challenge of Setanta going into this game as they are where they are on merit.

But most neutrals will agree that Club hurling in Waterford is considerably stronger in Waterford than it is in Donegal and it is not all that long ago that Ardmore were playing in the Senior Championship in Waterford and were only relegated from an ultra competitive intermediate championship in the west of the county at the end of 2016.

This experience you feel has to count for something and Waterford hurling supporters right throughout the county should be celebrating the fact that Waterford will have a team playing at G.A.A. Headquarters on one of its All-Ireland Final dates next month.